Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3's failure blamed on Modern Warfare 2's budget

Just about each and every year since its inception in 2003, Activision has graced us with the latest entry in the Call of Duty franchise, and 2023 is no exception.

For the most part, the newly released Call of Duty games offer what fans need: a thrilling, high-octane single-player campaign, a robust traditional multiplayer offering and depending on the sub-series, even some good old Zombies. Unfortunately, at least for the single-player campaign, this year's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III hit a low point for the series and by most accounts, hasn't been all very well received by the community.

Check out our interview with the Modern Warfare III developers!

In my review of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III, I scored the game 5/10, writing, “In a year that has brought us so much joy with some amazing video game releases, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III somehow manages to lower the tone.”

Just days after its release, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III achieved a Metacritic score of just (now) 55, so surely it couldn't get any worse, right? Unfortunately, it did, at least according to its fanbase. In addition to the critic's score of 53, users of Metacritic scored Modern Warfare III just 1.7, making it the worst-rated Call of Duty ever.

So why has Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III been so ill-received? Some have blamed its short campaign, while others have raised that it was reportedly an expansion before morphing into a standalone game.

Apparently, however, according to a tweet shared by Twitter user Byeong Gyu Park which featured a screenshot from a LinkedIn CV taken from an apparent developer of the Call of Duty series, fans are blaming the failure of Modern Warfare III on the budget of the $250 million MWII (2022).

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II's (2022) budget was $250 million pic.twitter.com/Z0ZW1mb9DU

— Timur222 (@bogorad222) November 16, 2023

“I'm going to guess Modern Warfare III's budget was much smaller,” replied Tae Kim. “That’s actually less than I expected. However I guess the marketing budget was massive,” said Bendji Nzau. If the above numbers are true, then surely that would be a contributing factor to its failings. That being said, the reported short development time window of churning out a new game every year probably didn't help matters either.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III is out now on PC, PlayStation and Xbox.