List of most expensive video games to develop
Appearance
(Redirected from Most expensive video games to develop)
The following is a list of the most expensive video games ever developed, with a minimum total cost of US$50 million and sorted by the total cost adjusted for inflation. Most game budgets are not disclosed, so this list is not indicative of industry trends.
Lists
[edit]– Indicates ongoing costs of development post-release
Official figures
[edit]Cancelled games
[edit]Name | Year cancelled | Developer | Publisher | Platform | Costs (million US$) | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Development | 2023 inflation | |||||
Titan Project | 2007–2008 | Ensemble Studios | Microsoft Game Studios | Windows | 90[46] | 127 |
Fable Legends | 2016 | Lionhead Studios | Microsoft Studios | Windows, Xbox One | 75[47] | 95+ |
This Is Vegas | 2009–2010 | Surreal Software | Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment | PS3, Windows, Xbox 360 | 40–50[48] | 56–70 |
Volt | 2021 | Hangar 13 | 2K | Unknown | 53[49] | 53 |
Unofficial figures
[edit]Analyst estimations
[edit]Press estimations
[edit]The following budgets have been estimated by press outlets without naming any specific analyst or firm.
See also
[edit]Notes
[edit]- ^ Includes ongoing costs as of 2024[update][1]
- ^ US$100 million for initial development, US$200 million annually for ongoing development as of 2024[update][2][3][1]
- ^ Playable elements of the game were first released in 2013,[4] but the game remains in early access, with no final release date announced.[5] Costs representative of development up to 2022.[6]
- ^ Approximately US$316 million for original game[8] and US$125.9 million for Update 2.0 upgrade and Phantom Liberty downloadable content[9]
- ^ Update 2.0 upgrade and Phantom Liberty downloadable content
- ^ US$40.9 million for Update 2.0 and US$62.7 million for Phantom Liberty DLC[9]
- ^ Unannounced game[10]
- ^ a b Projected figure
- ^ US$19.3 million for marketing and US$5.1 million for production of physical copies[40]
- ^ Licensing fee[41][42]
- ^ Chris Baker, former interactive manager at Marvel Games, disputed Deadpool's US$100 million figure in 2024 and claimed the actual budget was "not even close".[66]
References
[edit]- ^ a b Wood, Austin (September 19, 2024). "It's taken 4 years and roughly $900 million, but Genshin Impact is a better open-world RPG than ever after update 5.0". GamesRadar+. Retrieved October 28, 2024.
- ^ Carpenter, Nicole (February 6, 2024). "Genshin Impact hackers sued in Canadian court". Polygon. Archived from the original on February 7, 2024. Retrieved February 7, 2024.
- ^ "Genshin Lawsuit via Polygon". Retrieved February 7, 2024.
- ^ Rehard, Jef (August 22, 2013). "Gamescom 2013: Roberts demos Star Citizen's hangar module". Engadget. Retrieved September 8, 2022.
- ^ Lanier, Liz (May 6, 2019). "'Star Citizen': Still No Release Date in Sight, Work Environment is 'Chaotic' (Report)". Variety. Retrieved September 8, 2022.
- ^ a b c d "Cloud Imperium Financials for 2022". Cloud Imperium Games. January 1, 2024. Retrieved February 8, 2024.
- ^ a b Zwiezen, Zack (March 19, 2024). "Monopoly Go Spent Almost $500 Million On Marketing, More Than Spider-Man 2's Dev Budget". Kotaku. Retrieved November 13, 2024.
- ^ a b c "2020 results" (PDF). cdprojekt.com. April 2021. p. 2. Retrieved September 13, 2021.
- ^ a b c Dinsdale, Ryan (October 6, 2023). "CD Projekt Spent Roughly $125 Million Turning Cyberpunk 2077 Around Post-Launch". IGN. Retrieved October 25, 2023.
- ^ a b c d Parijat, Shubhankar (December 19, 2023). "Marvel's Spider-Man 2 Had a Total Budget of $315 Million". GamingBolt.
