There are certain “legends” within the gaming industry that have talked about so much that they’ve become a part of the lore of the industry itself. The problem with that is that some of these legends aren’t true, or they’ve been exaggerated to a certain degree via the “game of telephone” that they were played on. Given the success of his recent movie, which is dominating the world and breaking box office records left and right, Deadpool finds himself in a unique position of being the subject of one of those legends once again. Specifically, the rumor that his 2013 game cost over $100 million to make.
While it’s far from unheard of today for a video game to cost that much, as some companies go WAY before that price tag to make their various open-world titles, the idea of this happening back in 2013 with a Marvel game was unthinkable. At the time, it would’ve made it the most expensive licensed game ever.
Thankfully, someone was there to help dispel this rumor, as GamesRadar+ found a post from the writer of that game, Chris Baker, who begged for this rumor to be squashed:
“My challenge to game journalists. Just in time for Deadpool & Wolverine, squash the insane rumour that the Deadpool game cost $100 million. It’s crazy how many people are out there [saying] ‘How could this possibly have cost so much?!’ when it obviously didn’t, not even close.”
There’s another reason why it was “not even close” to $100 million in production costs: it wasn’t exactly the longest game ever. Other titles in that period had a higher price tag than this game, but they were MUCH longer titles from people like Rockstar Games or featured the rebirth of Lara Croft. Those games were far longer than the “Merc With The Mouth’s” first solo game.
Ironically, that length was one of the reasons that the title wasn’t well-received at launch. It was a “mid-game” at best. On the one hand, the team at High Moon Studios was able to recreate Wade Wilson’s madness and showcase that in the gaming space well, highlighting the character’s humor while also doing many cameos with the X-Men. Wolverine, Rogue, Psylocke, and more showed up to help make it a truly “Mutant-filled” affair.
However, the game was short, and the action was generic and repetitive, which turned off many people. It did get a cult following, though, which is why the resales for the game, especially after the movie release, are going through the roof.
