• Posted March 22nd, 2013 at 08:52 EDT by Mike Harradence
• 3 Comments

UPDATE:

Those of you who thought the $200 million claim was a tad exorbitant can take comfort the knowledge it was indeed false. Ken Levine, the creator of the BioShock franchise and co-founder of Irrational Games, took to Twitter to debunk the report:

"200 million for Infinite? Did someone send some checks to the wrong address?" wrote Levine.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE:

Irrational Games’ BioShock: Infinite is reported to have cost 2K around $200 million.

That’s according to unnamed analysts speaking with the New York Times, who said that development of the shooter cost “upward of $100 million.”

It’s worth noting this does not include marketing costs, which supposedly adds roughly another $100 million to the game’s total.

This makes BioShock: Infinite one of the most expensive videogames ever conceived. By comparison, Grand Theft Auto IV is estimated to have a budget of $100 million (again, this is minus marketing), while Gran Turismo 5 cost around $80 million.

Dreamcast cult hit Shenmue is another well-document title in regards to development costs, totalling $70 million back in 1999. At the time, it was the most expensive videogame ever made.

BioShock: Infinite hits stores on March 26. PSU.com will have our review up early next week, so stay tuned.

via VG247