10 Games You Didn’t Know Had a Budget of More Than $100 Million
These games have stretched the limits of what the industry previously thought possbile with their size, scope and sales.
- Modern gaming has evolved to new heights with the advent of better hadware and software.
- These evolutions have allowed developers to create innovative and ambitious concepts.
- Developers have begun to create elaborate titles that push the boundaries of what modern games can deliver to their players.
When thinking about games, one often considers the cost of buying them off storefronts like Steam, PlayStation, or Xbox. But many gamers fail to consider the costs that developers and studios must incur in order to deliver the best possible experience in their titles, made possible by improvements to gaming hardware and software.
That results in a natural increase in the budget that is required to make a quality game, an umbrella that encompasses both development and marketing costs for the best experiences on offer. We take a look at some of the most expensive games to grace players’ screens in modern times.
10. Shadow of the Tomb Raider
This gripping finale to the Survivor trilogy from Eidos and Square Enix saw players take on the role of Lara Croft in a race against Trinity and time as she attempted to thwart a Mayan apocalypse. Despite being released in 2018 for previous-gen consoles, this addition to the popular Tomb Raider franchise was a visual and technical masterpiece at the time, going well over $100 million in development and marketing costs that ultimately turned out to be money well-spent considering the strong commercial and critical response it managed to garner.
9. Metal Gear Solid V: Phantom Pain
The ninth installment in the successful Metal Gear franchise marked the final title for Hideo Kojima during his time at Konami, following the adventures of Punished “Venom” Snake as he sliced and diced his way through Soviet Russia on a quest for vengeance against those who wreaked havoc on forces during events in Ground Zero.
Factoring in the game’s post-release content and patches, its development went well over $100 million, allowing it to occupy a place of honor among the most expensive games ever made.
8. Defiance
An MMO third-person shooter that was launched for the PS3, Xbox 360, and Windows back in 2018 with enhanced editions coming out for the next generation of consoles, Trion Worlds’ stab at science-fiction was a largely successful presence in modern gaming, with Defiance enjoying a shelf-life that other live service titles would be envious of even today.
With its development costs hitting the $80 million mark for the original release adding to the costs to make an enhanced edition, Defiance easily finds a place among the most expensive games in history considering that its accompanying television series was also a part of the game’s cost.
7. Star Wars: The Old Republic
Bioware’s MMORPG based on the Star Wars franchise on Windows continues to be an attractive option to fans of the franchise looking for an RPG to sink their time into. With several classes and multiple storylines on offer at the time of its 2012 release, The Old Republic’s reputation as one of gaming’s most expensive titles to develop is well-earned considering its $200 million dollar budget over 12 years of its existence.
However, its continued success has more than made up for it and Ubisoft is sure to envy the attention it receives considering the company’s own take on the popular science fiction franchise failed to capture the market it was intended for.
6. Deadpool
High Moon Studios and Activision’s take on the Merc with a Mouth was an expensive yet successful outing for the popular Marvel character with a well-realized storyline working in tandem with an exciting gameplay loop to keep its players hooked. The title could arguably be seen as the inspiration for the character’s continued presence in modern gaming when its humorous fourth wall breaks are taken into account.
Following Deadpool’s attempts to thwart Mister Sinister with Cable and the X-Men in tow, its $100 million budget included the original release on the PS3, Xbox 360, and Windows with remastered versions for their respective successors were also factors in its cost.
5. Battlefield 4
The 2013 sequel to 2011’s Battlefield 3 marked a collaboration between DICE and Electronic Arts in a big-budget addition to one of gaming’s biggest FPS franchises that sold over 7 million copies with a lot of praise directed at its gameplay and multiplayer systems even as its main campaign did not manage to achieve the results that its developer and publisher may have hoped for.
That did not stop Battlefield 4 from being a successful outing for DICE, more than justifying its $100 million budget considering its presence on multiple consoles over two generations.
4. Cyberpunk 2077
CD Projekt Red’s follow-up to The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt may have suffered from some initial setbacks and a disastrous launch on the newly-released PS5 but has managed to claw its way back into the good graces of the studio’s long-term fans while even surpassing expectations with its Phantom Liberty DLC being a very successful addition to the base game.
It remains at the top of any list of the most expensive video games to make considering that its updates, DLC, and added development costs took it well over $400 million – a number that reflects the quality of the experience it currently has to offer to its players.
3. Red Dead Redemption 2
Rockstar’s take on the Wild West continued in its very successful prequel to the original title in the franchise and was well received for an engaging narrative and a sprawling open world that players found hard to leave behind every time they took on all of the activities it had to offer.
The level of detail that it managed to achieve for the PS4 and Xbox One alongside its presence on Windows made it a massive success that more than justified a budget that skyrockets over $500 billion when marketing costs are factored in. With rumors of another addition to the franchise already in play, it could very well be that Rockstar could create a more ambitious and expensive title for the franchise’s next outing.
2. Marvel’s Spider-Man 3
With a sequel to 2022’s Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 almost certainly confirmed considering the cliffhanger that it ended on, Sony and Insomniac’s next outing is already making waves with a rumored budget of $385 million that is sure to increase as the game enters production after the release of Marvel’s Wolverine.
Considering that a PS5 Pro enhanced version of the 2022 title has since been released, the new game is sure to bring enhanced visuals and spectacular set pieces to the table that are sure to make it among modern gaming’s expensive titles that could very well be a swan song for Peter Parker and Miles Morales, cementing their places as the protectors of New York while further developing their synergy as webslinging superheroes.
1. Star Citizen
A space trading and combat simulation game that has been in development for over a decade, Cloud Imperium’s attempt at creating a title that can withstand the test of time while bringing a unique new universe to the table takes the crown of being modern gaming’s most expensive title to develop considering that its costs now stand at over $700 million.
With no release date for the final title currently announced, that number could very well go up as Star Citizen enters the final stages of development with promising news regarding the title being announced in 2024.
While this list is by no means exhaustive, it paints a picture of a gaming industry where individual titles and gaming consoles get pricier to purchase for gamers while development costs on modern games continue to go up as new hardware enables visions for experiences that studios could only dream of in the past.
It’s good news for an industry that thrives on creating memorable, interactive, and nuanced narratives with strong gameplay that continue to be a form of entertainment that other media could find very hard to emulate.
