The history of video games started earlier than you might think - the first simplistic versions were already developed as early as the 1950s, although the first video game hardware was released in the 1970s, called Magnavox Odyssey, which can now be found in the National Museum of American History.

Fast forward quite a few decades and video games have become a major form of entertainment. As technology continues to advance, so do the games. Snapshots of games can look so good you could confuse them for reality. Photorealistic modifications to a game called "Cyberpunk 2077" are a great example of this - the game is barely distinguishable from reality.

However, the graphics are just one component of a video game. Realistic and high-definition graphics may have been a great selling point until the mid-2010s, but people soon started realizing that it's not the visuals that make the game fun. Sure, visually pleasing games are nice to look at, but if a title suffers greatly from a lack of content or a badly written story, chances are the player base will dwindle fast and the game will eventually flop.

Let's look at a legendary example within the game industry - Runescape. In particular, the 'old school' Runescape, which features graphics from 2007. It would be hard to argue with anyone that the game looks great - it certainly doesn't. You can pretty much count pixels on the screen, and the environment, as well as character models, look like something straight out of Microsoft Paint.

Nevertheless, the Old School Runescape community continues to thrive and millions of people keep playing the game. So much so that the game manages to breach its highest concurrent player count consistently. The game is packed with content, and the inherent nature of it being a multiplayer game helps the fans keep the game flourishing.

Having all this video game history in mind, as well as the growing aspect of the industry, you may wonder what the budgets were for some acclaimed titles. Let's focus on one of the most critically acclaimed games - Red Dead Redemption 2.

Red Dead Redemption 2 was released in 2018 to overwhelmingly positive reviews. The heartfelt story was written so well that many of the fans were brought to tears. The world design, graphics, and audio were a magnificent combination, with the effort clearly showing in just the sheer scale of the in-game world and the abundance of activities to do. In fact, the game was developed for over 8 years and around 2000 people were involved in the process.

If that isn't blowing your mind, let's get into the finances - Red Dead Redemption 2 cost a staggering 206 million dollars to make. It needed to sell around 20 million copies to turn a profit. As of 2024, the game has sold over 64 million copies.

Needless to say, the company had great success with the game, but the time and numbers behind its development emphasize the risks that the companies take. Creating an immersive experience takes a lot of resources, and no game is protected from flopping.

We celebrated Red Dead Redemption 2's success, but what about the biggest letdowns and disappointments in the industry? Look no further - Fallout 76 is one of the most infamous examples of how video game development can go wrong.

When Fallout 76 was released in November of 2018, it quickly became evident that the video game developer Bethesda fell short pretty much of all its promises to their fans. The game lacked content, the promised scale of the game was not there, it caused many PC performance issues for the players, and the gameplay itself was riddled with bugs and glitches. And that's just to name a few of the issues.

What made matters worse was that Bethesda implemented an in-game shop, where players could buy cosmetics for their character with their hard-earned real-life cash. There's nothing inherently wrong with that, well, at least in most cases, but Bethesda priced the in-game currency in such an outrageously expensive way that it made the fans even more disappointed and enraged.

Of course, Fallout 76 bombed - and bombed so hard that the critics and people online were ruthless for months. Bethesda went radio silent on the game, and pretty much never commented on the game's release. Not an apology to the fans, no roadmap, nothing.

Let's be real: from Bethesda's standpoint, shying away from the criticism and pretending it doesn't exist makes sense. Otherwise, they would've needed to go on a PR journey so long, the icecaps would've melted by the time they were done.

Still, the company damaged its reputation harshly in the eyes of the fans, and one of the most beloved video game franchises was in jeopardy. But realistically, the Fallout series has been so successful that it will always have the audience willing to check out new titles, or content, such as TV series.

All in all, video games, their development, and industry is a fascinating topic. The demand for new games is set to become even larger as time passes, as the companies have started to attract new audiences. Movies, TV shows, and other screen adaptations help to broaden the horizon and make the games more appealing to the masses.

Hopefully, there will be great releases in the upcoming year as well. What do you think about today's story? Do you have a favorite game? Let us know in the comments below.