This leads us right into our second consideration, which is this: Can we ever truly know what a game’s full budget is? In truth, the only way to know is if someone from the developer, publisher, or studio lets us know the figures. Broadly, all of these little fees can be grouped into three groups: development costs, marketing costs, and - adding the two together - total cost. Generally speaking, this includes salaries and benefits for the developers, computers and other tools for the developers, licenses for software and engines used, physical space for the game to be developed in, music and other copyright or trademark licenses, paying independent contractors, distribution and advertising costs, marketing materials, merchandise, ad research, events… the list goes on. With production lasting several years or more, the budget encapsulates all costs from day one and beyond. Like any major production, there are a lot of moving parts that go into the creation of a video game. For one, what exactly goes into a video game’s budget? And secondly, is it even possible to know how much a game truly costs? We’ll begin with the first point: a typical budget breakdown for your average AAA game today. What Is Covered By a Video Game Budget?īefore diving into the list of the video games with the biggest budgets, it’s worth breaking down a couple of things first. With that being said, what are the games with the biggest budgets in history? Let’s take a look at what we know. While an indie game could cost as little as $5 thousand or less, these massive, high-profile blockbuster games often cost as much as (or more than) a Hollywood studio tent-pole production. As consoles and graphics grow more advanced, that price will only continue to rise. These days, most AAA games cost $60 to $70 million or more. If you thought paying $60 to $70 for a new video game was bad, imagine how the video game developers must feel.
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