Original Call of Duty goes for $9,000 as gamers rush to check their collections

One recent auction saw the original Call of Duty on PC sell for just under $9,000, prompting many gamers to search their collections and scour their lofts to see if they, too, have the iconic first-person shooter.

While they might not be quite as potent as some of the fastest-growing stocks, media collections are surprisingly viable when it comes to return on investment, with many growing in value exponentially after several years.

Unfortunately, most of these are tied to rarity, with limited releases often skyrocketing in price for the few that manage to pick the item up in its original run.

Sometimes simply keeping a famous part of gaming history in good condition can be enough to sell for a surprising amount of money.

That's exactly what happened with the original Call of Duty, first released back in 2003 on PC, as one buyer was willing to pay as much as $9,000 to add it to their own personal collection.

A sealed copy of the original Call of Duty was sold at an auction for just under $9,000 (Infinity Ward)

Shared on Heritage Auctions, a sale on June 12, 2026, saw a buyer purchase a sealed and VGA 9.4 graded copy of Call of Duty for $8,750 — roughly 17,400% more than its retail price at launch.

This certainly isn't unusual for a game that came out over two decades ago, but it is slightly more unexpected to see a standard game sell for this much, especially a title that sold as well as this.

While a 9.4 graded rating is high – representing an equivalent standard grade of 85+ – it still signals that the item is considered 'near mint' with very minor imperfections, suggesting that it could be worth even more if the condition was better.

Much of its value is tied to the excellent condition it was kept in, earning a 9.4 VGA rating (Heritage Auctions)

That slight difference in condition can make a significant difference to the price, but a near-mint 80+ rated version of the same game on the same platform was sold two years ago for 'just' $2,400.

Prices are bound to increase the further you get from a game's original release, as the chances of finding a copy in a condition as good as this are rarer with each passing year.

It might prompt you to dive into your own collection to see if there's anything valuable, as you never know what gems you might have forgotten about in a box that could now be worth hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars.

The chances of it being in good enough condition to sell for that much are low – especially if it's been collecting dust – but this might prompt you to take better care of newer releases that might be worth a boatload a few decades down the line.