What's the most you've ever spent on a game?

Like the thread title says…

What’s the most you have ever spent on a game or have personally known or witnessed someone else spend on a game?

I know this question is highly variable considering nowadays before a game even launches we are bombarded by press release after press release of how many different editions and collectors bundles “we need” in order to have the developer’s true vision or ultimate “gaming experience” (-That’s right, Ninja. Without that ultimate super limited rare special collector’s edition you are nothing.).

Jeez, that last line would make Capcom jealous. Any-who, back to the topic.

We now live in a gaming age where it’s not uncommon for a slightly upgraded version of the base game to border on the $100 price tag realm. It goes without saying that going beyond this point one can soon venture into exponentially higher price points all in the name of collector memorabilia or limited runs of things. However, it wasn’t always like this; or at least not to the extent it is today. Back in the 80’s, 90’s, and even early 2000’s such editions were usually reserved for highly sought after and critically acclaimed games; if that. It was virtually unheard of to walk by a wall of games at your local gaming store or Blockbuster (-what’s a Blockbuster, Ninja?-) and see a collector’s edition or a special edition for your every day run of the mill game. Same would go for your local gaming store. Now it seems like it’s a prerequisite before a developer even launches a game.

Now with all that being said I’m well aware that there are those out there that have probably traded in their first born child for some of the truly unbelievable and rare collectors pieces of gaming memorabilia out there so in addition to the question posed by this thread topic this thread perhaps can also serve as an outlet for those out there to show off their wares for those pieces of gaming history etched into each of our minds. Things like autographed copies of games or rare pieces like the first Donkey Kong arcade cabinet are expected to “fetch a high price, stranger” (-Who let that merchant in hear, Ninja?-) so I wouldn’t put them in the same category as some of the examples I gave earlier but still I think it would be interesting to see just what pieces of gaming history people have huddled away in their “gamer caves”.

While I admire and respect all those out there who have taken the initiative to track down and purchase such elusive pieces of gaming’s past I myself never caught on to this craze. I’m sure the main reason was financial restraints but at the same time I’ve never been one to find myself seeking out old and rare retro vintage gaming memorabilia. Y’never know though. That could change in the future. After all, there are some pretty cool pieces out there. No, my gaming purchases have for the most part have primarily been with things are relatively new in terms of their release. As such my numbers may seem like “peanuts” compared to some of the figures out there I’m sure will fill this thread but still I feel it’s only necessary I give my 2 cents so to speak considering I’m the one asking the question.

The most I’ve ever spent on a game…hmmm. If we’re talking about myself personally (-who else would you be talking about, Ninja!?-) I would have to say it was around 170$USD for a single copy of Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception… the base model/game. What?! $170 for Uncharted 3, Ninja? You got taken to the cleaners! You think I don’t know that? I may be a little slow (-a little, Ninja?-) but I wasn’t born yesterday.

-Dang Ninja, you should re-title this thread “what was the most you ever got ripped off.”-

Around Fall 2011 the big thing was the launch of Uncharted 3, at least for the PS3 crowd. It was the highly hyped game to the even more highly acclaimed sequel Uncharted 2 that pretty much put Naughty dog’s beloved franchise on the map and in the common vocabulary of many avid gamers. As such I was excited to get my hands on it day 1. So why then did I end up paying almost triple what it normally went for retail? Well, you see at the time I was living on an island in the Caribbean. It was a small little speck of dust on the map, one so tiny that any kind of storm had the potential to completely wipe it out; something that happened numerous times before I got there fortunately. Being such a small place they didn’t have many of the accommodations and luxuries more “advanced” places like North America or certain parts of Europe had (They didn’t even have a McDonalds just to give you an idea; funny enough they had a restaurant named MacDonalds though, no joke… cue the movie coming to America.).

It shouldn’t really come as a surprise then that their gaming selection was limited as well.

So then how did people get their games then you ask? (-Ugh, no we didn’t, Ninja. But anyway…-). The simple truth is that most people would either purchase games that were years old at ridiculous prices ($80 USD for a Xbox360 launch title like Perfect Dark Zero or Project Gotham Racing in 2011!) or do what I did, namely visit another country (in my case were I was originally from.) and buy a stack of games and bring them down. I managed to utilize this strategy for most of my time there as I wasn’t too concerned with whether or not I missed out day one when a game dropped but when Uncharted 3 was about to launch (a game I wanted day one so as not to run into issues of spoilers on the internet.) I realized I would have to figure out another method.

