Video games are expensive to produce and are only getting more and more expensive as time goes on. With increasing graphical demands requiring more time from artists, animators, and designers i𝓰n general, as well as a need for more content and longer playtime from consumers, the increase in cost for making aꦓ game shows no sign of slowing down.
But the video game industry is also very secretive, and unlike the film industry, most studios don't sharꦓe🃏 how much it costs to finance a game. Even so, there are some educated guesses that consumers can make, and sometimes, just sometimes, developers give a peek into what they truly cost.
10 💫 Final Fantasy 9
Released in 2000 for the original Playstation, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Final Fantasy IX remains 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:a much-beloved classic of the series. Not long after the release of the game in July, the producer, Hironobu Sakaguchi to discuss bo🐼th the game and the upcoming CGI m❀ovie Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within.
While there are a number of interesting insights into game development to be found throughou🏅t the archived article, during that interview he revealed that the budget for Final Fantasy 9 was approximately $40 million. Adjusted for inflation, that brings the current cost today to produce Final Fantasy IX to $59 million.
9 Rift
A popular free-to-play MMORPG, Rift manages to continue thriving even as 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:more and more free-to-play MMOs flood the market, taking up some of Rift𒁃'꧃s market share.
Like all MMOs, the exact budget spent on the game is a secret, but an interview with the former Trion Worlds CEO put the budget for Rift at approximately $50 million dollars. With an estimated $10-20 million in initial marketing, the estimated total cost for producing th💞e initial launch of Rift can be placed at $60-70 million
8 Too Human
Too Human's reputation is a difficult one to tackle. Having taken over ten years to produce, and having been partially developed for three separate consoles, it isꦓ no wonder that the game has one of the most expensive budgets for an RPG that we know of.
With an (worth $71-119 today), there was little chance for Silicon Knights to survive the ensuing lawsuit from Epic Games for the use of a stolen copy of Unreal Engine 3. While the game was unavailable for quite some time, players can once more 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:experience it for free on the Xbox On✱e.
7 Mass Effec🌜t: Andromeda
168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Mass Effect: Andromeda has a complicated history. Havi🅺ng to follow up the beloved initial trilogy of games in the Mass Effect series, the game had a hard ba🦄rrier to entry — one that was not lightened with the changes to the dialogue system and numerous bugs.
With an , including marketing, the game still managed to sell an estimated 2.5 milliꩲon copies in its first quarter, making back the estimated budget in revenue wi💧thout ongoing sales for the lifetime of the game.
6 The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 🍌
Revealed during a financial presentation available on YouTube in the efforts of transparency with their players, CD Projekt Red revealed that the production budget of 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt was when converted to USD.
Evidently, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:a very good financial decision, as the company had already made over $62 million in profits from the first half of 2015 alone from the sales of their products. Given the wild success of the game, especially compared to its prequels, it is no wonder that CD Projekt Red remains the powerho♐use develoܫper that they are.
5 Genshin Impact 𓆉
With an , 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Genshin Impact has made numerous waves since its release across countless p🦹latforms in September of 2020. With the game having made over in the first week of release alone, miHoYo's genius blend of exploration and roleplaying elements have earned the gamꦿe over .
It's not surprising, though, as games with gacha mechanics can bring in large revenue streams, and the fan community around ꦚthe many, many characters leads to a strong desire to obtain them in-game.
4 🐈 Final Fantasy 7 ♛
One of the most beloved video games of all time, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Final Fantasy VII was not a cheap endeavor for Square. Having made the switch to PlayStation rather than releasing on the Nintendo 64, Square made full use of the CD's storage space t༒o make a beautiful game — but beautiful games 🐈do not come cheap.
With an , with an , the budget for the game reaches $127-231 million, including the marketing cost, after adjusting for inflation. Suffice to say, with the continued success of the 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Final Fantasy franchise, and of the Final Fantasy VII brand itself,💞 the high cost of production was more than worth it൲.
3 Destiny
While it can be argued whether Destiny can be considered an RPG or not, it can not be argued that Destiny fulfills most of the requirements of what most people consider when they think✱ of MMORPGs. From the intricate storyline to the need to farm weapons and gear to increase 𝔉the player's Light Level, Destiny is an RPG in all but name.
While the exact costs are debatable, estimates based on the put the total cost at around $140 million, increased with inflation to $151 million today. However, with the ongoing costs of every Destiny andꦐ Destiny 2 expansion, the actual costs are likely much, much higher.
2 🦩 Star Wars: The Old Republic
As stated previously, when it comes to MMORPGs, estimated costs become even m🍰ore expensive than regular games. This can be attributed to the fact that the games not only have to work for people who want to play them solo, but they have to account for constant connectivity to servers, large player bases, and an ongoing need for new content.
168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Created by BioWare in 2011, the original launch of 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Star Wars: The Old Republic had an . While not as impressive as Genshin Impact's $1 billion in under a year, as of 2019,🙈 the game was .
1 Cyberpunk 2077 🃏
Costing more in the developmental budget alone than most of the items on this list, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Cyberpunk 2077 has༒ an . Given the company's prior success with The Witcher 3 and the sheer anticipation that the Cyberpunk license held from its fans, this is no surprise.
CD Projekt Red knew they would need to spend large sums of money16ꦆ8澳洲幸运5开奖网: to e🔥nsure the fanbase would remain happy. Adding on an approximately $209 million a꧒dvertising budget, and Cyberpunk 2077 wins out as the most expensive RPG to make, at least that we can estimate the costs of.