A billion-dollar video game budget may seem surprising at first glance, but it starts to make sense once you consider that a modern game often has just as many moving pieces as a Hollywood production. You need actors, writers, programmers, animators, designers and composers among others to make an expansive open-world game. And short of a few outliers like the Avatar series, movies are typically in active production for a couple of years. GTA VI has been in active development for closer to a decade. Once a game is nearing completion, it usually goes through a rigorous testing process that requires yet another team.

Microsoft's Xbox One X is launching this week. It's the most powerful video game console ever made, but we don't know who will end up buying the $500 mid-generation system, or any Xbox over a PlayStation 4 (or PS4 Pro). Microsoft has been chasing Sony in console sales for years, and subsequently entered a pattern of shuttering internal studios and cancelling games. Now, according to an interview Xbox chief Phil Spencer gave to Bloomberg, the Washington-based company is going to do the opposite: Start or acquire studios to develop more games and software in-house. "Our ability to go create content has to be one of our strengths," Spencer told Bloomberg.