Activision creative head Patrick Kelly’s declaration, filed in December 2024 and reported by Game File, put lifecycle development costs at more than $450 million for Call of Duty: Black Ops III, more than $640 million for Modern Warfare (2019), and more than $700 million for Black Ops Cold War. The declaration also reported rounded sales totals of 43 million, 41 million, and 30 million copies, respectively.
Reported costs and copies sold
The figures below come from Patrick Kelly’s declaration, which Game File reported on January 6, 2025, after reporting that Kelly filed it in a California court on December 23, 2024. Game File identifies Kelly as Activision’s creative head for Call of Duty. It reproduces his cost statements; the copy totals are reported as rounded figures.
| 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 |
Game File’s report says the figures were included in Activision’s response to litigation brought over the 2022 Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, Texas. The reported amounts are statements in a party’s court declaration, not findings by a judge.
What “lifecycle development costs” means here
Kelly’s reported wording describes development costs incurred over each game’s lifecycle. It does not establish a marketing-inclusive total. One secondary account characterizes the amounts as including marketing and years of support, but that characterization is not substantiated by the statements Game File reproduced.
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Game File reproduced Kelly’s descriptions of the development effort as well as the totals: Treyarch made Black Ops III over three years with hundreds of people; Infinity Ward developed Modern Warfare over several years; and Treyarch and Raven Software spent years making Black Ops Cold War with hundreds of creatives. The declaration’s wording, as reproduced by Game File, calls the cost amounts “over” the stated thresholds.
Why these figures do not show profit
Costs and copies sold are not enough to calculate a game’s profit or revenue per copy. The reported figures do not specify net receipts per copy, platform mix, downloadable-content revenue, or a complete breakdown of revenue and operating costs. Dividing a development-cost figure by the copy total would produce a ratio, not a verified unit cost or profitability measure.
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Keep earlier franchise figures separate
In a separate 2022 filing responding to the Federal Trade Commission, Activision admitted that Call of Duty generated approximately $27 billion in franchise revenue from 2003 through 2020. The filing also said Black Ops II reached $1 billion in retail sales within 15 days of release and Modern Warfare II reached that milestone within 10 days. Those are franchise and other-title claims from an earlier filing; they are not sales totals for the three games in Kelly’s declaration. The earlier filing is available from the FTC.
A 2023 Northern District of California decision describes the franchise’s console availability and discusses annual buy-to-play releases and cross-play, but that broad context does not establish current availability for a specific platform or edition of any named older game. The court decision addresses the broader franchise, not the figures in Kelly’s declaration.
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