Call of Duty Reveals Massive Development Budgets

Call of Duty's Astronomical Budgets: A Look at the Rising Costs of AAA Game Development

Recent disclosures reveal that Activision's Call of Duty franchise has reached unprecedented heights in terms of development budgets, with some titles costing up to $700 million. This surpasses even the famously expensive Star Citizen, highlighting the ever-increasing financial investment required for top-tier video games.

The staggering figures, ranging from $450 million to a record-breaking $700 million (for Black Ops Cold War), represent the highest development costs ever seen in the Call of Duty franchise. This underscores the immense scale and complexity of modern AAA game production. Creating a blockbuster game is a multi-year undertaking, demanding substantial resources and manpower. While indie games often thrive on smaller, community-funded budgets, the AAA landscape operates on a vastly different scale.

According to a December 23rd California court filing (via Game File), Activision's Patrick Kelly, head of creative for Call of Duty, revealed the budgets for Black Ops 3, Modern Warfare (2019), and Black Ops Cold War. Black Ops Cold War, exceeding $700 million, sold over 30 million copies. Modern Warfare (2019), with a budget exceeding $640 million, achieved even greater sales, reaching 41 million copies. Even Black Ops 3, with the lowest budget of the three at $450 million, still dwarfs the $220 million development cost of The Last of Us Part 2.

Black Ops Cold War: A $700 Million Milestone

The Black Ops Cold War budget is a landmark in video game history, surpassing even Star Citizen's substantial $644 million development cost. This is particularly noteworthy considering Star Citizen's extensive crowdfunding campaign spanning over 11 years, while Black Ops Cold War was solely financed by Activision.

The upward trend in AAA game budgets is undeniable. Comparing the $40 million budget of 1997's groundbreaking Final Fantasy VII to today's figures illustrates the dramatic escalation in development costs. Activision's recent disclosures serve as a powerful illustration of this escalating trend within the video game industry. It will be fascinating to see how much more these budgets inflate in the future, especially with anticipated titles like Black Ops 6.