- ^ a b c Fritz, Ben (November 18, 2009). "Video game borrows page from Hollywood playbook". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 30, 2019. Retrieved October 11, 2021.
- ^ "Essential 50: Final Fantasy VII". 1UP.com. Archived from the original on July 21, 2012. Retrieved April 22, 2013.
- ^ a b "Final Fantasy 7: An oral history". Polygon. January 9, 2017. Retrieved February 2, 2018.
- ^ Stanton, Rich (June 2, 2013). "Final Fantasy 7 retrospective". Eurogamer.net. Retrieved March 20, 2014.
- ^ a b c d Wood, Austin (June 28, 2023). "PlayStation accidentally reveals $200m+ development costs for Horizon Forbidden West and The Last of Us Part 2". GamesRadar+. Future plc. Archived from the original on June 28, 2023. Retrieved June 29, 2023.
- ^ a b c "What's it's really like to work in Game industry". YouTube. July 7, 2015. Event occurs at 42:38. Retrieved September 13, 2021.
- ^ Parijat, Shubhankar (December 19, 2023). "Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales Has Sold Over 10.2 Million Units". GamingBolt.
- ^ Pham, Alex (May 21, 2012). "Bungie-Activision contract". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 2, 2014.
- ^ Middler, Jordan (January 15, 2023). "The Callisto Protocol reportedly hasn't met publisher sales expectations". Video Games Chronicle. 1981 Media. Archived from the original on January 15, 2023. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
- ^ a b Dring, Christopher (May 11, 2018). "Eidos Montreal: "We have to try new models for single-player games"". GamesIndustry.biz. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on May 11, 2018. Retrieved May 12, 2018.
- ^ a b "Dead Space 2 Dev Says Game Cost $60M To Make And Sold Millions, But Failed Commercially". Retrieved August 18, 2018.
- ^ Yin-Poole, Wesley (March 22, 2024). "Even Will Smith Couldn't Save Zombie Survival Game Undawn, Which 'Flopped Spectacularly'". IGN. Retrieved March 24, 2024.
- ^ Androvitch, Mark (April 30, 2008). "GTA IV: Most expensive game ever developed?". Games Industry International.
- ^ "EA CCO: Battlefield 4 budget was $100 million". bfcentral. March 14, 2014. Archived from the original on October 23, 2016. Retrieved August 25, 2021.
- ^ a b "'I've Never Seen It This Bad:' Game Developers Explain the Huge Layoffs Hitting Riot, Epic, and More - IGN". IGN. February 12, 2024. Retrieved February 13, 2024.
- ^ a b Sheffield, Brandon (March 2, 2011). "GDC 2011: Yu Suzuki: 'Sega Will Probably Let Me Make Shenmue 3'". Gamasutra.com. Retrieved March 18, 2014.
- ^ Robinson, Martin (June 22, 2015). "Yu Suzuki wants $10 million to make a truly open world Shenmue 3". Eurogamer.
- ^ Makuch, Eddie (September 9, 2015). "This is How Much The Witcher 3 Cost to Make". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved August 25, 2021.
- ^ a b c "How Much Does It Cost To Make A Big Video Game?". Kotaku. January 15, 2014. Retrieved October 4, 2014.
- ^ Mosca, Marco (June 18, 2013). "Watch Dogs, le très gros budget d'Ubisoft". Challenges. Archived from the original on May 14, 2016. Retrieved March 20, 2014.
- ^ "Ubisoft discusses next-generation game budgets". Eurogamer.net. May 16, 2012. Retrieved December 27, 2018.
- ^ Parijat, Shubhankar (December 19, 2023). "Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart Sold 2.2 Million Units, Incurred an $8 Million Loss". GamingBolt.
- ^ Remo, Chris (November 5, 2009). "Yamauchi: Gran Turismo 5's Development Cost Hit $60 Million". Gamasutra.com. Archived from the original on May 11, 2012. Retrieved March 18, 2014.
