20 of the Most Expensive Games Ever Made

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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