Summary
- Call of Duty games 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.
The world of video game development is witnessing unprecedented financial investment, with Activision revealing staggering budgets for three Call of Duty titles. These budgets range from $450 million to a jaw-dropping $700 million, setting new benchmarks for the franchise and the industry at large. The spotlight is on Black Ops Cold War, which tops the list with its colossal development costs.
Creating video games is an intricate and time-consuming process, requiring substantial resources. While indie games often capture attention for their modest budgets, sometimes funded through platforms like Kickstarter, the AAA segment operates on a different scale. The costs of developing blockbuster titles have soared over the years, dwarfing the budgets of games once considered lavish. Notable high-budget games include Red Dead Redemption 2, Cyberpunk 2077, and The Last of Us Part 2, yet none match the newly disclosed figures for Call of Duty.
According to Game File, Patrick Kelly, the head of creative for the Call of Duty franchise at Activision, disclosed in a California court filing on December 23 the budgets for Black Ops 3, Modern Warfare (2019), and Black Ops Cold War. Black Ops Cold War alone exceeded $700 million in development costs, 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. Meanwhile, Black Ops 3, with a budget of $450 million, still significantly outpaces the $220 million development 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 stands as the highest ever recorded for a video game, eclipsing even the $644 million spent on Star Citizen. This is particularly noteworthy because Black Ops Cold War was funded by a single company, unlike Star Citizen, which relied on crowdfunding over 11 years.
It's intriguing to speculate on how the budget for games like Black Ops 6 might have escalated since Black Ops Cold War's 2020 release. The trend shows budgets increasing year by year. To put this into perspective, the 1997 release of Final Fantasy 7, a groundbreaking title in terms of graphics and technology, was developed on a budget of $40 million—a figure considered enormous at the time but dwarfed by today's AAA game budgets. Activision's recent disclosures are a clear indicator of the rising costs within the video game industry.
