Back in 1993, when the revolutionary first person shooter, Doom, was released, a game could be made by eleven people with a budget that was probably around $200,000. Today, the production of a video game can cost upwards of tens of millions of dollars and sometimes takes over 5 years to develop. Releasing an A-list title is a massive business undertaking, employing hundreds or thousands of people. An incredible amount of risk is involved in releasing a title. Big name publishers lean towards releasing sequels and safer titles that appeal to a broader audience.
Sometimes an ambitious game developer will completely overrun its budget and development time. Sometimes this results in an epic title that breaks all the rules set before it. More often than not, it results in poor reviews, poor sales and a disappointing game.
Arguably one of the latter, the most expensive video game, until recently, was a Sega Dreamcast game called Shenmue. Released in 1999, the project cost over $70 million and took over 7 years to complete. It was produced and directed by Yu Suzuki for the Sega-AM2 (Sega Amusement Machine Research and Development Department 2). Shenmue boasted unparalleled freedom and interactivity and even a real time weather system. But this wasn’t enough to impress many reviewers; the most expensive video game received mixed reviews and experienced mediocre sales. Nonetheless, the expensive game inspired a massive fan base that remains active to this day.
Rockstar North, known for their mature titles, has recently ousted Shenmue from its most expensive position and replaced it with their own offering, Grand Theft Auto IV. Taking place in the fictional Liberty City, a close likeness of New York City, GTA IV also allows players an unequaled level of freedom and interactivity. The in-game radio has over 150 songs which, through a deal with Amazon, players can download in real life. The game even includes two hours of television that a player can watch while ignoring pressing responsibilities such as assassinating suspiciously familiar anti-video game lawyers.
While the exact figure isn’t yet public knowledge, Rockstar North’s president has estimated that the world’s most expensive video game cost about $100 million to make. Luckily for us, the game only costs consumers around $60.
Related Info
Similar Posts:
- World’s Most Expensive Video Game Consoles
- World’s Most Expensive Virtual Real Estate
- Most Expensive Handheld Video Game System
- World’s Most Expensive Playstation 3
- Most Expensive Music Video Ever
- Most Expensive Movie Ever Made
{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
i like this game but my computer can’t play it
i like this game.and i playe it but it should be made more graphical.
i love game but i dont the means
i like gta4 but for the money they spend graphics didnt improve much, it was very reapeated from san andreas, i think san andreas had a better story line, the game is good, but call of duty modern warfare 2 will rule the world, rockstar needs to be upgrated.
Spectrum 128k graphics are the best!
wow gta4 is the most expensive game
Pls,How do I get gta4?
Actually the largest video game budget is World of Warcraft standing at 200M$. Don’t believe me ?
http://g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/689279/World-Of-Warcraft-Cost-200-Million-Since-04.html
Played all the rockstar games…It’s awesome…Awesome graphicx with the PS2 and PS3 and psp….(^_^)
This game is verry bowring
I like this game, but my favotrite computer game is ~~RUNESCAPE~~
This begs the question, what are the cheapest games to produce, excluding independent game makers?
More of a personal question, what sort of budget does Treasure have to work with?
i have it at home its sik cba playin any more play mw2
but still great
i love shenmue 3 so much i hop number 3 comes out coz i heard it might be
I LOVE PSP BUT IN COMPUTER WE CANNOT PLAY
Shenmue was an amazing game, I remember buying this on the dreamcast about 11 years ago now. You could get a job in a dock working as a fort lift driver and got paid for it. There was an arcade which you could play games on. It was a quality game, I might purchase a dreamcast again just for this game. Im sure it was like 4 discs or something
There are some retarded comments on here. I dont hold any hope of there being any end to the perpetual cliff hanger that is Shenmue II, due to the fact it helped financially cripple SEGA causing them to pull out of the console market.