Activision’s Call of Duty series is one of the best-selling and most profitable video game franchises of all time with at least 400 million units sold in almost 20 years. Even in a “down” year, Call of Duty continues to dominate the sales charts, ranking among the best-selling games in 2020 and 2021. Furthermore, Activision’s latest free-to-play endeavor, Call of Duty: Warzone, continues to make the controversial publisher big bucks, pulling in billions of dollars in revenue every year. However, Activision still isn’t satisfied as it is reportedly looking into jumping on the NFT bandwagon with Call of Duty.
Reputable Call of Duty insider, RalphsValve, mentioned that Infinity Ward, the studio working on the next Call of Duty game, is giving Activision account users more personalization options. Specifically, Infinity is considering the integration of NFTs in Call of Duty, but did not explain how the studio was going to achieve this and if the plans are in preliminary stages or if it’s already underway.
Infinity Ward has multiple avenues that it can pursue NFT implementation in Call of Duty, but the biggest question is if Activision-Blizzard is okay with drawing the ire of fans once again.
With the Overhaul in Call of Duty’s UX/UI, Infinity Ward plans to personalise ACTV Accounts: incorporating: Global Calling Cards & Emblems, Avatars and, Statistics.
NFT Inclusion is reportedly being considered by Activision pic.twitter.com/tEiK6sVK7p
— Ralph (@RalphsValve) April 4, 2022
At the moment, Activision-Blizzard is mired knee-deep in legal battles, the most recent of which comes from an anonymous employee. The best thing for the publisher to do right now is to hunker down and keep questionable decisions to a minimum. If it’s not careful, Activision might find itself in hot water once again, similar to what happened with GSC Game World and Ubisoft Quartz.
For what it’s worth, Activision isn’t the only video game company that sees value in NFTs. Take-Two also sees the potential in NFTs and play-to-earn games, but the CEO isn’t entirely sold on the concept just yet. Meanwhile, Gabe Newell continues to oppose the adoption of NFTs, describing the latest crypto craze as “sketchy”.
Activision-Blizzard is in the middle of a massive buyout from Microsoft, which is expected to be completed by mid-2023.
