Well...you can even do it for free like we are doing: http://www.indiedb.com/games/galactic-gladiators

We're also trying to get into the arena shooter market. I still think the best way is to get a prototype with volunteers first, and get that funded. Unless you are someone with way to much money.. :D

anyway, i hope it works out for you...not that i am particulary excited to see another up and coming arena shooter.

But yea...with a team working for free..its not easy, you cant be acting like a triple A art director because people will just melt away if you have them redo the same model 100 times over again to reach that triple A quality.

If your serious about putting money on the table, perhaps finding an accountant to help you figure out the exact development costs...thats what we are doing right now.

The reason Bethesda is neglecting Quake Live is because it has never made any money.

If you really want to make an online FPS that can grab significant numbers of people and be profitable you need to consider different technologies and methodolgies to make things simpler. Getting a bunch of industry vets and paying them to use Unreal engine will always be expensive and take a lot longer than you imagine.

The way I would approach this is to bootstrap by getting a bunch of people working remotely (for free or cheaply) to produce a working version of your game using no plug in browser based technology (webGL, Turbulenze, Three.js) and pay-per-bandwidth cloud based networking solutions (Amazon, Azure). You will then be able to have your game on a website and also in embeded in Facebook, Google+ and dozens of other web gaming portals and people will be able to play without having to install anything.

Once you have got maybe 80,000 to 100,000 players you can then approach VCs and Angel investors. If you can get some funding from them you will then be able further improve your game incrementally to meet your vision.