10 Most expensive games of all time

Nowadays, games are as expensive to produce Hollywood films. In fact, some of them have ended up costing way more than even the most expensive feature films. But unlike the movies, the amount of money that is spent behind their production is a closely guarded secret. Most of the costs are purely based on an analyst estimates. When the specific numbers are released, not only the production but things like marketing and packaging gets in the mix as well. Globally, the video game market is now thought to generate over $80 billion a year, with increasingly large budgets for titles.Here, we have prepared a list rating the most expensive games ever to be developed.

#10 Red Dead Redemption

We start off with the open world cowboy adventure game, Red Dead Redemption. The game was produced by Rockstar games for around $100million and the first of four Rockstar games in this list. The game is said to have taken more than six years to develop and was delayed several times.

It is set in 1911, during the decline of the American Frontier and follows John Marston, a former outlaw whose wife and son were taken hostage by the government in ransom for his services as a bounty hunter. Having no other choice, Marston sets out to bring the three members of his former gang to justice.

The game was critically acclaimed for its visuals, dynamically-generated music, voice acting, gameplay, and story. It has sold more than 12 million copies worldwide and has received numerous awards.

#9 Too Human

The Xbox 360 exclusive game, Too Human, was released back in 2008 by Silicon Knights and Microsoft Studios. As part of a planned game trilogy, the story is a fictional futuristic retelling of Norse mythology that portrays the Esir, the Norse gods, as cybernetically enhanced humans, tasked with protecting mankind from Loki's army of machines.

The player takes the role of the Norse god Baldur, who is less cybernetic than the other gods, thus being "too human". The game budget has been estimated around $100million. It received fair reception form the fans and didn’t turn out as expected.

#8 Grand Theft Auto IV

Grand Theft Auto IV was the most expensive game to be produced when it released back in 2008. The game’s producer, Rockstar, estimated it cost around $100 million to develop and within 24 hours, the game sold 3.6 million copies, shattering all sales records.

GTA IV also became the fastest-selling entertainment product in history at the time, earning $310 million in its first day and $500 million in its first week.

The game received praises for it’s narrative and open world design, with criticism directed at the game's depiction of violence and influence of alcohol.

#7 Max Payne 3

The third Rockstar Game and seventh on this list is, Max Payne 3. Players take the role of Max Payne, a former detective who has become a vigilante after the murder of his wife and daughter. This game is set nine years after the events of the second game in the Max Payne series. The game garnered praises for its story and action.

MP3 received high sales and said to have shipped nearly three million units in the first week of the release and was estimated around $105million to develop the game.

#6 Shenmue II

The 2001 Sega’s Shenmue II is sixth on the list and cost around $132million in total. This action adventure game was released for Dreamcast and Xbox and is the sequel to 99’s Shenmue. The game was initially released in Dreamcast and garnered postive reviews and sales worldwide.

The Dreamcast version of Shenmue II has a data transfer feature in which players can import their game-save data from Shenmue, carrying over in-game money, collected items, and martial arts move sets. Following from where Shenmue left off, this game starts with Ryo arriving in Hong Kong and searches for his Master Tao Lishao.

#5 Final Fantasy VII

Final Fantasy VII is the seventh game in the Final Fantasy series and the first game in the series to use 3D Computer graphics, fully rendered characters on pre-rendered backgrounds and to be released in Europe.

Final Fantasy VII follows protagonist Cloud Strife, a mercenary who initially joins the eco-terrorist rebel organization AVALANCHE to stop the world-controlling megacorporation Shinra from draining the life of the planet for use as an energy source.

The game came out in 1997 following a huge three-month-long marketing campaign in the United States that included TV and theatrical commercials, a holiday promotion with Pepsi, and print ads. The game’s development took $45million and had a U.S. marketing budget of around $100 million, making it $145million in total.

#4 Star Wars: The Old Republic

BioWare and EA’s, Star Wars: The Old Republic, takes the fourth position, losing it to the COD: MW2 by $50 millions. The game was developed with more than $200 million, and got around 1 million subscribers within the first three days after it launched, making it the fastest-growing massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) ever at the time.

At the time of 2011, this game topped the list as the most expensive video game of all time and was later succeeded by Grand Theft V.

#3 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

The sixth installment in the Call of Duty series and the second in Modern Warfare series, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, is the third most expensive video game to be developed. In this first person shooter video game, the player controls five different characters over the course of seven days.

It was predicted before that this game would cost around $50 million to produce, but adding the production and distribution costs, the game’s launch budget was announced as $250 millions.

#2 Grand Theft Auto V

Second most expensive game to be developed is Rockstar Games’s Grand Theft Auto V. Bungie’s Destiny succeeded this title and claimed the first position as it’s own. This game was developed with a whopping $265 million, half less than what Bungie made. But the interesting news is that this GTA V won seven Guiness World Records when it released back in 2013, that includes:

Best-selling action-adventure videogame in 24 hours
Best-selling videogame in 24 hours
Fastest entertainment property to gross $1 billion
Fastest videogame to gross $1 billion
Highest grossing videogame in 24 hours
Highest revenue generated by an entertainment product in 24 hours (it managed $815.7 million)
Most viewed trailer for an action-adventure videogame

#1 Destiny

Bungie and Activision’s "shared-world shooter", Destiny, tops the list for the most expensive video game to be developed. It is the biggest video game of 2014 and cost a staggering $500 million to make. Destiny smashed the record which was held by Grand Theft Auto V previously as the most expensive video game.

Destiny is set 700 years in the future, with Earth and humanity in the midst of a war with a mysterious entity called “The Darkness” and its various alien allies. It seems the investment was worth every penny, as the title exceeded worldwide sales of $800 million on its first day.