Expensive to make, great to play

We recently touched on games that cost a fortune to make and were terrible failures in one way or another.

Now if you are wondering which games were the insanely expensive to make and worth every penny, then look no further.

Disney Infinity

Metacritic: 75
Estimated Cost: $100,000,000

Disney’s Skylanders clone has done very well, bolstering this new toy-accompanied genre in gaming.

Disney Infinity is still going strong, and currently the development costs sits at $100,000,000. This will obviously go up given the game’s additional toy and content releases planned for the future.

Tomb Raider

Metacritic: 87
Estimated Cost: $100,000,000

The world-famous Lara Croft reboot has just recently hit the 6 million copies sold mark, and the game has been re-released on the PS4 and Xbox One.

Despite only recently coming into profitability for Square Enix, a sequel is confirmed to be in development.

Grand Theft Auto 4

Metacritic: 98
Estimated Cost: $100,000,000

The Grand Theft Auto series is known for lengthy and expensive development cycles, and GTA IV is no different.

At launch in 2008, it was touted as the most expensive game developed in history, reaching the $100,000,000 mark.

Destiny

Metacritic: N/A
Estimated Cost: $140,000,000

Keeping in mind that Destiny is still in development, the game has already reached the $140,000,000 mark. With a September 2014 release planned, this may increase.

Bungie’s FPS MMO is looking good, pre-orders are going strong, and so it may not be too bold a prediction to say this game will be a hit.

Final Fantasy VII

Metacritic: 92
Estimated Cost: $145,000,000

This is an all-time favourite in the Final Fantasy franchise, and one that cost a fortune to develop and port to various handhelds and PC.

Now with porting it to Steam and republishing on the PlayStation Store, coupled with the original development costs, Square Enix have spent over $145,000,000 on the title. Considering its 1997 release, this is quite something.

Grand Theft Auto 5

Metacritic: 97
Estimated Cost: $265,000,000

Grand Theft Auto V – what can I say other than it was the greatest game I played in 2013. It reportedly cost Rockstar $265,000,000 to develop and ship – that’s a lot of zeroes.

The game has recently been receiving some multiplayer DLC with story DLC panned for later in 2014, so the total development cost will surely rise, especially if the rumoured PS4, Xbox One and PC version of the game is actually in development.

GTA V is now the most expensive game ever made.

So there you have it – some real serious cash spent on some amazing games. Which of these titles are your favourite? Let us know in the comments and forum.