Revealed: The Staggering Development Costs of Call of Duty

Activision has always been secretive about the expenses that go into creating the Call of Duty series. However, a recent court document has shed some light on the substantial sums spent on several of the top Xbox first-person shooters. The games in question include Call of Duty: Black Ops III, Modern Warfare (2019), and Black Ops Cold War.

A recent revelation shows just how much was shelled out for the development of these iconic titles. For Call of Duty: Black Ops III alone, the investment was a staggering $450 million. The relaunch of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare in 2019 saw expenses climb to over $640 million. Topping the list, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War had costs exceeding $700 million.

This information comes from a report by GameFile, which got its hands on a court filing where Patrick Kelly, the head of creative for the franchise, disclosed these figures. According to Kelly, Treyarch spent three years developing Black Ops III, ultimately selling 43 million copies of the game.

Turning to 2019’s Modern Warfare, Infinity Ward took several years and spent upward of $640 million. Their efforts were rewarded with sales reaching 41 million copies. Black Ops Cold War, developed by both Treyarch and Raven Software, stood out for its $700 million development budget, with 30 million copies being snapped up by eager fans.

It’s important to note that these figures likely include the costs of post-launch support for each title. Even so, these numbers are astonishingly high and do not account for the massive marketing budgets, which would push the totals even higher.

For a bit of perspective, GameFile also mentioned Sony’s The Last of Us Part 2, which came at a cost of $220 million to make.

The report didn’t provide any insight into the development expenses for the newer Call of Duty games. This leaves us curious about how much Activision, now under Microsoft’s umbrella, has spent on recent installments like Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, a fan favorite on Game Pass. What do you think of these development costs? Feel free to drop your thoughts in the comments section.