Development forGrand Theft Auto VIbegan in earnest in 2018. With the game (hopefully) releasing in 2026, that’s an eight-year development cycle, though there are reports of work taking place earlier than that. For our list, though, we’ll go with the 2018 date.
An eight-year development cycle doesn’t seem so bad in the grand scheme of things. It’s been over a decade since the release ofGrand Theft Auto V.Red Dead Redemption 2was a fantastic follow-up for Rockstar Games, but there’s nothing likeGrand Theft Auto, and people have been waiting a long time.
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It got us thinking: surely this couldn’t be the only game with a lengthy development cycle. Anyone familiar with the industry knows that’s not the case, especially concerning one infamous game we’ll discuss here in a bit.
The list of games that took longer than GTA VI to develop may be longer than you realize. Let’s dive in.
10Dragon Age: The Veilguard
A Very Different BioWare
Dragon Age: The Veilguard
Fextralife Wiki
Development Began
Game Released
Following the success of 2014’sDragon Age: Inquisition, development began on a sequel in 2015.
However, that process was anything but smooth sailing. After Anthem’s failure, a live-service component was scrapped, and the game saw a full-blown reboot.
Veilguard, which was originally titled 2022, was plagued with constant staff turnover atBioWare. Mark Darrah, who has been at BioWare since 1996 and has worked on every prior Dragon Age game, left the company in 2020.
Several other tenured BioWare developers would leave before Veilguard’s release. Some on their own volition, others as part of layoffs, no doubt adding to its tumultuous development time.
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9Diablo III
A Long Awaited Return
WhileDiablo IIIwas finally announced in 2008, development on the game had started long before that, in 2001.
Obviously, Blizzard was very different between the time development began, Diablo III was finally announced, and its eventual 2012 release. First,World of Warcraftbecame a massive hit. Blizzard was no longer known for strategy games and ARPGs; WoW was the big name in town.
Second, Activision acquired Blizzard in 2008. Aside from that, it took Diablo III some time to meet Blizzard’s standards, which is ironic considering the game’s state at launch and thepoor reception from fans.
On the bright side, Diablo III is pretty fun to play now as an alternative toDiablo IV.
8Starfield
Reach For The Stars
2013 (or earlier)
I’m not sure if we’ll ever stop debating whetherStarfieldwas worth its lengthy development cycle.
While the game may have been announced in 2018, five years before its release, you could argue that development began as early as 2013. Todd Howard always said, leading up to Starfield’s release, that the technology for thespace RPGthey wanted to make wasn’t possible until this current generation.
Bethesda Game Studios isn’t exactly known for a speedy development cycle lately. While we saw Oblivion, Fallout 3, Skyrim, and Fallout 4 all release within a nine-year window, there was an eight-year gap between Starfield and Fallout 4.
Here’s to hoping the gap between Starfield and Elder Scrolls VI isn’t as long.
7Metroid Dread
100% Worth The Wait
Metroid Dread
Metroid Dreadwas released for the Nintendo Switch in 2021, but the game was originally planned for theNintendo DS.
Development began sometime around 2005, but despite rumors of a public reveal at E3 2005 or 2006, nothing happened, prompting rumors of the game’s cancellation.
It would have been bigger news if Retro Studios had not released three Metroid Prime titles in five years. Metroid fans were eating well, but the Prime games were a departure from the typical 2D Metroid experience. Dread represented a return to that typicalMetroidvaniaformula, but years came and went without the game’s release.
In what has become a recurring theme for the Metroid series (looking at you, Metroid Prime 4), the game was not meeting Nintendo’s expectations, so development kept moving around. It finally landed on MercurySteam, following the success of Metroid: Samus Returns for the 3DS. Its eventual release proved that sometimes, the wait is indeed worth it.
Please Release This Locally, Nintendo
Speaking of waiting, we’re still sitting here in North America wondering when, if ever,Mother 3will see an official release outside of Japan.
If you think the wait for us is bad, imagine how rough it was for Japanese audiences to endure its 12-year development cycle.
The title was originally planned for the Super Nintendo before development moved to the Nintendo 64. Nothing came of that, as theNintendo 64’s memory limitations hindered the game’s scope.
At one point, the game was canceled in 2000 before development restarted for theGame Boy Advance. Originally planned as a 3D game, Mother 3 shifted to a 2D title to better suit the GBA’s capabilities. While its gameplay was, understandably, dated, it’s still become a cult classic thanks to its story and charm.
