Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War Development Cost a Jaw-Dropping $700 Million
In recent legal proceedings, Activision disclosed the eye-watering budgets for several of its Call of Duty titles. The revelation came amidst a legal case unrelated to gaming. Leading the pack, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War development cost reached a staggering $700 million, yet it sold only 30 million copies. By contrast, Call of Duty: Black Ops III spent $450 million and moved 43 million copies, while Modern Warfare (2019) hit $640 million for 41 million copies sold.
These budgets, which do not include marketing expenses, stand out even within the high-spending AAA game industry. For context, Sony’s The Last of Us Part II and Horizon Forbidden West each surpassed $200 million, and Spider-Man 2 exceeded $300 million.
These figures have sparked widespread discussion regarding the financial scale and sustainability within modern gaming.
