The World’s Top Five Most Expensive Online Games

Online video games are widely popular among age groups and people across different. They are fun, recreational, and help us lose ourselves to the fictional world of impossibilities becoming true. You have appealing character designs weaved in to fit the plot lore, impressive weapon sets, a compelling storyline that drives you to pursue the next level, a great visually cinematic experience, captivating background music, special effects, etc. 

Various online games like Final Fantasy, Tomb Raider, Escape rooms or Room ESC, PUBG, and much more are heavily famous and widespread in the market and loved by the audience. These fun-filled and adventurous games make the perfect way to unload stress and enjoy some quality time engaging in a relaxing and entertaining activity. 

And while we may not pay much attention, these games need a lot of investment and resources for their development. Millions are spent on their marketing, promoting their sales, and making them stand up to the mark of being more than an average online game. Some flop, while some become eye candy for the audience. 

Read on to find out which are the top 5-most expensive online games developed in recent years. You might have already known and heard about some of the names from this list. 

1. Grand Theft Auto V 

The seventh main entry in the Grand Theft Auto series, Grand Theft Auto V, is an action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North. The story revolves around the fictional state called San Andreas, where you follow three protagonists, a retired bank robber, a street gangster, and a drug dealer, on their journey to commit heists while being under pressure from dangerous criminals and the corrupt government agency. 

This single-player video game comprises an open-world design that allows you to freely explore San Andreas and also the city of Los Altos. You can switch between the three protagonists throughout the gameplay while operating under either the third-person or first-person perspective. The online multiplayer feature allows up to 30 players to play together through various competitive and cooperative game modes. 

GTA V holds the record of becoming the fastest-selling entertainment product in history. It grossed $800 million on its first day and got awarded Game of the Year by various gaming publications. It has earned $6 billion worldwide revenue and is considered the second best-selling video game due to its gameplay presentation and protagonist design. 

2. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 

It is a first-person shooter game released in 2009. The sixth installment in the Call of Duty Series, the game takes you on a journey of a multi-national special force called Task Force 141 as they hunt a Russian leader and US Army Rangers while defending Washington DC from a Russian invasion. 

It is an expansive multiplayer game that allows you to play as Sergeant Gary Roach Sanderson and Private James Ramirez as the main characters. And you can also unlock the other playable character, Captain MacTavish, a feature that added more dimension and content to the entire game premise. There are several newly introduced features and gaming modes that you wouldn’t find in its predecessor series. 

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 became immensely popular due to its concepts of a multiplayer universe, good-quality content, and campaign. Despite being short in length, it received universal acclaim and sold 22.7 million copies per 2013 records. The tremendous hype and success of Modern Warfare 2 also prompted the release of a comic book series that revolves around one of its characters.  

3. Star Wars: The Old Republic 

Based on the worldwide acclaimed and one of the most beloved series Star Wars, The Old Republic is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG). The premise takes you on a journey in the Star Wars universe, where the occurrences are after the peace establishments between the Sith Empire and the Galactic Republic. 

There are eight different classes in the game where a three-act storyline progresses as the character levels up. There are diverse gameplay styles favored for each, with extensive customization options, companion characters, fully voiced dialogues, etc. As the player, you have the prospect to possess the morality spectrum anywhere along the light/dark spectrum, and you can choose to pick either the Sith or the Galactic. 

The Old Republic is estimated to be one of the most developmentally expensive games. Due to its fast-growing subscribers within three days of its launch, it also holds the record of being one of the fastest-growing MMOs ever. And its 1 billion dollar revenue with a $200 million budget makes it one of the most expensive and financially successful games. 

4. Final Fantasy VII 

A 1997 role-playing video game, Final Fantasy 7 is the seventh main installment in the Final Fantasy series. You follow the playable character Cloud Strife, a mercenary on his path to stop a megacorporation from harnessing energy sources from the planet’s life essence. The journey takes you on a fantastic adventure where you team up with Cloud’s allies and pursue Sephiroth, who plans to destroy the planet. 

This game is the first in the series to use full-motion video, 3D computer graphics, and superimposed 3D characters over pre-rendered CGI backgrounds. Many widespread sci-fi elements in this game give it a surreal but realistic presentation. With around an $80 million budget, it is considered one of the most expensive games ever made. 

The commercial success of the Final Fantasy 7 set is a landmark game and an inspiration in the video game industry. The winner of the Video Game of the Year awards from numerous sites and sources also boosted the sales of PlayStation and popularized console role-playing games. 

5. Destiny 

It is an online-only multiplayer first-person shooter video game released in 2014. Set in a sci-fi mystic world, you can choose from the option of Player vs. Environment (PvE) and Player vs. Player (PvP) in this shared-world environment gameplay with elements of role-playing. The story revolves around the three characters of the game, Warlock, Hunter, and Titan, who take the role of the Guardian and protect the earth from different alien species.

As you embark on the journey, you also get the task of reviving a celestial being, the Traveller, who helps you destroy the alien species by investigating different planets. 

The plot and the overall setup and presentation of the game earned it the Game of the Year award from various sources. Also considered one of the greatest games ever made, it maintained a successful lineage with the Halo franchise and grossed $1 billion around 2015, making it a prosperous entertainment product ever created. 

Conclusion 

And with that, we conclude our list of the top 5-most expensive online games. As costly as they are in their budget, the entertainment and fun they deliver show the effort and the hard work of the people who took months and years to create them. And to further satisfy your curiosity, you can experience bizarre and unlimited enjoyment for yourself by trying these fantastic online video games. You wouldn’t realize how fast the clock winds up once you get engrossed.