Summary

• Call of Duty games have set new records with budgets reaching up to $700 million.
• Black Ops Cold War's $700 million budget surpasses even Star Citizen.
• Rising AAA game budgets highlight the escalating costs in the video game industry.

Activision has revealed the staggering budgets of three Call of Duty titles, with figures ranging from $450 to $700 million. These unprecedented development costs for the franchise underscore the monumental investment required, with Black Ops Cold War leading the pack.

Creating video games is a complex and time-consuming endeavor, often spanning several years and requiring substantial financial resources. While indie games may garner attention for their modest budgets, often funded through platforms like Kickstarter, the AAA sector operates on a vastly different scale. The cost of developing blockbuster titles has been steadily increasing, dwarfing the budgets of games once considered expensive. Among the most costly games are Red Dead Redemption 2, Cyberpunk 2077, and The Last of Us Part 2, yet none match the recently disclosed budgets for Call of Duty.

According to Game File, Patrick Kelly, Activision’s head of creative for the Call of Duty franchise, disclosed in a California court filing on December 23 the budgets for Black Ops 3, Modern Warfare (2019), and Black Ops Cold War. The latter's development cost exceeded $700 million, taking years to complete and selling over 30 million copies. Modern Warfare, developed by Infinity Ward, had a budget of more than $640 million and sold 41 million copies. Black Ops 3, with the lowest budget of the trio at $450 million, still significantly outstrips the $220 million cost of The Last of Us Part 2.

Black Ops Cold War Exceeded $700 Million in Development Costs

The budget for Black Ops Cold War is the highest ever recorded in the video game industry, surpassing even Star Citizen’s $644 million in development costs. This is particularly noteworthy as Black Ops Cold War was funded by a single company, in contrast to Star Citizen, which has been crowdfunded over an 11-year period.

It's intriguing to consider how much the budgets for games like Black Ops 6 might have risen since Black Ops Cold War's release in 2020. The trend of increasing budgets year over year is clear. For instance, Final Fantasy 7, released in 1997 and hailed as a graphical and technical marvel, had a budget of $40 million, which was considered substantial at the time. Today, that figure pales in comparison to the budgets of modern AAA titles. Activision's recent disclosures are a clear indicator of the rising costs within the video game industry.