Hollywood Blockbusters Should Be Jealous: The Most Expensive Games in History

Today, developing video games is an incredibly labor-intensive and extremely costly process. Of course, there are indie projects still made by just a handful of people, like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, developed by relatively small teams. However, the creation of ambitious AAA releases with cutting-edge graphics has long been comparable to the production of the most expensive movies. To give you an idea of the scale of these budgets, we've compiled a list of games with truly astronomical production costs.
GTA 6
- Year: 2026;
- Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S;
- Co-op: Unknown.
In a recent financial report, Take-Two Interactive revealed new details about the development of GTA 6, which is scheduled for release on May 26, 2026. According to the latest information, full-scale development began in 2020, while the early stages of production seemingly started as far back as 2018, right after the release of Red Dead Redemption 2. The exact budget for GTA 6 is unknown, but estimates suggest it has already exceeded $1 billion. This makes it not just the most expensive game of all time but the most expensive media product ever.
Where did the $1 billion figure come from? Analysts calculated the average “cost” of a Rockstar Games employee (including salary, bonuses, insurance, etc.), multiplied by the number of developers across all Rockstar studios worldwide (over 2 000 people), and factored in five full years of production. Furthermore, there’s speculation that the final budget, including marketing, could approach $2 billion. If that happens, GTA 6 will surpass the cost of building the Burj Khalifa skyscraper, which came in at $1.5 billion.
How quickly do you think GTA 6 will recoup its development costs?
Genshin Impact
- Year: 2020;
- Platforms: PC, Mac, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, iOS, Android;
- Co-op: Yes (online, up to 4 players).
Initially, the development of Genshin Impact cost between $100 million and $200 million. This amount covered world-building, character creation, mechanics, voice acting, cross-platform elements, and the initial marketing campaign. By mobile game standards, this budget broke all records. But what’s even more interesting is that the major expenses started after the game’s release in September 2020. By the end of last year, the total cost of supporting the game’s infrastructure and developing updates and new content had exceeded $900 million.
The Best Video Games: Lists and Selections
- TOP 50 open world games. You will definitely have something to do
- TOP 10 best animal partners in games: the deceased Dogmeat from Fallout, the Cheeseburger bear from Far Cry 5 and dragons in Skyrim
- TOP-10 Games for Low-End PCs in 2024
- Top 30 Best Story-Driven Space Games for PC
- Top 15 Games Similar to Hogwarts Legacy
- Best Summer Games
- Best 2D Platformers
- Best Video Game Remakes and Remasters
- TOP-140: Best Co-op Games in 2025
- Best Games for Steam Deck, Asus ROG Ally, Lenovo Legion Go, and Other Handheld PCs
- Best RPGs
- Best First-Person Shooters
- Best Horror Games
- Best 4X and Grand Strategy Games
- The Most Beautiful Games with Ray Tracing
Star Citizen
- Year: 2017 (Early Access);
- Platform: PC;
- Co-op: Yes (online).
To date, Star Citizen has surpassed a budget of $800 million. While this is less than GTA 6’s development costs, it is arguably even more impressive considering that independent studio Cloud Imperium Games raised this money primarily through crowdfunding.
Gamers continue to support the project by purchasing game packages, ships, and in-game items. Since launching its Kickstarter campaign in 2012, Star Citizen has consistently attracted millions in funding. Starting in 2022, the game has been raising over $100 million annually, and projections suggest it may soon reach the $1 billion mark. This is despite the fact that the project is still unfinished, with the developers currently estimating it to be 69% complete.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
- Year: 2020;
- Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S;
- Co-op: Yes (online, up to 4 players).
Last year, Activision Blizzard found itself in the middle of a legal battle, during which it was revealed that the company had allocated $700 million to Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War. This amount included both development costs and post-launch support and updates.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
- Year: 2019;
- Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One;
- Co-op: Yes (online, up to 4 players).
The same legal proceedings revealed that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare cost Activision Blizzard over $640 million to develop, with production taking several years. After release, the game sold 43 million copies, generating more than $2.5 billion in revenue. So, while such a budget might seem exorbitant at first glance, the company clearly considers it justified thanks to the game’s impressive commercial success.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 3
- Year: 2015;
- Platforms: PC, Mac, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One;
- Co-op: Yes (local and online, up to 4 players).
Yes, another Call of Duty. Although Black Ops 3 was released back in 2015, when game development costs were already on the rise but had not yet reached today’s levels, the project reportedly cost Activision Blizzard $450 million to develop.
Cyberpunk 2077
- Year: 2020;
- Platforms: PC, Mac, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S;
- Co-op: No.
The total development cost of Cyberpunk 2077 is estimated at $441 million — an impressive figure for Eastern European game development.
The majority of the budget was financed thanks to the commercial success of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. About $174 million was allocated to the development of the base version of Cyberpunk 2077. Another $142 million went toward the marketing campaign. After launch, CD Projekt RED invested an additional $125 million in post-release support, including updates and the development and promotion of the Phantom Liberty expansion.
Red Dead Redemption 2
- Year: 2018;
- Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One;
- Co-op: Yes (online, up to 32 players in Red Dead Online).
While exact numbers are unknown, analysts estimate that the combined budget for Red Dead Redemption 2 ranged from $370 million to $540 million. Of that, approximately $170 million to $240 million was spent on development, while marketing costs ranged from $200 million to $300 million. The game took eight years to make, with around 2 000 employees from various Rockstar studios around the world involved. Despite the massive budget, Red Dead Redemption 2 easily recouped its costs, generating over $725 million in revenue within just three days of release.
Marvel's Spider-Man 2
- Year: 2023;
- Platforms: PlayStation 5, PC;
- Co-op: No.
Financial details about Marvel's Spider-Man 2 emerged following a major data leak from Insomniac Games in December 2023. According to the leaked internal documents, the game's budget totaled $315 million, making it the studio’s most expensive project to date — at least for now. This figure includes development, marketing, and associated costs. Interestingly, the final budget exceeded the initial plan by approximately $30 million.
The Last of Us: Part 2
- Year: 2020;
- Platforms: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, PC;
- Co-op: No.
Details about the budget of The Last of Us: Part 2 were accidentally disclosed through court documents presented during the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s proceedings regarding Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Development costs totaled approximately $220 million, with the process taking 70 months (nearly six years). At its peak, the project involved around 200 full-time employees at Naughty Dog. While marketing expenses remain undisclosed, it is safe to assume that Sony invested a substantial sum in promoting one of the PS4’s flagship exclusives.
***
Looking at all these budgets, it becomes clear why publishers keep pushing for higher game prices and constantly seek additional monetization methods. Whether major companies are right to invest such astronomical amounts in AAA releases or whether these costs could be reduced is a separate discussion we won’t get into here. The fact remains: making big games is becoming increasingly expensive, and their budgets are likely to balloon even further in the foreseeable future.
But what do you think? Do you notice a difference in quality when playing high-budget projects?
Are you willing to pay more for AAA games?
- Best RPGs
- Sony Drops New Trailer for Ghost of Yotei — Launch Set for October 2
- What's Going On with Console and Game Prices?