- ^ Crecente, Brian. "The four lives of Epic Games". Polygon. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
By the end of the cycle, Gears of War 3 cost about four or five times more than the original to make.
- ^ Makuch, Eddie (January 9, 2017). "Gears of War: Judgment Cost $60 Million and Made $100 Million, Dev Says". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved August 26, 2021.
- ^ a b c Purchese, Robert (April 19, 2013). "Heavy Rain cost €16.7 million to make and made Sony "more than €100 million"". Eurogamer.net. Retrieved March 18, 2014.
- ^ a b c "Heavy Rain cost $52 million but made $130 million, you do the math". Engadget. April 22, 2013.
- ^ Alder, Davon (July 29, 2000). "Square Haven News / NTV Tokyo Interviews Hironobu Sakaguchi". squarehaven.com. Retrieved April 1, 2016.
- ^ "Investor Who Risked It All on 'Wukong' Scores Another Sales Win". Bloomberg News. September 5, 2024. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
- ^ a b c Blazewicz, Jacob (October 24, 2023). "Lords of the Fallen Devs Reveal Sales and Announce Major Changes [Update]". Gamepressure. Retrieved October 25, 2023.
- ^ "E.T. Starring in Sales of Toys". The New York Times. December 13, 1982. pp. D1, D8. Archived from the original on May 14, 2020.
- ^ Phipps, Keith (February 2, 2005). "Howard Scott Warshaw". A.V. Club. Retrieved June 16, 2016.
- ^ "Darksiders 2's $50 Million Budget Was "Ridiculous," Nordic Games CEO Says".
- ^ "Half-Life 2: $40 million in, still Steaming forward". Eurogamer. March 22, 2004. Retrieved June 16, 2016.
- ^ Eisenbeis, Richard (October 17, 2014). "The Long Development of Korea's Next Big MMORPG". Kotaku. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
- ^ Plunkett, Luke (April 13, 2010). "Why The Halo MMO Was Cancelled". Kotaku. Archived from the original on June 19, 2018. Retrieved April 12, 2016.
- ^ Frank, Allegra (May 12, 2016). "Report: Fable Legends was a $75M project 'nobody' wanted to work on". Polygon. Retrieved June 7, 2016.
- ^ Zelfden, N. Van (February 16, 2009). "What's Killing the Video-Game Business?". Slate. ISSN 1091-2339. Retrieved August 26, 2015.
- ^ Schreier, Jason (November 3, 2021). "Take-Two's 2K Cancels $53 Million Game From Hangar 13". Bloomberg News. Retrieved November 8, 2021.
- ^ "GTA V dev costs over $137 million, says analyst". gamesindustry.biz. February 1, 2013. Retrieved January 2, 2017.
- ^ a b Takahashi, Dean (October 31, 2018). "Red Dead Redemption 2 could hit 20 million in sales — and turn a profit — by December". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on November 1, 2018. Retrieved March 1, 2021.
- ^ Snider, Mike (October 26, 2015). "Microsoft's latest 'Halo' video game aims to power up Xbox One system". USA Today. Archived from the original on October 26, 2015. Retrieved December 4, 2022.
- ^ Bolding, Jonathan (November 7, 2020). "Square Enix reports $48M loss following release of underperforming Marvel's Avengers". PC Gamer. Retrieved November 9, 2020.
- ^ a b Khan, Imad (August 1, 2020). "Like Old Hollywood Movies, Video Games Get a Polish for New Audiences". The New York Times. Retrieved December 15, 2022.
- ^ Nunneley, Stephany (September 8, 2011). "Max Payne 3 could cost Rockstar $105 million to develop, says analyst". VG247. Retrieved August 29, 2021.
- ^ Handrahan, Matthew (March 27, 2013). "Single-player IP will cause problems for Square Enix". Gamesindustry.biz. Gamer Network. Retrieved August 29, 2021.
- ^ Pham, Alex; Friedman, Josh (September 24, 2007). "'Halo 3' guns for $150 million". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 29, 2022.
