Activision has been making yearly Call of Duty games for almost two decades now, and they have almost always become the best-selling games of their release years. However, a missing piece of information for this behemoth franchise has been the development cost that Activision is bearing to pump out these games, which require the efforts of multiple studios around the world.
Today, GameFile reported on a court filing filed by Activision's Call of Duty head of creative Patrick Kelly, revealing the development budgets of three entries in the series: Call of Duty Black Ops 3 from 2015, Modern Warfare from 2019, and Black Ops Cold War from 2020. Note that the following numbers do not include marketing budgets.
Starting off, the Treyarch-developed Black Ops 3 had cost Activision $450 million with a three-year development schedule. The title had gone on to sell 43 million copies.
Next, Activision had spent a whopping $460 million for Infinity Ward's Modern Warfare reboot, with it selling 41 million copies.
Lastly, 2020's Black Ops Cold War had an eye-watering development cost of $700 million, with Treyarch and Raven Software developing the project with "hundreds of creatives." The title had sold 30 million copies.
One thing to keep in mind is that these costs are for the complete life cycle of the games, not just for the launch product. That means all post-launch free maps, weapons, characters, and the licensed cross-overs with other franchises and celebrities all factor into these massive numbers.
Microtransactions and battle passes related to these extended years of support would have also given Activision a healthy revenue boost.
The impressive Call of Duty sales numbers give a hint at why Microsoft went ahead with paying $69 billion to acquire Activision-Blizzard. While the company hasn't revealed sales data for the latest entry, nor its development costs, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, it has been confirmed to be the "biggest Call of Duty release ever," breaking franchise records. The title has reportedly boosted Game Pass subscription numbers by quite a margin too.
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