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[Majine]

Don't forget, much of the budget for those top 30 expensive games is the marketing.

So that's why newer Sony games are so low

 

[Chobel]

Final Fantasy VII - 145,000,000

$145 mil in 1997. This is ridiculous, what was Square thinking at that time?

 

[Camp Lo]

It was cancelled 2007.

OK? So it wouldn't be like Defiance?

 

[3dmodeler]

How do they calculate the budget?

 

[Stike]

So, adjusted for inflation (or is that already?) FF7 is the most expensive game of ALL TIME?

Can't be right...

Concerning Star Citizen: Yeah, the game has quite a lot of funding, and I expect it to blow my socks off.

 

[BeforeU]

I don't buy that list at all.
gran turismo 5 not even 100m? (after countless delays, I actually read an article few years back that its one of the most expensive games).
MW2 more than 200m? (if that's true than non of the other code is in the list?)
Halo 3 more than Halo 4?

 

[Jarmel]

$145 mil in 1997. This is ridiculous, what was Square thinking at that time?

They wanted to make a great game.

 

[JayEH]

MGS4 didn't even do half the sale figures of MGS2, it really underperformed. So i really doubt that TPP will have that much bigger budget.

I'm pretty sure MGS2 sold 7 mil while MGS4 sold 6.

 

[Khezu]

4 Final Fantasy VII - 145,000,000

Huh, that's probably the most shocking out of that list.

 

[gundamkyoukai]

MGS4 didn't even do half the sale figures of MGS2, it really underperformed. So i really doubt that TPP will have that much bigger budget.

MGS3 also did not do as much as MGS2 if i remember right .
MGS2 is best selling MGS game and MGS3 is worst selling not counting handheld stuff from numbers i seeing .

 

[GameAddict411]

I'm pretty sure MGS2 sold 7 mil while MGS4 sold 6.

MGS2 sold around 20 mil if i remember correctly, but i am not too sure.

 

[Fezan]

How is heavy rain in that list. Wasn't the budget close to 20million

 

[SolidSnakex]

MGS2 sold around 20 mil if i remember correctly, but i am not too sure.

You definitely aren't remembering correctly. The entire franchise (MG1-MGS4) has only sold 33m units.

 

[Kyoufu]

How is heavy rain in that list. Wasn't the budget close to 20million

For just game development, yes, but when you add marketing costs it jumps to $50 million.

 

[gundamkyoukai]

MGS2 sold around 20 mil if i remember correctly, but i am not too sure.

Your joking MGS2 is no where near that number .

 

[liquidtmd]

From the Wiki page for FFVII

It was the most expensive video game of its time, with a budget of around US$45 million,[41] equivalent to $64 million in 2012.

So if that OP links figure is accurate, its plus and including the marketing budget. And in 1997, I remember FFVII being advertised EVERYWHERE so its probably legit.

 

[Biker19]

MGS4 didn't even do half the sale figures of MGS2, it really underperformed. So i really doubt that TPP will have that much bigger budget.

Nah. IIRC, someone from Konami said that about 4 million copies of MGS IV will have to sell at $60 apiece in order to break even on the project. They made that mark, & have even sold a lot more copies afterwards.

 

[Codeblue]

Considering Square Enix have spoken about how Tomb Raider's '5-6 million' sales were a failure, I'm assuming that is the ballpark Activision are aiming for.

Unlike Tomb Raider, I imagine Destiny is going to make a decent amount of money on microtransactions.

 

[Vlodril]

that list seems wrong somehow. How reliable is it?

As far as star citizen i doubt it would cost that much. Although there has being quite a bit of bloat (although roberts dont care since the millions keep coming).

 

[conman]

The money that the Star Citizen folks raised through Kickstarter is not the only funds they're using. They have actual outside investors, as well.

I'm also not sure I would trust that Wikipedia list. Those are just best guesses based on partial information.

 

[Canis lupus]

How is heavy rain in that list. Wasn't the budget close to 20million

Heavy Rain cost developer Quantic Dream $21.8 million to make, and with Sony's marketing budget added in, production costs topped out at $52.2 million

http://www.joystiq.com/2013/04/21/heavy-rain-cost-52-million-but-made-130-million-you-do-the-ma/

 

[GameAddict411]

Your joking MGS2 is no where near that number .

Ok, i might have mixed up between total franchise sold and individual game sold! Lol

 

[SolidSnakex]

that list seems wrong somehow. How reliable is it?

It's not very reliable. Companies rarely release development budgets. And it's even more rare for them to include marketing costs within those budgets.

 

[Radius]

Considering their production values and Sony's marketing I would have expected to see either Uncharted 3 or The Last of Us on that list.

 

[-tetsuo-]

Wikipedia list is exceedingly dubious. But as for Start Citizen, I'm expecting it to become a massive disaster.

Based on?

 

[Clarkus Darkus]

FF7 still to this day the best gaming experience iv'e ever had, Amazed how much it took to make.

 

[Kyoufu]

Considering their production values and Sony's marketing I would have expected to see either Uncharted 3 or The Last of Us on that list.

Sony would have to confirm the budgets for those games first.

 

[GameAddict411]

Heavy Rain cost developer Quantic Dream $21.8 million to make, and with Sony's marketing budget added in, production costs topped out at $52.2 million

http://www.joystiq.com/2013/04/21/heavy-rain-cost-52-million-but-made-130-million-you-do-the-ma/

Ok now it makes sense, what about beyond?

 

[LuchaShaq]

Heavy Rain is actually one of the most successful games of last generation.