- ^ Niemi, Liisa (October 27, 2023). "Alan Wake II on yksi Suomen kalleimmista kulttuurituotteista, ja siitä voi tulla Remedylle kultakaivos" [Alan Wake II is one of the most expensive cultural products in Finland, and it can become a gold mine for Remedy]. Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). Archived from the original on October 27, 2023. Retrieved June 30, 2024.
- ^ "'Grand Theft Auto IV' rolling out". East Bay Times. April 28, 2008. Archived from the original on March 31, 2024. Retrieved March 31, 2024.
- ^ Travers, Alan (February 1, 2013). "GTA 5' Costs $265 Million To Develop And Market, Making It The Most Expensive Video Game Ever Produced: Report". GamesIndustry.biz. Archived from the original on February 4, 2013. Retrieved September 9, 2013.
- ^ Fritz, Ben (January 20, 2012). "Star Wars: The Old Republic — the story behind a galactic gamble". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on October 6, 2014. Retrieved October 4, 2014.
- ^ Mackey, Bob (August 14, 2014). Gaming's Greatest Flops: Too Human. USgamer.
- ^ Schiesel, Seth (May 16, 2010). "Video Game Review - 'Red Dead Redemption' Brings Old West to Life". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 28, 2014. Retrieved September 4, 2014.
- ^ Stuart, Keith (August 27, 2010). "Realtime Worlds: an inside story". The Guardian. Archived from the original on April 7, 2015. Retrieved September 29, 2015.
- ^ Fritz, Ben (August 25, 2013). "Disney Tries Anew to Raise Its Score on Digital Games". The Wall Street Journal.
- ^ Yarwood, Jack (July 30, 2024). "Did Activision's Deadpool Game Really Cost $100 Million To Make?". Time Extension. Archived from the original on July 30, 2024. Retrieved July 31, 2024.
- ^ "20 of the Most Expensive Games Ever Made". GameSpot. Archived from the original on June 2, 2015. Retrieved June 8, 2016.
- ^ Kent, Gordon (March 1, 2017). "Edmonton's BioWare uses upcoming release of Mass Effect: Andromeda to push for industry tax credits". Edmonton Journal. Archived from the original on June 20, 2018. Retrieved September 22, 2018.
- ^ Bercovici, Jeff (November 26, 2012). "With 'Defiance,' Comcast's Syfy Bets $100M On Convergence Of TV And Videogames". Forbes. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
- ^ Evenson, Laura (September 9, 1994). "Video games getting movie-style premieres". San Francisco Chronicle. p. 15. Retrieved October 10, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Kronke, David (October 15, 1994). "It's Gonna Be a Video Jungle Out There: Video-game stars Donkey Kong and Sonic the Hedgehog will battle it out with new games backed by tech advances and mega-marketing". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on September 18, 2015. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
- ^ "Video game set during Cold War". Los Angeles Times. November 9, 2010. p. 23. Retrieved November 22, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Pham, Alex; Fritz, Ben (January 11, 2011). "DC Universe Online: $50 million gamble aims for audience that World of Warcraft 'can't touch'". Hero Complex – movies, comics, pop culture – Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on January 19, 2014. Retrieved July 5, 2016.
- ^ Geoghegan, Kev (May 27, 2011). "Will L.A. Noire change the game for actors?". BBC News.
- ^ Casey Corr, O. (December 16, 1990). "Move To Level Two - Ho A Hurdle, Dodge A Fireball On The Way To Finding The Spirit Of America's Favorite Toy". Seattle Times. Archived from the original on June 28, 2018. Retrieved June 27, 2018.
- ^ "Nintendo fuels "Mario Mania" with "Super Mario Bros. 3"". The Indianapolis Star. April 9, 1990. p. 22. Retrieved February 20, 2021.
- ^ Long, Andrew. "Financial Fantasy X". RPGamer. Archived from the original on February 6, 2009. Retrieved November 21, 2008.
- ^ Ward, David (September 24, 2007). "Microsoft boosts 'Halo' hype". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 29, 2022.