5Prey (2017)
A Good, Albeit Forgettable, Experience
In what may be the most infamous game development cycle of all time, 2017’sPreywas originally a very different game.
Following the release of 2006’s Prey, developed by Human Head Studios, work on a sequel began. However, the title ended up in development hell, and the IP rights were eventually transferred from 3D Realms to Bethesda Softworks.
The game was reportedly canceled in 2014, but the bigger story happened a year earlier. As reported byJason Schreier, a leaked email claimed that Arkane Studios, best known for the Dishonored franchise, was working on a rebooted version of Prey 2. This, of course, is true: 2017’s Prey is a reboot of the franchise that has nothing in common with the 2006 game.
This incident was so infamous, though, because of how emphatically this story was denied. BothBethesdaand Arkane repeatedly said, “No, we are not making Prey 2.”
Former Arkane president Raphael Colantionio even said, and I quote, “Now that the news [of Prey 2] is out, we’ll be contacted…by press sneak [expletives] who will want to know more.”.
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4The Last Guardian
It Actually Came Out!
Given the cult classic status of Ico and Shadow of the Colossus, there was a lot of excitement around the reveal ofThe Last Guardianin 2009, which began development two years prior.
If we only knew what would happen next. While The Last Guardian isn’t quite as meme’d as Duke Nukem Forever, sometimes it felt pretty close.
Despite a planned release in 2011, the years came and went without any word about the game’s release. Eventually, developer Team Ico disbanded, and director Fumito Ueda formed genDESIGN and completed development on The Last Guardian.
The game’s platform would shift from PlayStation 3 to the PS4, and it was reintroduced with much fanfare at E3 2015. Its December 2016 release came shortly after, and it became another cult classic.
I, for one, am glad that they took their time with this. As great as Shadow of the Colossus is, it’s 100% hindered by the PS2 hardware. Moving The Last Guardian from PS3 to PS4 was an excellent choice.
3Final Fantasy XV
Final Fantasy 15
I remember Final Fantasy XII’s six-year development cycle feeling like an eternity. Oh, how young and naive I was.
Final Fantasy XV’s development began in 2006 as Final Fantasy Versus XIII. However, after its announcement, things went silent. The game was supposed to be part of Fabula Nova Crystallis Final Fantasy XIII, a series of seven games across multiple platforms that were all interconnected.
Just a year later, though, the project was scaling so large that it made more sense to rebrand the title as the next mainlineFinal Fantasytitle. Even then, development was far from simple, with Hajime Tabata taking over as game director from Tetsuya Nomura in 2012.
Just when things looked bleak,E3 2013 happened. If you don’t get it, you just had to be there. The hype wasreal. The game was back in a big way. We were finally playing the game three years later, representing a return to form for the mainline franchise.
2Duke Nukem Forever
Did Not Finish
Duke Nukem Forever
MaybeDuke Nukem Forevershould never have been released.
There was no way it would ever live up to the hype, and if you ask me, Duke Nukem 3D hasn’t aged well, so who cared anymore?
Mockingly called “Did Not Finish” as it shares the same initials (DNF), Duke Nukem Forever was finally released in 2011 after an extremely long development cycle. Initially developed by 3D Realms, development shifted to Gearbox Software, alongside Triptch Games and Piranha Games.
It is also the Guinness World Record holder for longest development for a video game, so take that, Grand Theft Auto VI!
Honestly, though, the less said about Duke Nukem Forever, the better. It’s an outdated boomer shooter that should never have been released.
1DOOM (2016)
Well Worth The Wait
Following the controversial release of DOOM 3, 2016’s DOOM had a rough development cycle. First, id Software developed it alongside Rage, which already added to the development time. Second, there was the reboot that happened during development.
Originally titled DOOM 4, it was supposed to bea new take on DOOM 2. It was also supposed to be heavily influenced by Call of Duty, earning the nickname “Call of Doom.”. Now that we know how good DOOM 2016 ended up being, I’d wager it’s a good thing that the game shifted course.
Given the game’s poor internal reception and lack of focus, many wondered how long the game would be stuck in development hell, pun not intended.
Following the release of Rage, which I always felt was an outdoor DOOM game, the team at id Software went to work, returning to the franchise’s roots. The result is anold-school boomer shooterthat doesn’t just stand among today’s FPS greats, but often exceeds them.
The game has had a sequel, DOOM Eternal, released in 2020, and a narrative prequel,DOOM: The Dark Ages, released earlier this year.
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