Publishers and studios rarely disclose game development costs. Sometimes this information leaks, and in recent years, $200-300 million was considered a huge amount for development. Previously, information was leaked that Sony and Naughty Dog spent about $220 million on the creation of The Last Of Us Part II, and this figure was called one of the highest in industry. However, as it turned out, Activision spends much more on developing the annual hits of the Call of Duty series.
The Game File publication drew attention to the testimony of Patrick Kelly, head of Activision’s creative department for the Call of Duty franchise. He gave them as part of Activision’s response to claims filed against the company over the 2022 shooting at an elementary school in Texas. Patrick Kelly announced the following amounts for the development of Call of Duty games released from 2015 to 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.”. It sold 43 million copies.
- Modern Warfare (2019): “Infinity Ward developed the game over several years and spent over $640 million in development over the game’s lifecycle.”. It sold 41 million copies.
- Black Ops Cold War (2020): “Treyarch and Raven Software spent years creating the game with a team of hundreds of creatives. They ended up spending over $700 million on development over the game’s lifecycle.”. It sold 30 million copies.
These development budgets, ranging from $450 to $700 million, are the largest announced in the history of the gaming industry. For comparison, analysts estimated the development of Grand Theft Auto V at $150-200 million, but the total cost of supporting the game over more than 10 years of its development is unknown. According to rumors and analyst estimates, the creation of Grand Theft Auto VI could cost $1-2 billion.
