Halo 2- Metacritic Score: 95/100
Game development can be an expensive endeavor. Between the cost of producing graphics engines and gameplay systems, coding a world to feel real and engaging, and financing the sometimes insane amount of time a team of developers will put in, development budgets can quickly balloon into the hundreds of millions if developers aren’t careful. Sometimes this is for the best, allowing a groundbreaking title to make it into the hands of a world full of fans that espouse it as one of the greatest works of all time; other times, it proves to be the title and the team’s downfall, setting the bar for success so high that it has no chance of recouping its costs. With that in mind, we’ve got five of the most expensive video games ever made and how well they faired after their release.
Divisive endings aside, few could argue that Halo 2 wasn’t a juggernaut of a followup to the groundbreaking first game in the series. Introducing a slew of new weaponry to players’ arsenals, as well as the ability to dual-wield, the game cranked up the intensity of the fire fights to 11 to compliment the bombast and heightened stakes of the story. Audio and voice work were a cut above, drawing players into the world with masterful performances complimented by enthralling orchestral and operatic music. In addition to this, the game led the charge in Microsoft’s dominance of console gaming’s online multiplayer, setting the standard for what would come to be expected of later iterations. Hundreds of players flocked to what was arguably the best multiplayer shooter ever created, and many would stay long after other games tried to ape its success.
Of course, pulling this off cost Microsoft and the game’s developer Bungie a pretty penny. The game’s initial development costs have been reported to be around $20 million, while the marketing costs have been estimated to be as high as $80 million. Thankfully, the game easily recouped this within its lifetime, but the amount was still staggering and hung heavy over the game’s expectations before release.
Final Fantasy VII – Metacritic Score: 92/100
The first Final Fantasy title to make the jump to 3D, Final Fantasy VII, was revolutionary in more ways than one. The game offered a massive world to explore full of people to meet, monsters to fight, and a number of dungeons to explore for hidden secrets and power. This was in addition to the game’s story, which saw the now iconic Cloud Strife joined by a cast of rag-tag freedom fighters in a quest to topple the evil corporation Shinra, and stop the world-ending ambitions of the villain Sephiroth. All of this was rendered in graphics that were, for the time, an exceptional leap forward with 3D character models and cut scenes, something fans had never seen from the series before.
Such an endeavor had a high toll for developer Square Soft, now Square Enix, who sunk $40 million into the total development costs of the title, with as much as $100 million of which spent on marketing. When adjusted to account for inflation, this comes to a grand total of $221 million, leaving fans to wonder what would have happened if the game hadn’t ended up being the hit that it was and, frankly, needed to be.
Star Wars: The Old Republic – Metacritic Score: 85/100
Building an entire galaxy worth of content is no small feat, and EA and Bioware can attest to just how costly it can be. First released back in 2011, this MMORPG title set in the Star Wars universe sought to provide an experience on par with the lauded series, and it largely succeeded. Allowing players to choose from one of eight classes, the game offers a depth of options for how to play the game. One could be a space-faring smuggler taking any and all jobs that come their way, whether it’s from the peace seeking revolutionaries or mad warlords Or, they could be a light saber-wielding Jedi, facing down the re-emergent Sith in a battle for the fate of all life. This is only enhanced by the wealth of dialogue options, which some have compared to those in Bioware’s other standout franchise, Mass Effect.
This, however, has and continues to drive up the cost of development for the game. While no firm total has yet been given or found, the last estimate placed the cost at $200 million or more. With the game still seeing regular support from players, and the team still working on the title with new updates and content, that number will only grow as the years go on.
Shenmue
Game Rankings Score: 89%
One of the older examples of an overly ambitious title, Shenmue was the poster child of its day for incredibly expensive to produce video games. Striving to make an open world title long before it was the norm to do so, it showed Dreamcast players just how immersive a game world could be with lively characters, realistic settings to explore, and a wealth of side content to keep people occupied for hours on end. Sega and Ys Net sunk an exorbitant amount of funds into the game’s budget to pull this off, with estimates for the cost once sitting at $70 million for game development alone (now closer to $103 million when adjusted for inflation). This was scaled back and confirmed to be $47 million by the creator in a 2011 GDC talk, which would total to $69 million with current inflation, but the game was truly a sink or swim endeavor and, at the time of its release, was one of the most expensive video games ever produced.
Unfortunately, this proved to be too great a challenge for the final product to overcome. While it was well received by critics and garnered a strong cult following, the title was considered a commercial failure and made the eventual development of the series’ second installment, which also underperformed, that much harder. This in turn led to the third installment being trapped in development hell for several years before finally being funded through Kickstarter in 2015.
*No Metacritic score is available for the first title, and so the older Game Rankings score was used instead. We apologize for the lack in consistency.
Grand Theft Auto V – Metacritic Score: 97/100
Being completely honest, this entire list could have been made up of Rockstar titles. From Red Dead Redemption to L.A. Noire, the famous studio has a knack for sinking fortunes worth of cash into their projects, and more often than not, it allows them to produce some of the most critically acclaimed titles around.
Of these though, Grand Theft Auto V sits at the top. With a final cost running to the tune of $265 million, or $278 million when adjusted for inflation, the game was mindbogglingly expensive to create, let alone market and produce. Of course, this money proved to be put to good use, as GTA V is seen as not only one of the best entries in the series, but one of the best reviewed games of all time. Set in a living, breathing world full of life-like characters, players can live and play in this world for hours on end both online and off. Want to stage a string of elaborate bank heists? Call up some friends and make your rise to infamy together. Interested in seeing what the world has to offer? Take a ride in any number of the game’s vehicles, listen to the array of different radio stations and then head over to a movie theater or amusement park to waste the day away. And hey, if you’re in the mood to see what the game’s main narrative is about, take the role of each of the game’s three distinct characters and see why this title is still paying dividends years after its initial release.
Know of some other great games that broke the bank to get made? Let us know about them in the comments below, and check out our feature on what money burner Rockstar’s next title, Red Dead Redemption 2, should and shouldn’t include in the game.
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