Ken Levine denies BioShock Infinite cost $200m

Irrational Games co-founder Ken Levine has denied reports that the studio’s latest title BioShock Infinite has cost $200 million to develop and market.

Reported by The New York Times, analysts claimed that the latest entry into the BioShock series cost upward of $100 million to develop.

It was also suggested that marketing costs would add another $100 million to expenses.

Levine has since rubbished the report on Twitter, and stated: “200 million for Infinite? Did someone send some checks to the wrong address? #unnamedanalyst”

He later joked: “Analyst: @IGLevine ‘s American girl doll collection cost 200 million.”

Irrational isn’t the first studio thought to have broken the $100 million barrier to develop and release a game. In January last year, reports suggested that BioWare’s Star Wars: The Old Republic had cost between $200m-to-$500m to create. Despite the speculation however, the exact cost of the title was not revealed by publisher EA.

A report in 2010 also revealed the alleged high costs of game development, with Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto IV then labeled the most expensive game ever made at $100 million.

Other expensively developed titles included Gran Turismo at $80 million, Shenmue at $70 million and Too Human and Metal Gear Sold 4 at $60 million each.