I searched around for quite some time until a friend tipped me off that there was a place on the island that actually pre-ordered games and delivered them day one. Great, I thought. I can play Uncharted 3 day one! I eventually went to this place, an old Blockbuster video but only in name. Remember, this was 2011. Blockbuster was pretty much dead if not a few years in the ground already but this place somehow retained the rights to the franchise fees, or so I was told. As such they pretty much ran like a Blockbuster from back in the day, complete with all the movie and game cases on display.

Being the enthusiastic ninja I am (-Umm… sure, Ninja. Whatever.-) I walked into the place and asked the lady at the front desk (technically the clerk, staff, manager, and owner all rolled in one.) if I could pre-order my copy of Naughty dogs soon to be epic, Uncharted 3.

Upon hearing my request she took out a long sheet of paper and began writing down each letter on a list I happened to glance contained a multitude of other notable name games (lot of sports ones too for some reason). She then smiled at me and asked me when it would come out. Luckily I remembered thanks to the catchy trailers Naughty Dog had put out; 11/1/11 (November 11, 2011.). This made it easy to mentally keep its launch date fresh in my mind. I figured even though everything was crude compared to what one might expect (being asked when it was coming out, no kind of computer list, etc..) it didn’t matter as long as come 11/1/11 I would get my beloved Uncharted 3.

I was feeling pretty good… until she looked at me and told me the price.

$170 USD!!!

That’s right, $170 bucks! This was the normal everyday base model/game too I might add. To say all that enthusiasm and excitement inside of me just prior to hearing that was suddenly let out of my head like the air escaping out of a balloon would be a gross understatement (-Perfect analogy, Ninja. After all, you are an air-head.-).

“$170 dollars?!” I said out loud in disbelief as a multitude of reasons and subsequent objections raced to the center of my head. Before I could utter another word her eyes greeted mine and she said “That’s the price of living on an island.”

I should make mention that that phrase was a common one on that island. Every time I would go to pay the electric bill (they didn’t do it electronically so I had to physically go there every month.) I would more often than not hear someone complaining about their bill being $1,000 for electricity alone (This is USD I might add.). Sometimes people would complain in the grocery store over things like the price of milk (almost 8$ for a 4L jug.) or at restaurants for the absurd price of an appetizer. Like some kind of sick joke it was almost an assured thing that there would be someone there, just waiting to say that unforgettable phrase, the same one ringing in my ears at that moment…

“That’s the price of living on an island.”

Seeing as how this would more than likely be the one and only time I engaged in this merciless ritual I reluctantly agreed. I asked her if the price was so high due to the shipping costs and she quite honestly said the reason was due to the simple fact that it was she herself that would hop on a plane, go to the mainland (America.), purchase all the games on her list, hop on another plane, and head back. In a sense she was the buyer, the shipper, the… well everything. She would compile a huge list of pretty much anyone on the island who wanted a new or relatively new game and when she had enough business to covers her costs as well as make it worth her time financially speaking she would jump on a plane to Miami for the day, fill up a few suit cases worth of games and head back. Like I said before, that system is essentially what I utilized myself but the issue of playing a game day one when it launched threw a monkey wrench in that plan of attack for the common islander.

As I mentioned before (-So why are you repeating yourself, Ninja!?-) I reluctantly accepted the price and payed a small fee/down payment (around $10.).

Yeah, I got hustled. Yeah, I felt gouged. But what other option was there at the time? None. Not unless I wanted to wait almost 3 months or so after Uncharted 3 dropped. Figuring this would be the first and last time I let it slide but on a positive note I did manage to get the game 2 days before its release date (No idea how that worked out, but hey I wasn’t complaining.).

So yeah, I was the envy of all my friends back home in North America and Europe when they saw that Uncharted 3 logo pop up under my PSN name 2 days before they could get their hands on it. Yeeeaaahhhh…. don’t think they would be too envious if they knew just how much of a difference in price I paid though.

:/

Shhh… they don’t need to know.

So GiantBomb community, what’s the most you’ve ever paid for a game?

-TAKEN TO THE CLEANERS NINJA APPROVED-

I've paid for two accounts of World of Warcraft for the last 11 years. Both are up to date and include every CE since WOTLK. I don't want to think about the amount of money it's cost but it'd easily be close to or above $1000 at this point.

Does 95% of my snes collection for Mario Golf 64 count? :(

For a single game I think my $200ish spent on Dota 2 tops the list. Even though I have a couple of collector's editions of games, most of them were gifts rather than something I bought. And I never did stick around with monthly paid MMOs long enough back when that was a thing.

I think I have probably spent close to $200 on League of Legends cosmetic items over the last 5 years, but if we're counting all in purchases it would be the $250 I spent on an arcade stick and copy of Blazblue.

