In order to asses a game's success, you have to take into account the budget. Undertale sold 1-2 million copies and Cyberpunk 2077 sold ~15-20 million copies; but it'd be an extreme stretch to say that CP2077 is more successful than Undertale.
CP77 is a successful scam. Note that you have to take into account the value of the company. Despite CP77 generated money for the game itself, CDPR stocks dropped more than 50% therefore the company lost more than gained by CP77 sales.
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WotR sold 250k copies in its first week, so let's say ~1.5-2 million copies will be sold eventually (P:KM sold ~1 million after 3 years). BG3 sold ~1.2 million copies in its first two weeks of EA, so let's say ~15-25 million total? (For comparison, Witcher 3 sold 30-40M and DOSII sold ~500,000 after a week and probably 3-5 million in total - I found a source saying 2 million after a year) Roughly, BG3 will sell ~8-18x more copies than WotR.
You're forgetting that BG3 is in EA where the rest of them are in full release... BG3 hasn't even been really marketed.
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P:WotR raised ~2 million on kickstarter, so let's say it cost ~$7-10 million to make (60 employees at $50k/yr for 2 years= $6M). BG3..."has a triple-A budget" so let's say $70-125 million. (250 employees at $50k for 4 years is $50M) Roughly, BG3 will cost 7-18x more than WotR.
Seems about the same level of successful to me!
Your calculation are wrong. The profit counts in absolute value minus expenses. Your logic is that investing $1 and getting $20 over a span of a year is more successful than investing a $1M and getting $2M. I'll take such "less successful" route any day. And, by the way, Owlcat is registered in the tax haven to avoid taxation, I would be surprised if they pay their employees more than $20k-25k per year, more like $15k-$20k (on average) with no benefits. So, I guess, it makes them even more successful.
