Top 10 Most Expensive Video Games Ever Developed

Think of how far the film industry has come since the days of silent, black and white movies. We now have a kajillion pixels with state of the art special effects. While the progress of film is definitely apparent, take a moment to consider how far video games have come in a much shorter amount of time.

In the 1970’s, video games started gaining popularity in what began as huge square pixels shooting at smaller square pixels. Today, video games transport us into realistic scenes where we can look through the scope of a sniper rifle or see the hairs coming out of someone’s nose from 500 feet away. Seriously. While some may feel that video games are too violent, they provide a great outlet to those that need to release some pent-up aggression, instead of taking it out one someone during a traffic gridlock in the real world.

As video games have grown in popularity, so have their budgets, which now rival those of major Hollywood productions. Together, marketing and production budgets can make games cost over a quarter billion dollars. Today, we’ll focus purely on the development costs associated with these games. Let’s just say, many of these games were delayed, which drove up their prices quite a bit. Here’s the top 10 most expensive video games ever developed. Which ones made the list and which ones didn’t? Let’s start with one of the most highly anticipated games of 2014.

#10 – Watch Dogs ($68 Million)

Watch-Dogs“Watch Dogs” is one of the two newest games on this list, and was released in May 2014 by Ubisoft. “Watch Dogs” is an open world game that was designed to allow players to explore a fictionalized version of Chicago and bears a slight resemblance to the “Grand Theft Auto” series, which you will hear more about later. “Watch Dogs” places you into the role of a hacker, who is also pretty handy with a gun.

“Watch Dogs” received a lot of hype when it first came out. Many critics said that the open world version of Chicago gave players plenty of time to explore, even if they weren’t active in a mission. When 2014 finally came to a close, “Watch Dogs” sold more than 10 million copies, making it the best-selling game in the Ubisoft’s history. Of course, despite the success, that doesn’t stop some gamers from complaining about the company or the game’s features.

#9 – Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots ($70 Million)

Metal-Gear-Solid-4-Guns-of-the-PatriotsThe “Metal Gear Solid” video game series is one of the most legendary of all-time. The first “Metal Gear Solid” video game came out all the way back in 1987 on both the MSX2 (which you probably didn’t have) and the NES (which you probably did have). Character development was not very important in the 8-bit days, but the “Metal Gear” franchise has significantly improved over time.

The fourth “Metal Gear Solid” edition features an elderly version of Solid Snake, the main character in the series. Made in 2008, the fourth release was set in 2014, which was technically the future at the time. “Guns of the Patriots” is a direct sequel to the hit game, “Sons of Liberty”, and is based on Snake setting out to embark on ‘one last mission’ with an array of stealthy attacks and gun battles against humans and cyborg ninjas alike.



#8 – Defiance ($80 Million)

Defiance“Defiance” is what is known as a Mass Multiplayer Online game (or MMO, for short). It was developed in collaboration with a TV show of the same name that debuted on the SyFy Channel in 2013. “Defiance” takes you on a journey of fighting off the alien race that’s destroying humanity after the Pale Wars in the San Francisco area. Trion and the SyFy Channel really wanted to make this game so more people would watch the show. With five years in development, the game ended up costing a fortune.

The reviews for “Defiance” weren’t great; it is now even free to play on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC. “Defiance” wasn’t a critical or commercial hit like many of the others on this list, but more of a long production with a lot of delays that caused the high budget. If you can find someone to play “Defiance” with you, consider yourself lucky.



#7 – Red Dead Redemption ($90 Million)

Red-Dead-RedemptionRockstar Games is known for their big budget open world titles, and this is the first of many to appear on this list. The game studio is better known for “Grand Theft Auto”, but has produced a couple of other hits, including “Red Dead Revolver” for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. “Red Dead Revolver” was a big enough success that a highly anticipated sequel was released in 2010, called “Red Dead Redemption”.

“Red Dead Redemption” takes place in the beginning of the 20th century out in the old west. You play the fictional outlaw John Marston and do bounty hunting jobs for the government because they have your wife and son held hostage. Since there were no cars out in Mexico/California at the time, you ride a horse around instead. That horse becomes your best friend during the game, and ends up having far more sentimental value than any car.



#6 – Too Human ($100 Million)

Too-HumanThe only entrant from Canadian game developer Silicon Knights is the sixth most expensive production in video game history. “Too Human” wasn’t supposed to cost that much to make, as it was planned to be a four disc game for the original PlayStation console. After those plans fell through, Nintendo took a shot at the game but never released it. Microsoft came to the rescue and finally released “Too Human” in 2008, nine years after it was originally set to release.

