Video games are easily going toe-to-toe with blockbuster films when it comes to just how much is spent in creating these games along with the kickback on profitable these games become once they official launch. We’re talking about video game titles that take upwards of a hundred million dollars to create which is a massive deal especially if the game doesn’t do so well.
With that in mind, we decided to take a look at some of the more expensive video game failures that have released into the market. These video game development studios definitely took a big blow after they released their dull title and this is just a taste of some of the most expensive failures, and explore how and why they failed.
Let's hope this list doesn't get any bigger in the years to come.
You may have recalled Beyond: Two Souls, a video game that released exclusively on the PlayStation 3 by Quantic Dream in 2013. The game starred Ellen Page, the actress that was often mistaken for her likeness for another video game character in The Last of Us. Ellen Page portrays Jodie Holmes who is in a way connected to an incorporeal entity named Aiden. Players are taken on a rather lengthy journey with this interactive drama, but it, unfortunately, wasn’t blowing away any players. Beyond: Two Souls received mixed reviews where it went on to sell a million copies within three months and it’s even slated for a remastered release on the PlayStation 4 sometime in 2016. It’s estimated that the budget for Beyond: Two Souls was around $27,000,000.
Duke Nukem Forever, a video game that probably would have been best left dead. I’m not entirely sure if there’s anything I can honestly say that hasn’t been talked about and reported on when the game originally released back in 2011. This is almost like opening old wounds again, but Duke Nukem Forever was just bad at a visual and gameplay standpoint. Players take on the role of Duke Nukem once again as he fights off an alien threat, much like the past video game installments. After years of waiting for Duke Nukem Forever to release and an estimated $30,000,000 spent for its budget, the game was barely picked up with around 300,000 units sold in its first three months. Even Take-Two Interactive revealed that the game sales were half of their initial expectations leaving Duke Nukem Forever a video game that is well known and barely played.
Homefront is a video game that did alright but developers Kaos Studios didn’t hit a grand slam here. This is a first-person shooter where America is taken over by a united Korea force. Now a small militia army attempts to regain control and unite the United States once again. Sounds like a winner but again, the game received mixed responses with some gamers upset of the short campaign and various bugs. A few months after the game launched, THQ revealed that the game has sold over two million units, however, shortly after THQ hit bankruptcy where the rights to the game were sold to Crytek. An estimated $50,000,000 was spent for the creation of Homefront.
Remember The Secret World? Yeah, I didn’t think so. The Secret World is an MMORPG set in modern-day where players join into one of three societies where they’ll take on missions, battle other players, and explore the world. After sinking an estimated $50,000,000 into the game, the reception for The Secret World was mixed as critics seemed to have enjoyed the game atmosphere and presentation but felt that the game lost most of its charm and lacked PVP content when it first launched. Developer Funcom stated a few months after the game launched, that The Secret World sold 200,000 copies below its expectations.
APB: All Points Bulletin was another video game title that took $50,000,000 to create. Developers Realtime Worlds didn’t give the game much charm and it left players non-existent in this MMO. For those unaware, APB: All Points Bulletin acted very much like a Grand Theft Auto Online "clone" before GTA Online came out and blew everyone away, but it didn’t get the massive response and players like Rockstar receives with their GTA series.
Taking it a step further, coverage for this game was forced to be taken down as a review embargo placed all critics and prominent websites to refrain from posting any reviews for the game until a week after its release. Developers stated that the reason for this was to assure reviewers could experience everything the game has to offer, but it’s possible that they were attempting to keep bad reviews from showing up when the game launched.
Tom Clancy Ghost Recon: Future Solider might have dropped the ball a bit when it came to a tactical shooter as most of the negative response for the game was based around the lack of mechanics. A number of various critics and gamers have spoken out about Tom Clancy Ghost Recon: Future Solider due to the lack of gameplay mechanics that are present in most tactical shooter based video games but the game received even more low ratings after the PC version released with several bugs present in the gameplay. Developers spent $63,000,000 to develop the game.
It’s a bit weird putting Shenmue on this list since the series is actually continuing on thanks to devoted fans and Kickstarter. This is the game that was set to be a grand journey with amazing visuals, enthralling gameplay, compelling musical scores, and was supposed to span across a number of video games. However, after the release of Shenmue II, SEGA officially cancelled development of further titles, but again, Shenmue III was successfully crowd funding campaign. Development for Shenmue took $70,000,000 and was well received. Because the lack of installed Dreamcast consoles, the game was unable to make a profit. We wonder what the series might look like today if SEGA released it on the PS2 or Xbox instead.
Too Human is estimated to have cost anywhere from $60,000,000 to $100,000,000 in development, which is quite a bit of money. However, we have to keep in mind that this game was in development for over ten years where it was originally set to release on the PlayStation before it finally found a home on the Xbox 360. Like Shenmue, Too Human was supposed to be a series of video games but told a story around Norse mythology. However, the game was found to be more mediocre with frustrating gameplay which left the game title to only move 700,000 units.
Defiance is an MMO video game tie-in to the Syfy show with the same name. Players join in the fight between Earth’s humanity and the extraterrestrial race known as the Votanis Collective but don’t expect an outstanding video game title as the game received more of an average rating. Furthermore, October of 2015 Syfy cancelled Defiance though the servers are still being supported for the video game counterpart. For a video game that took $80,000,000 to make and the main show being cancelled, it’s not looking good on the video game’s ability to gather new players.
Disney Infinity is a bit of an odd title to put on this list. For one the video game is more aimed at children but at the same time, it can get a bit redundant and leave players bored, especially if they don’t pick up new characters or sets. Within the game, players control a number of Disney characters and visit different sets from the animated films but, the game has received some mixed reviews. So far the video game development for Disney Infinity is over a $100,000,000 and while the first installment found players losing interest the third main installment has managed to bring the series back up to more positive reviews thanks to the new playsets and bug patches.
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