Those are not the kind of games we're going to be looking at on this list. Because we think it's much more interesting to focus on the production cost.

We'll list the games based on their development costs alone. That gives a more interesting reflection of how much work was put into the actual task of creating the game, leaving out the skewing numbers of advertisements on billboards and spots on TV.

Let's get to it. Here are the most expensive video games ever made based on development costs.

• Development cost: $70 million ($78 million with 2017-inflation, $101 million with 2025-inflation)
• Total cost: Konami has never mentioned a total cost
• Developer/publisher: Kojima Productions / Konami
• Platform: PS3

Metal Gear Solid 4 has an almost bad reputation for its hour-long cut-scenes and convoluted story. The game felt more like a movie than an actual game a lot of times, and we guess creating cut-scenes and coming up with the ideas for the insanely original and somewhat confusing plot took a lot of time, which in the end resulted in a rather costly game.

• Development cost: $80 million ($81 million with 2017-inflation, $105 million with 2025-inflation)
• Total cost: Konami has never mentioned a total cost
• Developer/publisher: Kojima Productions / Konami Digital Entertainment
• Platform: Microsoft Windows, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One

The next Metal Gear game put the player in a more active role than its predecessor, presenting the player with a truly open world. The limits for exploring, customizing weapons and building your base and army are almost endless, and this must have taken a lot of manpower to develop.

• Development cost: $80 million ($82 million with 2017-inflation, $107 million with 2025-inflation)
• Total cost: Trion World has never mentioned a total cost
• Developer/publisher: Trion Worlds / Trion Worlds
• Platform: Microsoft Windows, PS3 and Xbox 360

Building big worlds tends to be a costly affair, and that's exactly what Trion Worlds did in Defiance. This massive online game featured a stunning, shared world for its time, so it's no surprise that the game ended up being more expensive than your average title.

• Development cost: $90 million ($99 million with 2017-inflation, $129 million with 2025-inflation)
• Total cost: Rockstar Games has never mentioned a total cost
• Developer/publisher: Rockstar San Diego / Rockstar Games
• Platform: PS3 and Xbox 360

John Marston's world might be a merciless one, but it's also beautiful and gigantic. Add in a very well-developed plot and a fastidious care for western details we've never seen the likes of and you got yourself a game that was bound to cost a pretty dollar.

• Development cost: $100 million ($111 million with 2017-inflation, $144 million with 2025-inflation)
• Total cost: Silicon Knights has never mentioned a total cost
• Developer/publisher: Silicon Knights / Microsoft Game Studios
• Platform: Xbox 360

Too Human was initially set to be released on the first PlayStation in 1999, but the game ran into a lot of development problems over the year. A bit like last year's The Last Guardian (minus the hype), the game managed to stall its release for nine (!) years, changing platforms more than once along the way. Which of course is a costly affair, since people with salaries worked on it the whole time.

• Development cost: $100 million ($111 million with 2017-inflation, $144 million with 2025-inflation)
• Total cost: Rockstar Games has never mentioned a total cost
• Developer/publisher: Rockstar North / Rockstar Games
• Platform: PS3, Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows

The Grand Theft Auto franchise's arrival on the new generation of consoles was set to be a grand one, and to pull it off properly money had to be spent. The updated version of Liberty City was gorgeous, and GTA 4 immersed us into Rockstar's violent crime fantasy in a new, almost too life-like way.

• Development cost: $105 million ($110 million with 2017-inflation, $143 million with 2025-inflation)
• Total cost: Rockstar Games has never mentioned a total cost
• Developer/publisher: Rockstar Studios / Rockstar Games
• Platform: PS3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows and OS X

Max Payne 3 features a stunning video game version of San Paulo, a gripping continuation of the franchise's story and some very well-developed gameplay. Rockstar even sent researchers to the city of San Paulo to make their digital version as good as possible.

• Development cost: $137 million ($142 million with 2017-inflation, $185 million with 2025-inflation)
• Total cost: $265 million ($272 million with 2017-inflation, $354 million with 2025-inflation)
• Developer/publisher: Rockstar North / Rockstar Games
• Platform: Microsoft Windows, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One

GTA 5 was immense when it came out in 2013 and it's still immense today. Los Santos, Blaine County and the rest of the San Andreas State is just enormous, and the amount of options and details put into this game is hard to believe. To top it off, the story is genuinely hilarious and the visuals are breathtaking. There are so many things to do in GTA 5, you find yourself thinking $137 million is an incredibly good deal.

• Development cost: $140 million ($143 million with 2017-inflation, $186 million with 2025-inflation)
• Total cost: $500 million ($513 million with 2017-inflation, $667 million with 2025-inflation)
• Developer/publisher: Bungie / Activision
• Platform: PS3, PS4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One

Bungie's Destiny had a problematic birth which goes to show in the game's production cost. When the game finally finished, it delivered on most promises. The open worlds of our solar system were beautiful, the character designs were flawless and the leveling and weapon systems were interesting.

It's a truly unique game that had a costly, pioneering approach to its gameplay. Not everything worked out, as the story seemed rushed and many online-elements didn't work well in the long run, but at least it was a triple A title that tried to do something in a different way. And the current state of the game is a lot better than the initially released version.

• Development cost: $200 million ($213 million with 2017-inflation, $277 million with 2025-inflation)
• Total cost: Electronic Arts has never mentioned a total cost
• Developer/publisher: BioWare / Electronic Arts
• Platform: Microsoft Windows

This Star Wars-based MMORPG delivered on many fans' burning wish for a huge, online multiplayer experience in the Star Was universe. To pull this off, the team behind the game needed an enormous amount of cash, as they had to build entire planets and moons to support the gameplay and lore.

This took time and a lot of hard work, which translated into the absurdly high production cost of Star Wars: The Old Republic. No other game that we know of even comes close to the $200 million spent here. Which is totally understandable; in most of the above games, we're only talking about world or solar system-building. Here, we're talking about galaxy-building—a much more demanding task.

This was our list of the most expensive games ever made when it comes to development costs. It would look entirely different if you took into account the money spent on marketing and advertisements, but that's another story.

It's also worth noting that many developers and publishers are secretive about the actual costs of their games. This is, for example, the case with Square Enix and the production costs of Final Fantasy 15. Its predecessor, Final Fantasy 13, almost made this list with its cost $65 million over four years of development, and it's safe to assume that Final Fantasy 15 was a lot more costly given the fact that it was in development for approximately ten years.

Editor's Note: The NowLoading Team calculated the 2025 inflation-adjusted figures using an estimated 30% cumulative inflation rate from 2017 to 2025, reflecting the significant economic changes and inflation experienced during this period.