List of most expensive video games to develop

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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.

List

Name Year Developer Publisher Platform Development cost
(million US$) 		Marketing cost
(million US$) 		Total cost
(million US$) 		Total cost with 2024 inflation
(million US$)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 2009 Infinity Ward Activision PC, PS3, Xbox 360 50 200 250[1] 355
Grand Theft Auto V 2013 Rockstar North Rockstar Games PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One 137[2] 128 265[3] 347
Star Citizen ? Cloud Imperium Games Cloud Imperium Games PC 215+[4] 35+[4] 250+[4] 250+[4]
Star Wars: The Old Republic 2011 BioWare Electronic Arts, LucasArts PC 200[5] 200+[5] 271+
Halo 2 2004 Bungie Microsoft Studios PC, Xbox, Xbox One 40[6] 80[7] 120[6] 258
Final Fantasy VII 1997 Square Square, Sony Computer Entertainment (PS), Eidos Interactive (PC) PS1 40–45[8][9] 40–100[10][9] 80–145 152–275
Destiny 2014 Bungie Activision PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One <140[11] <140[11] 140[11][12][13] 180
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 2018 Eidos Montréal Square Enix PC, PS4, Xbox One 75–100[14] 35 110–135 133–164
Dead Space 2 2011 Visceral Games Electronic Arts PC, PS3, Xbox 360 60[15] 60 120 163
Grand Theft Auto IV 2008 Rockstar North Rockstar Games PS3, Xbox 360, PC 100+[16] 142+
APB: All Points Bulletin 2010 Realtime Worlds Electronic Arts, Realtime Worlds, Deep Silver (PS4, XB1) PC, PS4, Xbox One 100[17] 140
Max Payne 3 2012 Rockstar Studios Rockstar Games PC, Xbox 360, PS3 105[18] 105[18] 139
Battlefield 4 2013 EA DICE Electronic Arts PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One 100[19] 100 131
Deadpool 2013 High Moon Studios Activision PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PC 100[20] 131
Disney Infinity 2013 Avalanche Software, Altron (3DS) Disney Interactive Studios PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, Wii U, 3DS, PC 100[21] 131
Red Dead Redemption 2010 Rockstar San Diego Rockstar Games PS3, Xbox 360 80–100[22] 112–140
Tomb Raider 2013 Crystal Dynamics Square Enix PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One 100[23] 131
Enter the Matrix 2003 Shiny Entertainment Atari, Inc. GameCube, PC, PS2, Xbox 20[24] 67[24] 111
Shenmue 1999 Sega AM2 Sega Dreamcast 47–70[25][26] 47–70[25] 86–128
Defiance 2013 Trion Worlds, Human Head Studios Trion Worlds PC, PS3, Xbox 360 80 80[27] 105
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 2015 CD Projekt Red CD Projekt PC, Xbox One, PS4 46[28] 35[29] 81 104
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain 2015 Kojima Productions Konami PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One 80 80[30] 103
Mass Effect: Andromeda 2017 BioWare Electronic Arts PC, PS4, Xbox One 76[31] 94
Watch Dogs 2014 Ubisoft Montreal Ubisoft PC, PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One 68[32] 68+ 88+
Crysis 3 2013 Crytek Electronic Arts PS3, Xbox 360, PC 66[33][34][clarification needed] 66 86
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier 2012 Ubisoft Paris, Red Storm Entertainment, Ubisoft Bucharest, Ubisoft Kiev (PC) Ubisoft PC, Xbox 360, PS3 65[35] 86
Too Human 2008 Silicon Knights Microsoft Game Studios Xbox 360 60–100[36] 85–142
Gran Turismo 5 2010 Polyphony Digital Sony Computer Entertainment PS3 60[37] 60 84
Rift 2011 Trion Worlds Trion Worlds PC 50 10–20 60–70[38] 81–95
Gears of War: Judgment 2013 Epic Games, People Can Fly Microsoft Studios Xbox 360 60[39] 78
Heavy Rain 2010 Quantic Dream Sony Computer Entertainment PS3, PS4 21.8[40][41] 30.4[40][41] 52.2[40][41] 73
Final Fantasy IX 2000 Square Square PS1 40[42] 40+ 71+
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial 1982 Atari, Inc. Atari, Inc. Atari 2600 22[43] 69
DC Universe Online 2011 Daybreak Game Company Daybreak Game Company, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox One 50[44] 50[44] 68
L.A. Noire 2011 Team Bondi Rockstar Games PS3, PS4, Switch, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PC 50[45] 50 68
Darksiders II 2012 Vigil Games THQ PS3, PS4, PC, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One 50[46] 66
Gears of War 3 2011 Epic Games Microsoft Studios Xbox 360 48–60[47] 48–60 65–81
Half-Life 2 2004 Valve Valve PC, PS3, Xbox, Xbox 360 40[48] 40 65
World of Warcraft 2004 Blizzard Entertainment Blizzard Entertainment PC 40[49][unreliable source?] 65

