Two years ago, Activision Blizzard all but threw Sledgehammer Games under the bus by talking about how much Call of Duty: Vanguard underperformed. Now, it can’t help but sing it praises, highlighting how many more players are logging in and have logged in to play Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. As reported by CharlieIntel, more are playing through the single-player campaign and jumping into the multiplayer modes of Modern Warfare 3 compared to Modern Warfare 2. While this is good news for Activision and Sledgehammer, it’s also representative of a much bigger issue at hand.
Earlier reports claimed that Activision had, at the very least, considered stopping its annual release schedule in favor of a longer cycle to focus on quality over quantity. But, we all know how this turned out.
Given the success of Infinity Ward’s entry last year, which set a new franchise record the weekend it came out, and how it may have spilled over to Modern Warfare 3, you can see how Activision might have tabled its earlier plans.
As per SteamDB, Call of Duty is averaging 84,697 daily active players over the past 30 days, which is 23.8% increase over the previous 30-day cycle. MW3 should have attracted a sizable chunk of new and returning players, which might have resulted in an increased player count. But, the number isn’t representative of MW3 alone. Since last year, Activision has repackaged Call of Duty under one roof on Steam. This means that the number is the combined total of everyone that’s playing MW2, MW3, and Warzone. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to tell how many more MW3 players are playing on other platforms.
It’s worth noting that the stats given for MW3 by Activision in the aforementioned report aren’t 100% accurate. Instead, they’re based on the average hours spent per player. It’s sort of like how Netflix calculates the success of its show using viewing hours.
Officially, Activision hasn’t publicized anything yet, which can only mean that Modern Warfare 3 didn’t outsell Modern Warfare 2. Then again, that’s expected. However, it hasn’t announced sales figures for the game either. Thus, we don’t know if the poor reviews, the decision to release Call of Duty sequels in back-to-back years, or overall franchise fatigue, has had an impact on sales yet. But, if we assume that its sales drop is within expectations, therein lies the issue – what can make Call of Duty stop selling so well?
Don’t forget that Activision has effectively silenced previous concerns that the annual release cycle cannibalizes every Call of Duty game, both new and old. The fear back then was that players would stick to favorites instead of jumping onto the next one or maybe they’ll just play Warzone instead. The conventional solution would’ve been to space out the releases to make them feel more impactful, especially after both Black Ops Cold War and Vanguard posted not-so-great numbers. Then, Modern Warfare 2 happened, and all of this was rendered moot. Not to mention, the recent pair of Call of Duty games, along with Warzone, fall under a single umbrella now, as we’ve already mentioned.
The only way that Activision will finally listen and stop releasing Call of Duty every year is if people stop buying a new copy of the shooter every time a new one comes out, which is close to impossible.
Similar to the case with NBA 2K24, which sold remarkably well despite the initial and continued backlash, Call of Duty is one of those games that will continue selling well unless Activision fumbles the ball so hard that people stop playing it cold turkey. For all the negative criticism aimed towards Activision, this hasn’t happened yet. Until then, the FOMO-fueled culture surrounding Call of Duty will justify the release of an annual entry, which Activision have plenty of financial incentive to do even if its newest owners aren’t exactly strapped for cash.
TLDR; if you’re hoping Call of Duty will get its Assassin’s Creed: Origin moment after a brief pause from its annual cycle, you have two options: convince Phil Spencer that it makes financial sense to do so or rally millions of others to boycott the game, because being the loud minority just isn’t enough.
