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

Recent disclosures reveal staggering development budgets for three Call of Duty titles, reaching unprecedented heights for the franchise. Budgets ranged from $450 million to a jaw-dropping $700 million for Black Ops Cold War, setting a new industry benchmark.

The sheer scale of AAA game development is undeniable. These projects demand years of work and massive financial investment. While indie games often thrive on smaller, crowd-funded budgets, the AAA landscape operates on a vastly different scale. Blockbuster game costs have steadily climbed, dwarfing even the "expensive" titles of the past. Games like Red Dead Redemption 2, Cyberpunk 2077, and The Last of Us Part 2 were considered costly, yet they pale in comparison to the newly revealed Call of Duty figures.

Court documents filed on December 23rd revealed the financial details, according to Game File. Patrick Kelly, Activision's head of Call of Duty creative, confirmed the budgets for Black Ops 3 ($450 million), Modern Warfare (2019) (over $640 million), and Black Ops Cold War (over $700 million). Black Ops Cold War, which sold over 30 million copies, represents a significant investment. Modern Warfare (2019), with its 41 million copies sold, reflects a similar trend of high development costs. Even Black Ops 3's $450 million budget more than doubles the $220 million spent on The Last of Us Part 2.

Black Ops Cold War's $700 Million Budget: A New High Water Mark

The Black Ops Cold War budget surpasses even the massive $644 million spent on Star Citizen. This is noteworthy considering Black Ops Cold War's funding came solely from Activision, unlike Star Citizen's eleven-year crowdfunding campaign.

The escalating costs are evident when comparing current budgets to those of previous eras. The groundbreaking Final Fantasy VII (1997), a technological marvel for its time, cost $40 million – a sum now dwarfed by modern AAA game development. Activision's recent disclosures underscore the dramatic increase in the cost of producing high-end video games.