AAA Franchises' Budgets Exceed $300 Million
The UK regulator, Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), revealed in its final report on Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard that some of the biggest AAA video game franchises like Call of Duty have budgets of over $300 million. AAA games that are expected to release in 2024 and 2025 have approved development budgets of $200 million or more. One publisher stated one of its major franchise's cost $660 million to develop and marketing costs peaked at nearly $550 million.