I usually just shrug at the success of stuff I find poor but this makes me think so poorly of gamers as a whole. The fucking COD games have better writing/acting than Heavy Rain

 

[Triggerhappytel]

Why was MW2 so expensive?

Probably about 50-60 million in development costs, and then the rest in marketing. I'm not a fan of the COD series and I remember it was goddamn everywhere way back in 2009.

Edit - as for most of that list, I call into question its validity. For example, when God of War 3 was finished one if the senior SSM guys said it came in exactly on budget at $44 million, I think it was. When you factor in marketing it was probably $70 million+. Meaning that this list is probably kind of useless if some account for marketing and others don't.

 

[red731]

Just something regarding the first place and its comparison to movies -

I've backed SC and yes, I hope that CR and team will make a truly remarkable game with all the right reasons.

 

[Astral/H3X]

How the HELL did FF7 cost that much!?

Actually, how the hell do any of these cost this much!? Jesus.

 

[Kintaro]

Eh, seems pretty inaccurate but its just a tiny part of the full article. On the subject of Star Citizen though, I sincerely hope we start getting shown Real, solid gameplay and information about the title. Something other than abstract ideas.

 

[Vlodril]

I usually just shrug at the success of stuff I find poor but this makes me think so poorly of gamers as a whole. The fucking COD games have better writing/acting than Heavy Rain

Heavy rain was great. what now friend?

 

[Ballthyrm]

All theses numbers are with marketing costs + Huge overhead + publisher costs + engine development costs.

You have none of these in Star Citizen, if you look at 43 millions for development it is at least twice that for the overhead and publisher , half of that because they use some else engine , and then half of your cost have to be marketing.

you end up with star citizen costing somewhere around 150 million if it was done by one of the big three( ubisoft / ea / activision ).

so yeah i think OP is right , definitely in the top 10 of all time.

 

[modeyv2]

I'm very skeptical about the figures everyone is coming up with, and this list as well. Interesting to see the numbers though.

 

[Biker19]

How the HELL did FF7 cost that much!?

Actually, how the hell do any of these cost this much!? Jesus.

Heh, sometimes publishers go overboard on budgeting for development & marketing.

It happens to be a very big risk, because if your game doesn't sell as many copies to make a profit or to break even, then the company will be heavily damaged profitability wise & maybe even forced to close down studios.

 

[SolidSnakex]

How the HELL did FF7 cost that much!?

Actually, how the hell do any of these cost this much!? Jesus.

The only budget number from FF7 that has a source is a 47m figure that 1up used in one of their stories about it. I'm not sure where they got it from. But it wouldn't be too hard to believe given how much CG FF7 had.

 

[RoyalFool]

11 Too Human - 100,000,000+

I dread to think how much of the money sunk into this turd were those government incentives SK gobbled up.

 

[t26]

Probably about 50-60 million in development costs, and then the rest in marketing. I'm not a fan of the COD series and I remember it was goddamn everywhere way back in 2009.

Edit - as for most of that list, I call into question its validity. For example, when God of War 3 was finished one if the senior SSM guys said it came in exactly on budget at $44 million, I think it was. When you factor in marketing it was probably $70 million+. Meaning that this list is probably kind of useless if some account for marketing and others don't.

This. It seems like some are just development cost, while others are including ads and production.

 

[SuperHans]

How the HELL did FF7 cost that much!?

Actually, how the hell do any of these cost this much!? Jesus.

I remember they had over 100 people working on it at one stage and it was in development for 3 years (that's a lot of man hours) plus there was a big marketing push on it.

 

[Oracle Dragon]

Not that its not expensive, but the game seems well underway and it needs to spend another $7m more just to break into the top 30. The article makes it sound like this is a $200m spectacle, but this doesn't seem that bad? And lots of those are over $50m with no marketing, if their $43m funds covers / has to cover marketing as well this would seem to be looking better? Or is there a secondary funding source adding to that $43m that I am unaware of, I must admit I have not really been following this game?

 

[Jedi2016]

Well, at least it's got something to show for it. It's looking to be pretty amazing, and I haven't even been following it very closely.

 

[Authority]

Regarding the Halo MMO,

“Ensemble has been wanting to make an MMO for a long time. That was in production for a long time. The Halo IP was a great IP to launch an MMO with. Microsoft... hasn't had the best track record with those.
And we worked on it for a long time--we had staffed up an almost-40 person team. And then there was some reorganization at Microsoft, and the new bosses thought it wasn't the best idea anymore. It had actually been green-lit, and then it got cancelled after that", by Dave Pottinger

For more images

Credits to Untitled Halo MMO and Halo cancelled MMO!

 

[ayrix]

How did ffvii cost that much?

Other sources say around $45 million, then. even inflation adjusted that's only around $65M

3 disks was a lot of assets for it's day, including lots of FMV!!, lots of pre rendered backgrounds and a long development time.

Then there's all the costs because they outsourced some of that and would be having to deal with new engine and new platform.

It's not totally crazy for a 2-3 year project with ~120 staff.

 

[br0ken_shad0w]

Wikipedia list is exceedingly dubious. But as for Start Citizen, I'm expecting it to become a massive disaster.

Become?

 

[pants]

I'd like these numbers minus marketing as well

 

[ArkhamFantasy]

I would be willing to bet that FF14/AAR is the most expensive game ever made in terms of development costs.

 

[Kraftwerk]

Become?

Holy shit I almost pissed myself....

 

[Yoda]

I honestly never knew a Halo MMO had been in development. Also giant lol at the MW2 number.