Call of Duty 2023 could be the most expensive game ever
We all know that the Call of Duty franchise has quite the reputation for splashing the cash, and in turn, squeezing the pennies from their player's wallets.
But according to the CMA, Call of Duty 2023 could have the biggest war chest that the video games industry has ever seen.
In the midst of Microsoft's failed acquisition of the Call of Duty franchise and its owners, the CMA has predicted that Activision will have around $1 billion to throw at its 2023 CoD instalment, making it the most expensive game ever.
Call of Duty 2023 budgets could amass to $1 billion
Click to enlargeCall of Duty 2023 was re-confirmed in Activision's early quarterly report, masking over the millions of players flocking away from the franchise.
Reportedly to be developed by Sledgehammer Games as a spin-off to the Modern Warfare series (likely as some form of greatest hits of the series game, a "Now That's What You Call CoD"), the premium release is definitely on its way.
Now though, the CMA has worked out that the developers could match the maximum game spend and marketing budgets that AAA studios have ever made, which works out at just shy of $1 billion for Call of Duty 2023.
The CMAs report indicates that Call of Duty already has amassed a massive $300 million budget for the development of games, but also states that the developers said "We have to make so much content for Call of Duty that we can't even lean on one lead studio anymore.
"Now we need almost 1.5 lead studios for each annual CoD", which could also see the budget rocket to near $450 million
Call of Duty 2023 could be the most expensive game in history
Click to enlargeHaving already outlined the massive developmental budget, the report also says that some AAA publishers spend up to $500 million on marketing, which could put CoD's pre-launch expenditure to nearly $1 billion.
This would make Call of Duty 2023 the most expensive game of all time, topping Cyberpunk 2077.
It is likely that this $300 million development budget is split across quite a few of CoD's projects, including Warzone, Treyarch's Call of Duty 2024, and the two mobile games, considering Modern Warfare 2 is only reported to have had a $50 million development budget.