I guess I ended up spending about $240 on Star Trek Online before it went free to play. I don't think I've ever spent any more than that on any game, but Flight Simulator X and DCS World may be close as their DLC is fairly pricy (I've got about $170 worth of DLC for both, though that's their full price and I picked up most of it on sale).

I'm probably the most bummed about buying that $100 Trailblazer Bundle for Everquest Landmark that ended up getting shut down a few months ago.

Probably the $200 for a lifetime sub to LOTRO. Otherwise, if we're only counting the base cost of the game, then whatever games from the 90s were in today's debased, Monopoly Money-ass USD.

I have more than once imported Japanese games and then also bought them when they come stateside so that is definitely too much money that I don't have an exact count on right now.

I maintained a fairly consistent sub to WoW for about 7 years so you can stop and think about that cause I sure don't wanna. I don't regret it but I wouldn't wanna stop and dwell.

Elite: Dangerous. $410 for the game, lifetime pass, and cosmetic items from the store. Around 700 hours played, or $0.59 / hour.

Star Citizen. $300 for my Kickstarter pledge, upgrading my Kickstarter ship to the military variant, and a second ship. Zero hours played, or #DIV/0!

That doesn't include the cost of the hardware peripherals like head and eye trackers, and a HOTAS setup.

Wow subscriptions (I've been playing off and on for like 10 years now) and mass effect dlc

I purchased five different copies of the original Injustice: Gods Among Us, one for each platform (and a repeat copy for my girlfriend).

$130 (plus whatever sales tax was at the time) for the Halo 3 Legendary Edition. Yes, the one with the stupid replica helmet. Which now sits uselessly as a reminder of my great shame for doing so in a closet somewhere in my house.

I posted once in a similar thread, but afaik the current record holder is $90 for a loose disc of Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance from eBay. That said, competition is close, since I'm frequently a sucker for RPGs with Deluxe Editions or Season Passes for $80. Mass Effect: Andromeda being the most recent one. Still salty over that one; shoulda listened to my head.

Probably on-and-off (now permanently 'off') subscriptions to WoW are the most overall.

Not counting subscriptions, I once paid $150 on eBay for Suikoden II.

Probably the 799 SEK (~$80) I payed for Stunt Racer FX for the SNES back in 1994. I don't buy collector editions and try to buy most of my games some time after release as I know I will not get around to play them right at release anyway.

/Viktor

When I was young and dumb, I definitely paid something like $80 for the collector's edition of Fallout 3 and a similar price (maybe even $90??) for the collector's edition of Resident Evil 5. Putting aside the quality of the games themselves (I think they're both a little disappointing in retrospect, though RE5 is at least a fun time if you play it co-op) I actually used the Fallout lunchbox for its intended purpose, but I got wise to dumb collector's editions of games pretty quickly.

Joining the WoW club with few others, nothing else comes close to the pile of cashmoney that game has devoured.

But if we forget about subscription based games, it's some collector's edition. Bought so many of those that I can't say for sure what was the most expensive one.

...and if we still forget about any CEs or other fancy editions, it'd probably be some PS2 game I bought back in the day. Pretty sure those things cost 10-15€ more than console games today.

The answer is Overwatch. In terms of how much I spent on it, between different version of the game and loot boxes...let's see...Oh....Oh no....Oh god no.

Probably WoW because of the Subscription and the expansions, i don't use the mount and pet store because that's just pure evil to charge people additional money for content that should be included with the Sub.

Oh and i never buy WOW tokens for real money.

I played the Marvel: Avenger's Alliance F2P browser game for the entire run of the game. It debuted the same year the first Avengers movie did, and went offline a year or two ago permanently.

In that time, I probably put ~$400 into it.

If you think I got taken for a ride, remember that the game lasted around 3 years, had a very active, turn-based gameplay and I probably played something like 30 hours a month. In addition: content and characters were being added for free, and since it debuted so early into F2P games becoming "a thing," it was one of the least exploitative I've ever played. Plenty of premium currency drip, a good amount of new content being added. The only time it felt sleazy was the entirely optional PVP.

I also had a City of Heroes account active from the time that game debuted until City of Villains came out. I wanted to like City of Villains, but they leaned into all the worst aspects of MMO culture.

If we take F2P and subscriptions off the map, I bought every piece of Mass Effect 3 DLC and probably spent something like $100 in the multiplayer. Which I got a TON out of it and it becomes much less interesting as I've never really paid a premium for a standard game. The closest would be that I bought an Earthbound strategy guide off eBay for $15 because it felt like such an integral part of the game that it was weird playing without it.

