1. Destiny – 2014
Activision spent $500 million on the development and promotion of Destiny, the most expensive game ever made. Destiny cost more than most summer blockbusters!
2. Grand Theft Auto V – 2013
In Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto V, you can hijack an armored truck. The game’s developers might’ve had to do the same, given the $265 million price tag on the open-world action game.
3. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 – 2009
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 was an incredibly successful game that cost about $50 million to develop. Add on $200 million on launch and marketing costs, you’ve got a quarter-mil invested.
4. Star Wars: The Old Republic – 2011
The Star Wars MMORPG was developed by more than 800 people over six years and cost $200 million.
5. Final Fantasy VII – 1997
Spending $145 million on a game made in the ’90s is hard to wrap your mind around. At least the final product was one of the best RPGs of all time.
6. Shenmue II – 2001
The sequel to the original Shenmue cost $132 million.
7. Max Payne 3 – 2012
The gritty shooter from Rockstar was a $105 million expenditure for the developer. It sure was a better use of money than the movie.
8. Grand Theft Auto IV – 2008
Back in 2008, Grand Theft Auto IV was the most expensive game of all time, at $100M. Now that figure looks minuscule in comparison to other games’ big budgets.
9. Too Human – 2008
The Xbox 360 exclusive cost developer Silicon Knights $100 million to make. A sequel to the expensive original is reportedly in the works.
10. Red Dead Redemption – 2010
Red Dead Redemption will go down as one of Rockstar’s greatest efforts. Venturing into the wild, wild west tallied $100 million for the GTA developer.
11. Disney Infinity – 2013
Disney put more than $100 million into the Infinity franchise. Disney Infinity uses various figurines that sync with the game and allow custom, interchangeable gameplay.
12. Deadpool – 2013
Activision’s High Moon Studios spent an estimated $100 million on Deadpool. Unfortunately, the game was released to less-than-stellar reviews.
13. Tomb Raider – 2013
Reboots are never cheap, but they can definitely be worth it. This fresh take on the Tomb Raider franchise revitalized the game series and was well worth the $100 million price.
14. Defiance – 2013
Defiance was born out of a convergence of television and video games. Based on SyFy’s series of the same name, an MMORPG was released at a price tag of $80 million.
15. Shenmue – 1999
An extremely pricey game to make at $70 million, Shenmue took seven years to develop and sold just 1.2 million copies.
16. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots – 2008
With the amount of detail packed into Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, it’s shocking that Konami was able to bring it to the masses for just $70 million.
17. Watch Dogs – 2014
Watch Dogs was long in development before its release in 2014. The open-world hacking adventure cost $68 million to make.
18. Crysis 3 – 2013
According to the Crytek CEO, the third installment in the Crysis series cost three times the original. That puts the charge at $66 million for one beautifully constructed game.
19. Final Fantasy XIII – 2009
The 2009 RPG from Square Enix cost the Japanese developer $65 million to produce.
20. Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Future Soldier – 2012
The third-person cover-based shooter by Ubisoft comes in at $65 million.
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