Summary
Activision has disclosed the budgets of threeCall of Dutygames, with some reaching impressively high figures ranging from $450 to $700 million. These massiveCall of Dutydevelopment budgets mark the highest ever seen for the franchise, withBlack Ops Cold Warat the top.
Making video games is no small feat. The development process usually takes many years and costs companies a large amount of effort and money. While certain indie games are widely known for having been developed on relatively small budgets raised on platforms like Kickstarter, the AAA realm is quite different. The prices of blockbuster titles have grown bigger year by year, surpassing classic games that were considered “expensive” at the time. Among themost expensive games ever made areRed Dead Redemption 2,Cyberpunk 2077, andThe Last of Us Part 2. However, none of these come close to the recently revealed budgets forCall of Dutytitles.
As reported byGame File, Activision’s head of creative ontheCall of Dutyfranchise, Patrick Kelly, revealed in a California court filing on December 23 the budgets forBlack Ops 3,Modern Warfare(2019), andBlack Ops Cold War, with the latter exceeding $700 million in development costs. The game took Activision many years to complete and sold more than 30 million copies. This number is followed byModern Warfare, where Infinity Ward invested more than $640 million in development, selling 41 million copies. And finally,Black Ops 3, with the smallest budget of the three at $450 million, still doubles the $220 million development cost ofThe Last of Us Part 2.
Black Ops Cold War Exceeded $700 Million in Development Costs
TheBlack Ops Cold Warbudget is the highest ever seen in video games, surpassing evenStar Citizen’s massive $644 million in development costs. This is surprising given thatBlack Ops Cold Warwas financed by a single company, whereasStar Citizenreceived funding through crowdfunding over an 11-year period.
It’s interesting to think about how much prices for games likeBlack Ops 6could have increased since thedebut ofBlack Ops Cold Warin 2020. Budgets are increasing annually, according to the trend. For example, the 1997 release ofFinal Fantasy 7, which was a graphical and technical revolution, cost $40 million, which at the time was regarded as a huge budget. Now, that amount seems insignificant in comparison to the current prices of AAA games. Activision’s recently disclosed budgets are unmistakable evidence of the video game industry’s rising costs.
