2020 Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War development costs exceeded $700 million

Developing three Call of Duty titles between 2015 and 2020 cost Activision between $450 million and $700 million per game.

In court documents seen by game File, Activision’s current creative chief on the Call of Duty franchise, Patrick Kelly, revealed the sums, believed to be “the highest development costs ever reported by a major video game company,” including information we have learned through leaks or analyst estimates.

2015’s Black Ops 3 cost more than $450 million and sold around 43 million copies, while 2019’s Modern Warfare sold fewer units (41 million) but cost significantly more, $640 million.

Black Ops Cold War in 2020 was even more expensive to produce again, costing over $700 million and selling 30 million copies.

For comparison, Naughty Dog’s game File The Last of Us Part 2 cost around $220 million to stream, while CD Projekt RED’s Cyberpunk 2077 cost around $330 million. These figures are not believed to include marketing costs, but do include subsequent costs attributed to DLC and post-launch content.

Kelly revealed this information at a December hearing into the 2022 Roob Elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, in which lawyers acting on behalf of those affected by the shooting described Activision as “the gun marketer of most prolific and effective assault in the world. USA.”

An Activision spokesperson at the time said: “The Uvalde shooting was horrendous and heartbreaking in every way, and we express our deepest condolences to the families and communities who continue to be affected by this senseless act of violence. Millions of people around the world enjoys video games without resorting to horrible acts.