Call of Duty Reveals Massive Development Budgets

Record-Breaking Call of Duty Budgets: A Look at the Rising Costs of AAA Game Development

Recent disclosures reveal staggering development budgets for several Call of Duty titles, reaching unprecedented heights within the video game industry. Budgets for three specific games—ranging from $450 million to a jaw-dropping $700 million—have been revealed, with Black Ops Cold War leading the pack.

This underscores the escalating financial investment required for modern AAA game production. While indie games often thrive on smaller, community-funded budgets, the AAA landscape operates on a vastly different scale. The costs of creating blockbuster titles have steadily increased over the years, dwarfing even previously "expensive" game development projects. 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.

According to a December 23rd California court filing, Activision's head of Call of Duty creative, Patrick Kelly, detailed the budgets: Black Ops Cold War exceeded $700 million, Modern Warfare (2019) surpassed $640 million, and Black Ops 3 reached $450 million. These figures are particularly striking when considering the development time and sales figures; Black Ops Cold War, for instance, sold over 30 million copies.

Black Ops Cold War's budget surpasses even the famously large budget of Star Citizen, which amassed $644 million over an 11-year crowdfunding campaign. The fact that Black Ops Cold War achieved this figure through a single company's investment is noteworthy.

The trend of escalating budgets is undeniable. Comparing the $40 million budget of Final Fantasy VII (1997), considered massive at the time, to current AAA game costs highlights the dramatic shift in the industry's financial landscape. Activision's recent disclosures serve as a clear indicator of this escalating cost of AAA game development. The potential budgets for future installments, such as Black Ops 6, are likely to be even more substantial.