Guess I would also say WoW subscriptions. It's really the only sub MMO I've played for years and years. Wondering how much I spent on it total now.

I think I've spent somewhere in the neighborhood of $500 on Hearthstone over the last 4 years.

I have a problem buying too many games but I can't justify paying too much for a single game. I think the most is probably Pokemon Stadium, which they charged 70 or 80 bucks 'cause of the transfer pak. I guess I've bought multiple copies of MGS 1-3 over the years if that counts but w/e, I had my reasons.

The ones that hurt the most are Dragon Ball Z Budokai and Perfect Dark Zero for $50 each 'cause those are garbage games.

I had a brief kick where I was into collector's editions of games and bought them for both Bioshock 2 and Fallout: New Vegas at $100 each. Until Sonic Mania, those were the only two I'd ever purchased.

More recently, I spent $70 for a copy of Einhander on the Playstation 1. As the store I bought from is a hybrid that sells movies and music, the cashier was very confused at the expense.

As for card games... I've kept my spending on Hearthstone to only $100. Magic the Gathering though... thousands. Singles, boosters, sleeves, boxes, and then travel expenses to play in a bunch of tournaments. I don't regret it, but it's probably more than I've spent on all other gaming combined in my life.

Most recently Injustice 2. I bought the game + all the DLC fighters.

World of Warcraft probably tops it, with multiple copies, upgraded with multiple expansions, and on-and-off subscriptions over 10 years.... probably comes between $300 and $400.

For the same reasons, Final Fantasy XIV is second at around $200.

For pay-once games, it would Dark Souls games with the season passes, but that's only $90 -- barely more than the $80 I paid for Chrono Trigger back in the '90s.

I spent over $100 on the Ni no Kuni Wizard's Edition when it came out. It's only time I've spent that much on a Collector's edition, but it was worth it.

I basically spent around $200 on the original .hack, between its four volumes. It was sold as 4 separate games, but it was basically one long game.

Between expansions and subs I've also spent around $200 on FFXIV.

If I don't count MMO subscriptions, I'd say probably Street Fighter 4. I ended up buying that damn game, all subsequent DLC and re-releases for every available platform. It also rekindled a long dormant love for fighting games in general, leading to the purchase of around a dozen fightsticks over the years, ranging in price from about $70 to $300 each.

Don't get me started on the MvC 2 cabinet sitting behind me...or the case full of compatible boards for it (every fighter available reasonably from Guilty Gear X to Powerstone).

Fighting games are a hell of a drug.

As far as a single copy of a game with no additional in-game purchases or the like, it's probably The Witcher 3 Collectors Edition at $150, followed by the Dark Souls 3 Collector's Edition (which I don't believe was actually the highest-end version of the game available) at $130, and the Last Guardian CE at $101. The World of Final Fantasy CE would be right up there at $130, but I got that at half price from someone else.

As for a single game overall... I played Marvel Heroes for several years there, so probably a least a couple hundred into that. I think I played Final Fantasy 14 for long enough to come in over $100 total there, too.

@zeik said:

I'm pretty sure that re-sells for considerably more than that these days, so "worth it" is certainly an apt description.

With all the DLC we purchased over years and replacement guitars Rock Band was well over $1000

Thinking on it some more, I was actually wrong. The most I've ever spent on a game was the Mass Effect Trilogy DLC. For an itemized list:

• Mass Effect 1
  • Bring Down the Sky - Free
  • Pinnacle Station $5
• Mass Effect 2
  • Cerberus Network - Free with a new copy (incl Zaeed, Firewalker, weapons and armor)
  • Kasumi Stolen Memory $7 (560 Bioware Points)
  • Lair of the Shadow Broker $10 (800 pts)
  • Overlord $7 (560 pts)
  • Arrival $7 (560 pts)
  • Various weapon, armor, and companion skin packs $14 (1120 pts)
• Mass Effect 3
  • Extended Cut - Free
  • From Ashes $10 (800 pts)
  • Leviathan $10 (800 pts)
  • Citadel $15 (1200 pts)
  • Omega $15 (1200 pts)
  • Various weapon, armor, and companion skin packs $6 (480 pts)

You can only by Bioware Points in multiples of 800 for $10, and a grand total of 8,080 are needed, or $110 with 720 wasted points. It was the same deal with Microsoft Points on 360 back in the day.

It's part of why I'm such a sucker for "get it all at once" Season Passes. They could always be screwing us worse.

Well that too, but I meant more in regards to the physical Wizard's book being awesome and well made.

I enjoyed the first inFamous so much that I spent $100 CAD for the inFamous 2 special edition. For the extra $30 I got a kinda bad comic book, a cd of the soundtrack, a nice looking figurine, and a backpack that I still use occasionally and all my friends are jealous of. I probably also got some in game skins or something that I never used. All in all I'm pretty happy with my purchase.

