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One free scan finds every outdated or missing driver and matches the right update for your exact hardware.Free scan · exact hardware matchActivision creative head Patrick Kelly’s declaration puts lifecycle development costs at over $450 million for Call of Duty: Black Ops III, over $640 million for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019), and over $700 million for Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War. The same figures, reported as rounded totals, say the games sold 43 million, 41 million, and 30 million copies, respectively. Game File reported the declaration on January 6, 2025, after Kelly filed it on December 23, 2024.
Reported costs and sales by game
| Game | Release year | Lifecycle development costs reported | Copies sold reported |
|---|---|---|---|
| Call of Duty: Black Ops III | 2015 | Over $450 million | 43 million |
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 2019 | Over $640 million | 41 million |
| Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War | 2020 | Over $700 million | 30 million |
These are figures attributed to Kelly’s declaration, as reported by Game File. The costs are stated as “over” the listed amounts; the copy totals are reported as rounded figures. They describe the three games named in the filing, not every Call of Duty release.
What “lifecycle development costs” means here
Game File reproduced Kelly’s descriptions of spending over each game’s lifecycle. For Black Ops III, he wrote that Treyarch developed the game over three years with a creative team of hundreds and invested over $450 million in lifecycle development costs. For Modern Warfare, he said Infinity Ward developed it over several years and spent over $640 million throughout its lifecycle. For Black Ops Cold War, he described Treyarch and Raven Software working for years with hundreds of creatives before spending over $700 million over the game’s lifecycle.
The wording does not establish that these totals include marketing. A secondary account from EGW News characterized costs as including marketing and years of support, but that detail is not substantiated by the declaration language reproduced by Game File. The figures should therefore be described as reported lifecycle development costs, not as verified marketing-inclusive budgets.
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Do the figures show whether the games were profitable?
No. Development costs and copy counts alone do not provide net receipts or profit. The reported figures do not supply revenue per copy, platform mix, downloadable-content revenue, or a complete breakdown of revenues and operating costs. Dividing a development-cost figure by copies sold would produce a ratio, not a verified unit cost or measure of profitability.
The declaration was filed as part of Activision’s response in litigation brought over the 2022 Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, Texas, according to Game File. It is a company executive’s declaration reported in that context, not a court finding about the games’ finances. The budget and sales figures do not resolve the allegations in the case.
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How these figures differ from earlier Call of Duty revenue claims
In a separate 2022 response to the Federal Trade Commission, Activision admitted that the Call of Duty franchise generated approximately $27 billion in revenue from 2003 through 2020. That filing also said Black Ops II reached $1 billion in retail sales within 15 days of release and Modern Warfare II reached $1 billion within 10 days. Those franchise-wide and other-title claims are not sales totals for the three games in Kelly’s later declaration.
A 2023 Northern District of California decision discusses the franchise’s availability on PlayStation and Xbox, annual buy-to-play releases, and cross-play. That broad context does not verify the current availability, platform, or edition of any particular physical copy of these older games.
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- PRE-ORDER BONUS — Pre-order and unlock the Hunter Killer Operator Skin and the Gilded Pearl Camo Pack.*
- GLOBE‑SPANNING CAMPAIGN — Fight across the Korean Peninsula, New York, Paris, and Mumbai in a high‑stakes narrative where global conflict escalates and survival depends on tactical precision.
- MULTIPLAYER BUILT ON CONTROL — Engage in grounded, precise combat where fluid movement, player choice, and refined mechanics give you greater control in every firefight.
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- BONUS 2X OFFER — Purchase Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 at Amazon and receive 5 hours of Double XP.**
- PRE-ORDER BONUS — Pre-order and unlock the Hunter Killer Operator Skin and the Gilded Pearl Camo Pack.*
- GLOBE‑SPANNING CAMPAIGN — Fight across the Korean Peninsula, New York, Paris, and Mumbai in a high‑stakes narrative where global conflict escalates and survival depends on tactical precision.
- MULTIPLAYER BUILT ON CONTROL — Engage in grounded, precise combat where fluid movement, player choice, and refined mechanics give you greater control in every firefight.
- TACTICAL DMZ OPERATIONS — Deploy behind enemy lines as an off‑the‑books asset, making high‑risk decisions on objectives and extraction in a dynamic mode where every run counts.
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