CoD Spends Lavishly on Development

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

Recent disclosures reveal that Activision's Call of Duty franchise has reached unprecedented heights in development budgets, with some titles exceeding $700 million. This surpasses even the massive budget of Star Citizen, highlighting the escalating costs within the AAA video game industry.

The staggering figures, ranging from $450 million to a record-breaking $700 million, represent the highest ever recorded for the Call of Duty franchise. Black Ops Cold War leads the pack with its $700 million price tag. This underscores the immense scale and complexity of modern AAA game development. While indie games often thrive on smaller budgets, the world of blockbuster titles is a different beast entirely. Costs have skyrocketed year after year, dwarfing even the budgets of previously "expensive" classics. Games like Red Dead Redemption 2, Cyberpunk 2077, and The Last of Us Part 2, while costly, pale in comparison to these new Call of Duty figures.

Activision's head of creative for Call of Duty, Patrick Kelly, revealed these budgets (for Black Ops 3, Modern Warfare (2019), and Black Ops Cold War) in a California court filing on December 23rd. Black Ops Cold War, with its over $700 million budget, sold over 30 million copies after years of development. Modern Warfare (2019) followed closely, costing over $640 million and selling 41 million copies. Even Black Ops 3, the "least expensive" of the three at $450 million, still more than doubles the $220 million development cost of The Last of Us Part 2.

Black Ops Cold War's $700 Million Budget: A New Benchmark

The budget for Black Ops Cold War sets a new standard, surpassing even Star Citizen's substantial $644 million development cost. This is particularly notable considering Black Ops Cold War's funding came solely from Activision, unlike Star Citizen's eleven-year crowdfunding campaign.

Looking ahead, the escalating trend suggests that future Call of Duty titles, such as Black Ops 6, will likely see even higher budgets. The contrast to earlier eras is stark. For example, the groundbreaking Final Fantasy VII (1997), a technological marvel for its time, cost $40 million—a sum that now seems minuscule in the context of current AAA game development. Activision's recent revelations provide undeniable evidence of the ever-increasing costs in the modern video game landscape.