The 2020 FPS Call Of Duty: Black Ops Cold War cost $700 million to produce, making it the most pricey video game project reported to date. This is clear from the court document, which was reviewed by, among others, Stephen Totilo’s game file (paywalled), in which Call Of Duty innovative director Patrick Kelly revealed the budgets of three games in the series.
These are Black Ops 3 from 2015 (“over $450 million”), Modern Warfare from 2019 (“over $640 million”) and the previously mentioned Cold War. The filing also provided sales figures: Black Ops 3 sold 43 million copies, Modern Warfare sold 41 million, and Cold War sold 30 million. Kelly referred to these as “development costs,” so they probably don’t include marketing, although he doesn’t have a full breakdown.
In particular, there are higher external estimates for the ongoing development of the video game Genshin Strikebut this is by far the highest number from an internal source. For comparison, Totilo points to court documents from 2023 that revealed budgets for Horizon: Forbidden West and The Last Of Us Part 2 of $212 million and $220 million, respectively.
The information, according to Game File, is based on Kelly’s statement filed in a California court on December 23 and is part of Activision’s response to a lawsuit filed against the company last May over the 2022 shooting at Robb Elementary in Uvalde. Texas. The lawsuit against Activision also blames Facebook owner Meta, alleging that both companies “consciously exposed” shooter for the gun he used.
How reported by Last year, Activision denied any connection between the games and gun violence, while expressing sympathy for the victims. In October 2023, The Wall Street Journal reported on a previously undisclosed product placement deal between Call Of Duty and rifle manufacturer Remington.
Coming back to the numbers themselves: they are absurd, it’s true. It’s a pity that we don’t have a proper breakdown of costs by development disciplines. Does most of the money go towards improving graphics and graphics? If so, it is worth noting that nowadays gamers increasingly prefer reliable older titles with antiquated graphics to pricey spectacles. In any case, such huge budgets have worrying consequences for individual developers in the Microsoft/Activision empire, who are more likely to be laid off when costs rise and are not recovered.
