Creating blockbuster video games is no small feat, and the financial investment involved can be staggering.
While game developers often keep their budgets under wraps, recent disclosures have shed light on the hefty sums involved in the Call of Duty franchise.
Cost Breakdown of Major Titles
In a legal document obtained by Game File, Patrick Kelly, the creative lead for Call of Duty at Activision, reportedly revealed the financial breakdown for three major titles in the series.
Black Ops III, which came out in 2015 and was developed by Treyarch, took over three years to complete and racked up a budget of a staggering $450 million, achieving sales of around 43 million copies.
Fast forward to 2019, and Infinity Ward’s Modern Warfare emerged with a budget that reportedly reached $640 million, along with sales of 41 million units.
The 2020 installment, Black Ops Cold War, a joint effort by Treyarch and Raven Software, reportedly saw costs skyrocket to an eye-watering $700 million, resulting in 30 million copies sold.
Legal Context and Industry Secrecy
This information came to light in a court filing from December 23, connected to ongoing litigation against Activision Blizzard.
The suit arose after the tragic 2022 shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.
Filed in May 2024, the lawsuit claims that the Call of Duty games played a role in shaping the shooter’s actions, with Kelly specifically mentioning these titles as ones the perpetrator had engaged with.
Despite this new insight into development costs, the gaming industry remains largely secretive about its spending.
For instance, while rumors emerged in 2023 about Sony investing $220 million in The Last of Us Part II and $212 million for Horizon Forbidden West, such figures still represent the tip of the iceberg in an industry that’s becoming increasingly ambitious both in scope and expenditure.
Source: GameSpot