By Sagar V. Mankar 
In a surprising revelation from recent court documents, Activision has disclosed the massive development costs of three major Call of Duty titles, setting new records for video game development budgets.
These figures were revealed in a declaration submitted by Activision’s head of creative, Patrick Kelly, to a California court on December 23, in response to a lawsuit filed against the company last May concerning the 2022 Uvalde school shooting.
The Numbers That Changed the Game
Noted by Game File, Kelly’s filing revealed how much Activision spent on the company’s three best-selling titles (as well as sales numbers):
- Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War (2020): $700 million, selling 30 million copies
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019): $640 million, reaching 41 million sales
- Call of Duty: Black Ops III (2015): $450 million, achieving 43 million sales
These figures represent the entire lifecycle of development costs for each game, including years of post-launch support and content updates. However, they don’t include marketing expenses, which likely add hundreds of millions more to the total investment.
Understanding the Scale
To put these numbers in perspective, here are some other games’ development costs in recent years:
- Horizon Zero Dawn — $212 million
- Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (via the Insomniac hack) — $315 million
- Genshin Impact — $100 million
- Cyberpunk 2077 — $316 million
- Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty — 84.5 million
- The Last of Us Part II (via the FTC v. Microsoft court documents) — $220 million
- Alan Wake 2 — €70 million
These figures, though substantial, pale in comparison to the costs associated with Call of Duty’s live-service model.
The monumental $700 million budget of Black Ops Cold War surpasses even Star Citizen’s development costs, which were funded through crowdfunding over 11 years.
What Makes Call of Duty So Expensive?
Several factors contribute to these astronomical budgets:
- Multi-year development cycles with hundreds of creative team members
- Continuous post-launch content creation
- Regular seasonal updates and battle passes
- High-profile crossover events (like Warhammer 40,000 and Squid Game)
- Complex multiplayer systems requiring constant maintenance
Former PlayStation Worldwide Studios chairman Shawn Layden recently expressed concern about these escalating costs, suggesting that the industry has “built AAA gaming into a kind of cathedral business” that may not be sustainable.
The Business Impact
Despite these challenges, Call of Duty remains a profitable venture for Activision. The series continues to dominate sales charts annually, justifying the colossal investments made in its development. For instance, Black Ops Cold War, even with its $700 million budget, generated well over $1 billion in revenue from its 30 million copies sold, not counting additional income from post-launch content and microtransactions. Similarly, despite being less pricey, Modern Warfare and Black Ops III sold over 40 million copies.
However, the rising costs prompt critical discussions about the future of game development and whether the industry can sustain such financial pressures in the long term.
Sources: Court filings reviewed by Game File