What goes into a good video game? Evidently, a lot of money. With some games taking upwards of ten years to develop, and with budgets easily over $100 million, many games are bigger and more expensive productions than movies. Particularly, in recent years, more games have adopted big budgets in hopes of turning an impressive profit when the final copy releases. While not all games are successful in this feat, many of them are, which explains why some of the most successful games were also the most expensive to develop.

Plenty of well-known games have flaunted budgets of $100 million, with titles like Grand Theft Auto IV, May Payne 3, Deadpool, Disney Infinity, and Red Dead Redemption coming to mind. But surprisingly, these aren’t the priciest games out there. It’s becoming more commonplace for games to get budgets over the hundred million threshold, with some games even surpassing budgets of $200 million.

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Granted, official budgets are often not released for video game titles, leading gamers to speculate just how much was spent on marketing and development costs. But it is possible to roughly estimate how much some of the biggest games in the industry cost, and the numbers are jarring. The following video games are the seven of some of the most expensive games ever developed, and given the time and effort put into these titles, they’re truly works of art.

7. Dead Space 2 ($120 Million)

Although it may have been a commercial flop, a lot of time and money went into developing Dead Space 2The game, which was developed by Visceral Games and published by Electronic Arts, was released in 2011 for Microsoft Windows, PS3, and Xbox 360. It incorporated a multiplayer mode, unlike the first installment in the franchise, and allowed players to once again fight as Isaac Clarke. In total, it’s been estimated that around $120 million was spent on the game, with about half of the budget going directly into marketing and the other into development, Gamespot reports.

6. Shadow Of The Tomb Raider ($135 Million) 

Lara Croft Shadow of the Tomb Raider

The 2018 title is the 12th entry in the Tomb Raider series. Developed by Eidos-Montreal and published by Square Enix, the game continues the events of its 2015 predecessor Rise of the Tomb Raider. Unlike some other entries on this list, Shadow of the Tomb Raider spent triple the amount on its development budget and less on its marketing, with estimates suggesting that it had a $135 million total budget. "Shadow of the Tomb Raider, and other different AAA single-player games, cost $75 million to $100 million," Eidos-Montreal’s David Anfossi told GamesIndustry.biz in 2018. "And that's production only; it's close to $35 million on the promotion."   

5. Destiny ($140 Million)

Destiny 2 DLC Sales Disappointing

Destiny was released in 2014 for PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. The multiplayer, first-person shooter game allows players to step into the shoes of a Guardian, who are tasked with protecting Earth’s final city from various alien foes. The game itself was a smashing commercial success at launch, selling over $325 million worth of copies in its first five days.

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However, the game sure wasn’t cheap to make. Before the game’s release, Bungie’s Eric Osborne shot down rumors that the game had a $500 million budget. “For marketing, you'd have to ask Activision people, but for development costs, not anything close to $500 million,” he explained, Gamespot reports. Realistic estimates have put the game’s budget around the $140 million mark.

4. Final Fantasy VII ($145 million)

 

Developed by Square as the seventh instalment in the series, this 1997 role-playing game follows the adventures of mercenary Cloud Strife, who must stop a megacorporation from destroying the planet. Teaming up with an eco-terrorist group, Strife sets out in search of Sephiroth, a superhuman set on harming the world. The Final Fantasy series was (and still is) wildly popular, so it’s no surprise a hefty budget went into developing the game. Based on what’s been said about the original Final Fantasy 7's budget, Polygon estimates that upwards of $145 million was spent on the game. Around $45 million went into development, while $100 million went into marketing.

3. Star Wars: The Old Republic ($200 Million)

Characters from Star Wars: The Old Republic.

This MMORPG developed by BioWare Austin was released in 2011 for Microsoft Windows. It explores events that take place after peace is tentatively established between the Galactic Republic and Sith Empire. Its official budget has never been disclosed, but estimates suggest it may be one of the most expensive games of all time, with some reports pinning it around the $200 million mark, with much of its budget spent on marketing. Over 800 employees worked on the project for six years. Even more telling, 1,000 actors were required to run lines for the game’s some 4,000 characters, a labor pool with surely increased the game's budget significantly.

2. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 ($250 Million)

Modern Warfare 2 Remastered Bad Timing

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision, was released in 2009 as the sixth edition in the COD franchise. A grand total of $250 million was reportedly spent on the successful title, The Escapist reports. $40-50 million of the budget went to the game’s development, while the other $200 million went straight into marketing. However, the game has raked in huge profits, selling 4 million copies within only its first twenty-four hours on the market and going on to be one of the franchise's most-loved titles.

1. Grand Theft Auto 5 ($265 Million)

the three protagonists in GTA 5

Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto 5, released in 2013, continues to be one of the most-played games to this day largely thanks to its expansive multiplayer GTA Online. Estimates suggest the game took anywhere between $137-265 million to create, making it the most expensive video game to ever be produced. In 2013, Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia predicted that the game cost $147.5 million given its team of 250 employees working on the project for over 5 years. Marketing costs alone were predicted to cost between $69-109.3 million, though the profits from the games have well surpassed these numbers. Then again, another estimate from The Scotsman from the same year, ahead of the title’s release, put the game’s budget closer to $265 million.

There are plenty of titles that are currently in the works that are rumored to be even more expensive than some of the entries on this list, including Cyberpunk 2020 and Star Citizen, and if GTA 5’s budget is any indication, then the next installment in the franchise, Grand Theft Auto 6, may be even pricier to develop. But of course, with no official confirmation that the game is in development, only time will tell if GTA 6 beats Grand Theft Auto 5 as one of the most expensive games to have ever been created.

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