10 Video Games With the Longest Development Times

Modern video games are highly complex productions that can involve hundreds, and even thousands, of people working on them over several years. These days, we expect them to take a long time to make, and most players are fine with that. Sure, we’d all like to get our hands on a new Grand Theft Auto, Fallout, or Elder Scrolls game more than once a decade, but that’s not how things work. Still, there are long development times, and then there are LONG development times. When a game is announced, you’d expect it to come to fruition within a normal amount of time, but that’s not always the case. These ten games all took a ridiculous amount of time to complete, and they’re arranged from shortest to longest development times.

1) Doom (2016)

In 2016, the world got a brand-new Doom, which rebooted the franchise on modern consoles and was a huge hit. Old Doom players loved it as did new players who hadn’t gotten into the franchise before, and it was a smashing success. It was also a long time coming, as it was announced on May 7, 2008, as Doom 4. Several builds followed, and development was shaken up and restarted before it was revealed in 2014 that Doom would be called simply that, and it would be a reboot. It finally arrived on May 13, 2016, 8 years and 6 days after it was first announced.

2) Too Human

Too Human is an action RPG steeped in Norse mythology, which was released on the Xbox 360 in 2008. It didn’t garner excellent reviews upon release, and a significant lawsuit followed, resulting in its destruction and the cancellation of a trilogy. While that’s all very interesting, it’s not why Too Human is being mentioned in this article; it’s because of the game’s incredibly long development cycle. It was initially announced at E3 1999 for the PlayStation, but a year later, development was switched to support the GameCube. Finally, it was ported to the Xbox 360 for development after Microsoft purchased the rights, and it was released on August 19, 2008. This was 9 years, 3 months, and 9 days after the announcement.

3) Team Fortress Two

The original Team Fortress was a mod for Quake, which inspired the release of Team Fortress Classic. Team Fortress 2 was released in 2007 and has since become a free-to-play title. TF2 was a hit with critics and players, and everyone who’s enjoyed it has done so for years, as it continues to receive server support from Valve. The game began as an expansion pack for Half-Life in 1998, with a planned release later that year. Valve then released Team Force Classic, but TF2 didn’t come for some time as it was further developed into its own game. Fans got a chance to see it at E3 1999, but the game wasn’t released until October 10, 2007, nearly 9.5 years after it was announced as a Half-Life expansion.

4) Final Fantasy XV

While it’s not uncommon for a new Final Fantasy title to take a long time to develop, Final Fantasy XV set a new bar for the franchise. The incredibly successful game began development in 2006 for the PlayStation 3 as Final Fantasy XII. The overall game concept changed after about six years of development, requiring extensive rewriting that significantly altered the game. As time passed, the PS3 was no longer an option, pushing the developers to alter plans so it would be available on the PlayStation 4. Final Fantasy XV was ultimately released on the PS4 on November 29, 2016. This came approximately 10 years and 5 months after the game was unveiled in the July 2006 issues of Hyper PlayStation and Gaimaga.

5) Diablo III

Blizzard Entertainment is well known for its slow release schedule, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as the studio’s results speak for themselves. Still, it took a long time for the Diablo threequel to finally manifest, though when it did, the game was a huge hit with critics and gamers. Development of Diablo III began in 2001, but it wasn’t officially announced until June 28, 2008, at the Blizzard Worldwide Invitational. It’s unclear exactly when development began, but it was likely shortly after Diablo II: Lord of Destruction was released on June 27, 2001. Diablo III was finally released on May 12, 2012, an astounding 10 years and 10 months after development began.

6) Prey (2017)

The first Prey was released in 2006, and it did well enough to earn a sequel, which was announced on August 9, 2006. The game languished in Development Hell for some time, thanks to a transfer of the IP to Bethesda Softworks, which didn’t happen until 2011. At that time, Bethesda announced that another studio would develop Prey 2, and it continued for some time before the whole thing was scrapped. Finally, in 2017, Prey, which was less a sequel and more of a soft reboot of the core concept, was released on May 5, 2017. While the final game was not the same one initially announced, the time from the initial announcement to release was 10 years, 8 months, and 26 days.

7) Mother III (2006)

The Mother series launched in Japan, though it’s known as EarthBound in the West. The first game launched in 1989 for the Nintendo Famicom, and the third came out in April 2006. The game’s development began in 1994, with the Super Famicom targeted for its release. Over time, it transitioned to the Nintendo 64, and Nintendo showed it off at Nintendo Space World 1999. In 2000, after facing several delays, development was moved to the GameCube. Finally, the game was released, not on any of the intended systems mentioned, but on the Game Boy Advance, and only in Japan. Its release on April 20, 2006, came some 12 years after development began.

8) Grand Theft Auto VI

If you’re a Grand Theft Auto fan, you know all too well that they don’t release every few years. GTA V was released in 2013, and shortly after, Rockstar Games began developing GTA VI. As of writing, GTA VI has yet to be released, but its November 19, 2026, release date appears to be set in stone, and there don’t seem to be any further delays on the horizon. If that remains true, it will keep its place on this list because the time between development and its eventual release date amounts to around 13 years, give or take a couple of months, as the official start date of development is unclear.

9) Duke Nukem Forever

The original Duke Nukem 3D was a huge hit that fans wanted to see turn out a sequel for years, but it seemed like it would never happen. The first game was released in 1996, and while the sequel was announced on April 27, 1997, the Development Hell it was mired in seemed like the game would never make it to release. This was a sequel that the fans wanted for years, but changes to the graphics engine and other issues complicated development for an incredibly long time. Unfortunately, the final product wasn’t well-received when it was released on June 10, 2011. That comes out to a development-to-release time of 14 years, 1 month, and 13 days.

10) Metroid Dread

The Metroid franchise is a bit unusual for Nintendo, as it’s not loaded down with sequels like Mega Man or anything with Mario in it. The first game was a success, launching the franchise, but the mainline games were few and far between. Metroid Dread is the sequel to Metroid Fusion, which was released in 2002. The game was initially conceived of as a Nintendo DS title sometime in 2005. Some elements of the game were developed, and a 2006 release date was announced and passed without the game’s release. Finally, after years of development, Metroid Dread was released on October 8, 2021. The total development time is unknown, as the reveal date in 2005 is only generalized. Regardless, the time it took to develop Metroid Dread was around 16 years and 4 months.

Which game is your favorite that was mired in Development Hell? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!

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