Black Ops Cold War (2020) cost an incredible $700 million to make. Its prequels COD: Black Ops 3 (2015) and COD: Modern Warfare (2019) cost $450 million and $640 million. These figures account for development over the games’ lifecycles – so development post-release as well as initial costs.
They’re quite amazing numbers, but is COD the most expensive game ever? Or is some developer out there spending even more than Activision Blizzard?
Genshin Impact
You might have heard about Genshin Impact, a free-to-play RPG, being one of the most expensive games ever to make. But its costs pale in comparison with Black Ops. Genshin cost around $100 million initially, with HoYoverse spending another $200 million annually on its development. It is still updated regularly after its 2020 release.
Star Citizen
While COD is primarily a PvP (Player versus Player) rather than a PvE (Player versus Environment) game, there are PvE games that cost a ton. Star Citizen (described as a “space trading and combat simulation”) cost over $400 million – and it isn’t even out yet.
Cloud Imperium Games revisited unrealized plans for a game called Freelancer and announced Star Citizen way back in 2012. The next year, Cloud Imperium began releasing “modules” of the game so that players could test the gameplay.
So is COD the most expensive ever?
COD: Black Ops is indeed the most expensive game ever made. There are others that come in the same stratosphere – The Last of Us Part 2 cost $220 million, and gamers were surprised when they heard Spider-Man 2 cost $300 million. Cyberpunk 2077, when you include its update three years after the release in 2020, cost a combined $277m. But nothing matches COD.
How much did games used to cost?
Games haven’t always been this expensive. Many classic retro games, such as The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, cost a relative pittance. Ocarina is estimated to have cost around $12 million. And that includes development costs for Mario Kart 64, as the games were made by Nintendo at the same time. Both games continue to be ranked among the greatest of all time. In fact, Ocarina is the highest-rated game on Metacritic by critic reviews, scoring 99/100.
Final Fantasy VII, released back in 1997 (a year before Ocarina), cost an estimated $40-45 million. That’s roughly the same amount as Halo 2 cost seven years later.
Why do games cost so much to make now?
There are several factors, but some of the major reasons include the technological advancements since consoles like the N64, marketing and distribution, and post-launch support. Once a game is released, developers have to continue managing the servers, troubleshooting issues, and issuing updates to improve the game.
But perhaps most significant are the salaries for talented game developers. Games have become more complicated, more sophisticated, and more realistic – and to develop them means hiring large teams to work on the graphics, audio, and rest of the content.
So has COD been worth the money?
Activision, you’d think, would be pretty pleased with the sales figures. COD: Black Ops has sold over 25 million copies, making it one of the best-selling games ever. The entire COD series has sold over 500 million copies around the world.
Critics may be enjoying Black Ops even more than the gaming public. It currently holds an 87/100 critic score on Metacritic. Cynamite said there are “more highlights” in Black Op’s first two missions than in Medal of Honor.
Other reviewers acknowledged the game was good but didn’t rave about it. Xbox World 360 said Black Ops had a “short campaign which is never spectacular and never very clever, but always solid enough.”
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