“Too Human” takes a page from Norse mythology and is set in an alternate universe in the future. The Norse Gods that you know from mythology are actually androids in this game, and have to take on Loki as he tries to destroy humanity (which is a bit of a common occurrence). Baldur is the player controlled God who is deemed “Too Human” because he isn’t android-like, apparently. No wonder it took this a decade to get released!



#5 – Grand Theft Auto IV ($100 Million)

Grand-Theft-Auto-IVRockstar Games came out with three “Grand Theft Auto” games for the PlayStation 2 with “GTA 3”, “Vice City” and “San Andreas”. Those three were among the most critically acclaimed games of all-time. Because of their success, everyone was dying to see what a new GTA would look like on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. According to critics, it was everything they hoped it would be and more, with scores ranging from 9.5 to a perfect 10 across the board.

This version of “Grand Theft Auto” puts you in the shoes of Niko Bellic, an immigrant who is trying to make it big in Liberty City (a fictional version of New York City). With a compelling storyline, incredible graphics at the time and replay value through the roof, people were smitten with “Grand Theft Auto IV”. If you want hours of comedy, check out some of the videos on YouTube of modifications made to the game by PC players.



#4 – Max Payne 3 ($105 Million)

Max-Payne-3Rockstar Games makes yet another appearance with the third game in the “Max Payne” series. “Max Payne 3” was released in 2012, nine years after the second game. If you aren’t familiar with the character of Max Payne, he became a vigilante after his wife and child were killed (just like in pretty much all of the Rockstar Games). In this storyline, Max is sent to Brazil to

become a private security contractor.

While being tasked with protecting some of the most important people in Brazil, things go south for Max. After he thought he had gotten away from his problems in America, he ends up having to embark on a long journey to make things right. “Max Payne 3” received strong ratings from critics and got off to a hot start in the sales department with three million units sold in its first week. The sales eventually cooled down, but enough sales were made to make Rockstar a big profit.



#3 – Grand Theft Auto V ($137 Million)

Grand-Theft-Auto-VYou might recall people crying tears of joy after Rockstar announced that there would be a follow up to “Grand Theft Auto IV”. After years of anticipation and months of delays, the finished product (in terms of single player) was everything that people were hoping for. The online capabilities struggled at first (and still slightly do), but many people agree that this is one of the best video games ever released.

Originally released in 2013, Grand Theft Auto V was remastered for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 in 2014 with enhanced graphics and extra bits and pieces in the gameplay. GTA V takes place in fictional Los Angeles (Los Santos) as well as the region to the north, and for the first time, featured three different playable characters linked into one intertwined storyline. The game was a huge hit, making $800 million in the first 24 hours alone.



#2 – Destiny ($140 Million)

DestinyFrom 1991 to 2001, Bungie was a relatively unknown game developer that just made (unpopular) computer games. That all changed when the company released “Halo: Combat Evolved” for the Xbox in 2001. The two sequels that followed (“Halo 2” and “Halo 3”) were considered two of the most entertaining multiplayer games ever created. However, Bungie didn’t have ownership of the “Halo” franchise, and Microsoft parted ways with them after “Halo 3: ODST and Reach”.

The point of this story is that after “Halo 3: ODST and Reach”, everyone was waiting for Bungie’s next game, “Destiny”, which was finally released in 2014. “Destiny” takes place in a similar universe as “Halo” and allows you to build your character in the game with upgrades. Even though the reviews weren’t as perfect as anticipated, “Destiny” still made well over $500 million.



#1 – Star Wars: The Old Republic ($200 Million)

Star-Wars-The-Old-RepublicOne of the most popular online multiplayer games of all-time is “Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic”. Many people were wondering what BioWare had in store for them after the third version in the series “Knights of the Old Republic 3” was cancelled. “Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic” was good, but it wasn’t the groundbreaking kind of game that people were hoping for. Despite getting good reviews, the actual game itself was disappointing in contrast to its high budget.

The “Star Wars” universe is incredibly expansive, and “The Old Republic” takes place after a time of peace between the Sith Empire and the Republic. You can join into either one of these groups when playing, depending on if you want to be good or evil. Within three days after “Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic” was released, one million people had subscribed. But just a year later, subscribers dwindled down significantly.