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

Recent disclosures reveal that Activision's Call of Duty franchise has reached unprecedented heights in terms of development budgets, with some titles costing upwards of $700 million. This surpasses previous industry benchmarks, highlighting the escalating financial investment required for modern AAA game production.

Three Call of Duty games—Black Ops 3, Modern Warfare (2019), and Black Ops Cold War—had budgets ranging from $450 million to a staggering $700 million. This surpasses even the considerable budget of Star Citizen, previously considered a high-water mark for game development costs. The sheer scale of these investments underscores the complexity and resource-intensive nature of creating modern blockbuster video games.

The development of Black Ops Cold War, costing over $700 million, is particularly noteworthy. This figure is especially striking considering it was funded solely by Activision, unlike Star Citizen's crowdfunded, eleven-year development cycle. The game's success, with over 30 million copies sold, demonstrates the potential return on such massive investments. Modern Warfare (2019), with a budget exceeding $640 million and 41 million copies sold, further exemplifies this trend. Even Black Ops 3, the "least expensive" of the three at $450 million, significantly outpaces the development cost of other critically acclaimed titles like The Last of Us Part 2 ($220 million).

This escalating trend in AAA game budgets is a stark contrast to the past. Consider Final Fantasy VII, a groundbreaking title released in 1997, with a then-massive budget of $40 million. Today, that figure pales in comparison to the current costs of top-tier game development. The budgets of Activision's Call of Duty titles serve as undeniable evidence of this dramatic increase, reflecting the ever-growing complexity and scale of modern video game production. The implications for future titles, such as a potential Black Ops 6, suggest even higher budgets are likely in the years to come.