Which are the Most Expensive Video Games in the World?

One of the most popular hobbies in the world and that over the years continues becoming bigger is video games. Beyond their different genres and styles, these are characterized by marking an era among millions of people, but especially in gamers, who have been in charge of revaluing – to a certain extent – those titles that tend to have been out of the market for many years and making them the most expensive in the world.

That is why we find that these video games belong to sagas that include several productions, since the greater the number of versions, the greater the popularity among the gaming community. Even another important point to highlight are the characters, those who, no matter how simple they seem, end up becoming icons of a whole generation. This is precisely where the key to success comes from.

For this 2021 the world of auctions and video games has not stopped surprising us. Reaching first place is not easy, but in a matter of weeks three games made the impossible possible: breaking sales records. We are talking about retro and legendary titles, of which many people had the opportunity to play at the time. A single "The Legend of Zelda" cartridge, released in 1986 by the Nintendo NES, was auctioned last July for $ 870,000 and reached the top of sales, a short-lived honor.

It only took two days for a new sale to take possession of that first position. A collector paid the hefty sum of $ 1.56 million for a copy of Super Mario 64, a video game that was released by the Nintendo 64 in 1996 . And although it was a figure that seemed difficult to overcome in the short term, a month later another Nintendo title and the same protagonist was in charge of breaking the record again: Super Mario Bros.

An unimaginable appreciation

As reported by the Engadget portal, a person paid $ 2 million for a sealed copy of Super Mario Bros. In fact, that condition of not having been opened was the reason why its price rose, since in itself it is something completely atypical in a title that had was launched in 1985. The details of both the sale and the status of the video game were given by Rob Petrozzo, one of the managers of the Rally auction site, a company that acquired the product in April 2020.

Just around that time, Rally bought the copy of Super Mario Bros for approximately $ 140,000 , receiving an offer – shortly after – for $ 300,000 from a collector. However, hoping to get a much bigger sale over the years, the shareholders made the decision to reject it and thus wait for the right time, which arrived on August 6.

It should also be mentioned that Rally uses an unconventional method for its auctions, but that it has also been able to generate its profits. The firm is responsible for buying certain items and subsequently sells shares of these. So if a buyer wants to take any of these items, Rally takes the offer to its shareholders and then they vote to determine whether to sell it or not. In case of accepting, the money will be divided among all those who are participants in the product .

Surprisingly, in the case of Super Mario Bros, a quarter of the shareholders did not want to accept the offer, but in the end, by majority vote, they ended up sealing the sale for that extraordinary sum of money. However, although the amount sounds high, in reality each shareholder will not receive huge amounts as is believed. For example, a student who invested $ 100 last year will receive $ 950. From Rally they assure that this is only the beginning of a trend of video game auctions that they hope can take flight over time .

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And what about the most current video games?

While classic titles are those that capture all the attention in the auction industry and therefore have high prices, this is largely due to the nostalgia that gamers feel when remembering how they enjoyed them as children. Now, the most current video games have a different formula, since it is the companies that spend large sums of money to make their respective projects come true .

The Dead Space saga (Electronic Arts) is one of the best known for its survival horror genre. After a successful first installment, the company spent just over $ 120 million for its sequel, a high amount for a second part that fell short of expectations. For its part, Cyberpunk 2077 (CD Projekt) was the most anticipated game of 2020 and after an investment of 121 million dollars it got very good reviews from the public, all this despite the constant delays they suffered.

Finally, Grand Theft Auto V (Rockstar) takes first place as the most expensive video game today. The fifth part of this incredible saga has sold more than 120 million copies, and it is not for less after spending 265 million dollars for its creation . And it is that, after all, in a few years it will be these titles that will compete for the place of honor in the auctions, selling for as many millions of dollars and thus continue to break records.