Call of Duty Reveals Massive Development Budgets

Call of Duty's Record-Breaking Budgets: A Look at AAA Game Development Costs

Recent disclosures reveal staggering development budgets for three Call of Duty titles, reaching as high as $700 million. These figures represent the highest ever for the franchise, with Black Ops Cold War leading the pack. This underscores the escalating costs within the AAA video game industry.

Developing a video game is a significant undertaking, demanding years of work and substantial financial investment. While indie games often thrive on smaller, crowd-funded budgets, the AAA landscape operates on a vastly different scale. Blockbuster game budgets have steadily climbed, eclipsing even previously "expensive" titles. Games like Red Dead Redemption 2, Cyberpunk 2077, and The Last of Us Part 2 were considered costly, but they pale in comparison to the newly revealed Call of Duty figures.

According to a December 23rd California court filing, Activision's head of Call of Duty creative, Patrick Kelly, unveiled the budgets for Black Ops 3, Modern Warfare (2019), and Black Ops Cold War. Black Ops Cold War, with a budget exceeding $700 million, stands out. Despite its massive cost, the game sold over 30 million copies. Modern Warfare (2019), with a development cost exceeding $640 million, achieved even higher sales, surpassing 41 million copies. Even Black Ops 3, the least expensive of the three at $450 million, still more than doubles the $220 million budget of The Last of Us Part 2.

Black Ops Cold War: A $700 Million+ Undertaking

The budget for Black Ops Cold War surpasses even the substantial $644 million spent on Star Citizen. This is particularly noteworthy considering Black Ops Cold War's funding came from a single company, unlike Star Citizen's eleven-year, crowd-funded development.

The escalating trend in game development costs is undeniable. Comparing the $40 million budget of 1997's Final Fantasy VII (a groundbreaking title for its time) to today's AAA budgets highlights the dramatic shift. Activision's recent disclosures serve as stark evidence of this ever-increasing financial investment in the video game industry. It will be fascinating to see how budgets for future installments, such as Black Ops 6, will continue to grow.