Does Magic: The Gathering count? Because oh god. That year I tried to collect a core set. (didn't happen)

I got the Fallout 4 collector's edition with the pip-boy and all that. Also have Diablo 3 for PS4 and for PC with the expansions. No regrets.

I picked up a Wii U not too long ago (used) to finally get around to playing Bayonetta 2. Console and game with delivery was around £150 in total. Played 5 chapters of Bayonetta 2 and got bored of it pretty quickly. I only sort of regret the purchase, sooner or later I'll be in the mood for Bayo 2 so I'm sure it will get used eventually.

10+ years of World of Warcraft subscription that's around $7-$800 plus the core game and each expansion that's another $240 so around a grand on one game plus multiple character transfers swapping sides and so on. So probably around $1200 just on WoW. That's probably the worst I've had. At least I hope so.

Not me, but an acquaintance of mine in high school put in around $400 into one of those wait-mobile games (you know, like Clash of Clans); can't remember the name (don't pay attention to these sorts of games), but I think it started with "Battle", followed by another word. Haven't seen the guy since I graduated, but I just remember hearing about how pissed his parents were then.

I've sunk a couple hundred into Guild Wars 2 with somewhere over 1k hours played, and am going to burn another $80 for the dumb ultra mega deluxe or whatever edition of their new expansion. Haven't played in a while so I'm not looking forward to all the updating I'll have to do. Also password guessing!

For a single purchase? $150 for Fortnite, but with friends chipping in so they also got the extra game codes. I've already sunk a ton of time into that game.

I've played WoW on and off for over a decade, so it's easily that. I've also spent several hundred on TF2/Dota 2/Warframe, but I've also played each of those games for 500-2000 hours.

As far as just a 'normal' one-time purchase game: 59.99, but rarely. I almost never buy new/full price games.

If you are counting all the stuff that goes along with it it's Rock Band. I recently did the rough math, including DLC and instruments I've put in approximately $3000. On a single game purchase it's been $90 on Destiny.

On an individual release, ¥31,040 on Persona 5 (approx. £200/$300)

My three Collector's Editions of Persona 4: Dancing All Night (JP/US/EU) probably sum to more though....

I've probably spent the most on WoW throughout the years, but what was more egregious to me was how much I spent on Destiny. 3 collector's editions for one game just to get the tchotchkes, in addition to like 5 shirts. Altogether 150+80+60+25+25+25+25+25. 415 on a game that I now can't stand

GTA5 - £135

£90 for 360 then another £45 on ps4, I bought the 360 version on release day and the guy in the shop said they only had pre-order copies but he'd sell me one if I bought the guide book as well which I didn't use, so I guess that counts, did not care much for that game.

I don't know why I got it for ps4, I really wanted to like it.

Actually, it's probably WoW, I have no idea how much. I played it for about 2 years.

I don't think I've ever paid more than $60 on an actual game. I've spent in the neighborhood of $1,000 on CS:GO though.

$220 for Sonic & Knuckles back in the day. That was pricey for Megadrive games back then as most were $180-$200. Games are sooo much cheaper these days that it's rare I'll complain about the prices but it pisses me off when I see people complaining about $60 for a game.

$80 to get Red Dead Redemption overnight airmailed when the only game store in my isolated town sold out on launch day.

I payed around $600 for various Dota 2 cosmetics over the years. However, one of them was a Dragonclaw Hook that I got from my very first crate when cosmetics were added in 2012, so I made around $200 back in Steam bucks a few years later. Of course now those things are going for around $350 on the marketplace because of the upcoming Pudge arcana, so I kind of wish I had kept it for today. Before that I think it had peaked at 250-260 a few years back...

Hmm, good question. Magic Online is almost certainly top of the list, but I don't have a good guess for the actual amount. More than £200, certainly, but nowhere near a grand; I was playing limited, not building Legacy decks.

After that, well, Oblivion plus DLC across two platforms (PC and 360), all that Crusader Kings II DLC, and F2P games like Settlers Online or Gems of War are probably next. Never got into a proper MMO.

If the question was "which developer/publisher has gotten most of your money?", it's Bethesda, hands down, with game plus all the DLC for Fallout 3 and 4, Oblivion (two platforms, as mentioned) and Skyrim, and about £20 each on Legends and Fallout Shelter.

I've backed Star Citizen for about $900 now. It's an insane amount of money for a game that doesn't exist yet. On the other hand I've felt involved with its development over the past 4 years so that counts for something.