Record-Breaking Call of Duty Budgets Exceed $700 Million

Recent disclosures reveal that Activision's Call of Duty franchise has reached unprecedented budget levels, with some titles exceeding $700 million in development costs. This surpasses previous industry benchmarks, even outpacing the famously high-budget Star Citizen.

The staggering costs of AAA game development are highlighted by these figures. While indie games often operate on significantly smaller budgets, the AAA landscape is characterized by increasingly expensive productions. While titles like Red Dead Redemption 2, Cyberpunk 2077, and The Last of Us Part 2 are known for their substantial development costs, they pale in comparison to the newly revealed Call of Duty figures.

Court filings from December 23rd, as reported by Game File, detail the budgets for three Call of Duty games: Black Ops 3, Modern Warfare (2019), and Black Ops Cold War. Black Ops Cold War, with a budget exceeding $700 million, leads the pack. This massive investment, spanning several years, resulted in sales exceeding 30 million copies. Modern Warfare (2019), with a development cost of over $640 million, sold an even more impressive 41 million copies. Even Black Ops 3, the least expensive of the three at $450 million, dwarfs the $220 million budget of The Last of Us Part 2.

Black Ops Cold War: A $700 Million+ Milestone

The budget for Black Ops Cold War represents a new high watermark for video game development, surpassing even Star Citizen's $644 million. This is especially noteworthy considering that Black Ops Cold War's funding came solely from Activision, unlike Star Citizen's eleven-year crowdfunding campaign.

The escalating costs of AAA game development are evident when comparing these figures to historical precedents. The 1997 release of Final Fantasy VII, a technological marvel at the time, cost $40 million – a sum that now seems minuscule in the context of modern AAA game budgets. Activision's recent disclosures serve as a stark reminder of the industry's continuously rising development costs, prompting speculation on the potential budgets for future installments like Black Ops 6.