Summary
- Activision spent over $700 million on Black Ops Cold War development and marketing.
- The cost of developing Call of Duty games far surpasses budgets of other AAA games.
- Black Ops 6 features spy action in the early ’90s, with an extensive multiplayer mode.
While most AAA games these days have multi-million budgets, some games spend so much it borders on ridiculous territory. One of these games is Call of Duty: Black Ops 6. If the latest report about it is the real deal, Activision has spent over half a billion dollars in developing and marketing the newest Call of Duty gae.
In a report by the ever-reliable Stephen Totilo, leaked court documents reveal what Activision has spent on three Call of Duty games, and one of these is Treyarch’s latest title, Black Ops 6, available for last-gen and current-gen consoles and PC.
Black Ops 6’s Development Budget Is The Biggest Ever Reported For A Game
In the court filing, Activision Head of Creative on the Call of Duty franchise, Patrick Kelly, noted the cost of three Call of Duty games released between 2015 and 2020.
- Black Ops III (2015): “Treyarch developed the game over three years with a creative team of hundreds of people, and invested over $450 million in development costs over the game’s lifecycle.” (Kelly also discloses that it has sold 43 million copies.)
- Modern Warfare (2019): “Infinity Ward developed the game over several years and has spent over $640 million in development costs throughout the game’s lifecycle.” (41 million copies sold)
- Black Ops Cold War (2020): “Treyarch and Raven Software took years to create the game with a team of hundreds of creatives. They ultimately spent over $700 million in development costs over the game’s lifecycle.” (30 million copies sold)
The breakdown above is based on what Kelly filed in a court in California on December 23, 2024. It’s part of Activision’s response to a lawsuit filed against the company last May regarding the 2022 school shooting at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas, which partially blames Instagram and Call of Duty as the reason for the tragic event.
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I have never heard of a game that costs this much to develop. Compared to another AAA game, a redacted court filing in 2023 revealed that Sony spent $220 million to create The Last of Us: Part II.
Perhaps this is why Activision is adamant about monetizing Black Ops 6 this much? Not only are we getting a regular dose of new cosmetics almost every week, but there’s the premium Battle Pass, the more-expensive Black Cell Battle Pass, introduced this year, is a new Event Pass for the Squid Games 2 event, which has irked a lot of players from the community. I understand where the hate comes from since this is a full $70 boxed product with more monetization schemes than a free-to-play game.
With Microsoft now owning Activision, let’s hope things take a turn for the better for the franchise. I honestly don’t see any game eating up $700 million in budget or ever making a proper profit, even if it’s Call of Duty.
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- Released
- October 25, 2024
- Engine
- IW 9.0
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Suggestive Themes, Strong Language, Use of Drugs
- PC Release Date
- October 25, 2024