Canceled

Known canceled projects with a cost of more than 50 million US$
Name Year

started

Year

canceled

Developer Publisher Platform Development Cost

(million US$)

Marketing Cost

(million US$)

Total Cost

(million US$)

Total with 2017 inflation

(million US$)

Halo MMO (Titan Project) Canceled ? Ensemble Studios Microsoft Game Studios PC 90[50] 90 127
Fable Legends Canceled 2016 Lionhead Studios Microsoft Studios PC, Xbox One 75[51] 75+ 95+
This Is Vegas Canceled ? Surreal Software Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment PC, PS3, Xbox 360 40–50[52] 40–50 56–70

See also

References

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  2. ^ "GTA V dev costs over $137 million, says analyst". gamesindustry.biz. February 1, 2013. Retrieved January 2, 2017.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ a b c d "Cloud Imperium Financials for 2018". cloudimperiumgames.com. Retrieved December 22, 2019.
  5. ^ a b 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.
  6. ^ a b https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFC3h8GACWE 42m 38s
  7. ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFC3h8GACWE 42m 39s
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  10. ^ Stanton, Rich (June 2, 2013). "Final Fantasy 7 retrospective". Eurogamer.net. Retrieved March 20, 2014.
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  12. ^ "Activision CEO Bobby Kotick stated that the total cost was $500 million, but Bungie's Eric Osborne stated that the budget was "Nowhere near $500 Million"". Retrieved October 19, 2015.
  13. ^ Karmali, Luke (May 6, 2014). "Destiny is a $500 Million Gamble for Activision, says Kotick". IGN. Retrieved September 8, 2014.
  14. ^ 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.
  15. ^ "Dead Space 2 Dev Says Game Cost $60M To Make And Sold Millions, But Failed Commercially". Retrieved August 18, 2018.
  16. ^ Androvitch, Mark (April 30, 2008). "GTA IV: Most expensive game ever developed?". Games Industry International.
  17. ^ Stuart, Keith (August 27, 2010). "Realtime Worlds: an inside story". theguardian.com. Guardian Media Group. Archived from the original on April 7, 2015. Retrieved September 29, 2015.
  18. ^ a b "Max Payne 3's Sales May Be Hitting Rockstar Where It Hurts". www.gametrailers.com. June 15, 2012.
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  23. ^ Phillips, Tom (January 17, 2014). "Tomb Raider finally achieved profitability "by the end of last year"". Eurogamer.
  24. ^ a b Pham, Alex (May 16, 2003). "'Enter the Matrix': An alignment of the digital planets". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved June 16, 2016.
  25. ^ 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.
  26. ^ Robinson, Martin (June 22, 2015). "Yu Suzuki wants $10 million to make a truly open world Shenmue 3".
  27. ^ Bercovici, Jeff (November 26, 2012). "With 'Defiance,' Comcast's Syfy Bets $100M On Convergence Of TV And Videogames". Forbes. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
  28. ^ "CD PROJEKT Group – first half of 2015".
  29. ^ "The Witcher 3 sells 6m copies in six weeks". Retrieved August 26, 2015.
  30. ^ Yin-Poole, Wesley (August 3, 2015). "New article on Konami paints a bleak picture". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Retrieved August 3, 2015.
  31. ^ 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.
  32. ^ 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.
  33. ^ Nutt, Christian (March 1, 2013). "What's holding back Crysis 3?". Gamasutra. Retrieved July 19, 2015.
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  52. ^ Zelfden, N. Van (February 16, 2009). "What's Killing the Video-Game Business?". Slate. ISSN 1091-2339. Retrieved August 26, 2015.
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