The sun is hot. Antarctica is cold. And the Call of Duty franchise keeps setting and breaking records.
Today, Activision Publishing has announced that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 hit the $1 billion mark in sales according to Charttrack and retail customer sell-through information. It took the wildly popular game only 16 days to reach the milestone.
The press release mentions that 2011 box office revenue is falling (down 4% this year), but the number of people purchasing and participating in gaming is on the rise. And with over 30 million gamers to its credit, the Call of Duty community "now exceeds the combined populations of the cities of New York, London, Tokyo, Paris and Madrid." …Good God.
Said Bobby Kotick, Activision Blizzard CEO:
"Engagement of our Call of Duty audience continues to rise around the world. Call of Duty® as an entertainment franchise has made an indelible mark on popular culture and its broad and continued success is further validation that audiences are now valuing interactive experiences over passive experiences."
Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg added that "while the franchise continues to set records, our fans still seem to want more." Yes, well, there's no denying that.
Related Game(s): Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
i will never understand how they keep doing this
It's not hard to figure out.
MW3 is a game that appeals to all types of different people and it's sales show it.
Peer pressure. By which I mean that once a game attains a certain critical mass, the number of friends playing it attracts even more players. In turn that attracts even more friends who haven't got it yet but want to play with friends. And so on, and so forth.
Friends is the sole reason I got this game. So it's true. Although, it isn't always peer pressure, per se.
but every year? it just seems stupid. it has to end at some point.
@ frylocks reply to his own post: I sincerely hope so.
Activision could glue a whistle to can of beans and as long as it had 'Call of Duty' on it they would make millions upon millions.
"while the franchise continues to set records, our fans still seem to want more"
Because the whole rinse and repeat cycle they do every year, and mediocrity, will only take them so far.
Whether or not it's mediocre is subjective. Some may not like it, but it is obvious that millions do.
With that said, there isn't a game developer in this industry that wouldn't want their hard work to reach the sales that COD enjoys.
but so many other games deserve it more than call of duty every year
frylock25 – Agreed. I personally would love to see each one of the Uncharted series hit 10 million.
Last edited by maxpontiac on 12/12/2011 10:42:10 AM
That's great and all…
But when are they going to actually have CoD:Elite fully operational?
What a crock…
I thought it became fully functional on December 1st?
Clan ops and clan challenges are still not running.
Events and solo operations get cancelled on a regular basis due to "compromised leaderboards".
By "fully functional", they mean you can actually register now.
Utterly shameful that Kotex makes any money off it at all.
Oh well. Modern Warfare 3 was a disappointment to me (in some ways).
Respawn (new developer with former Infinity Ward employees) is making their own FPS though, so I'm looking forward to that.
A lot of these people are just drones. The same kind of people can't wait for the next mediocre pop singer to release the same record he/she released the year before with the same played out chords.
This franchise is absolutely the Pop music of video games. I have never agreed with you more Jawknee. I have been playing the drums for more than 20 years now and when people tell me that say Brittany Spears for example is the most talented musician out there, and then in the same sentence says Tool are crap just makes me want to reach through the screen and choke these people. Especially when they quote sales numbers.
I used Brittany and Tool as examples so people don't take my comment literally, even though I stand by it I understand that each person out there has different tastes.
Last edited by Rogueagent01 on 12/12/2011 7:26:33 PM
Kotex loves sheep-dip
Pop singers are not actual musicians; musicians have to be able to write their own lyrics, play an instrument, or at the very least not lip sing when touring.
As for CoD it's only partly peer pressure, the other parts are hype, and inflated advertising budgets.
Nerull that is what I was getting at. Though many people can see her for what she is "a entertainer" and I even use that term loosely, her hardcore fans will argue to their death beds that she is one of the most talented musicians of our time. Similar to how CoDs hardcore fans will tell you that they have developed the best FPS of all time.
No matter what we say to the fans of either Brittany or CoD we will never convince them that there are better games or performers out there. These fans are some of the most stubborn people on the planet and they're absolutely convinced that they are right.
Don't get me wrong I understand and believe that someones preference or taste is their right and I will only go so far to help try to open their eyes to other games or musicians. However if that is what they truly like then I would only be wasting my and their time trying to convince them otherwise.
The call of duty series are solid games. I honestly enjoy the games. I have a blast playing them and pour a decent number of hours into them. Yes, they haven't changed the formula that much in 4 years, but it works. I guess what I'm trying to say is, what people do with their money is their business. I know I'm probably going to bite those words, but whatever.
No disrespect to anyone that dislikes CoD or Activision's sleazy ways. I think it's good to take a step back and try to be a little understanding of people's tastes. Also, I play other games besides CoD. Big uncharted fan and can't wait for the last of us :-).
That being said, "stop charging us for the same thing every year Activision! xD)
Mouse as I said if it is what you like I have no problem with that. And you don't seem to be the type of fan that I'm talking about, you said you play other games, where I know people that own only CoD games and say or claim there is nothing else out there that can compare. Those are the people I'm talking about true close-minded fanboys, you don't seem to be that type of fan and I am happy to see that. I would never intentionally lump all the fans together with my comments here.
Looking at Activision's market cap makes me wonder if Bobby Kotick's plans for world domination includes producing their own gaming platform. It's nuts to think that Activision is now worth nearly more than Sony.
Off of this and Guitar Hero too.
::facepalm::
I don't begrudge a company success. Even a company like Activision but those two franchises are largely undeserving of that success.
Hey, dont forget to give props to Pitfall. That games was the bomb. Nathan Drake had nothing on the pitfall man =p
Yeah, my gaming tenure does go back THAT far.
(Atari 2600)
I forgot about the old Atari Pitfall. I didn't know that was made by Activision. Oh, we are getting old.
They made crap tons off of the Tony Hawk; Mechwarrior, and Quake series as well. Not to mention they did well with DOOM 3 also. Though Chopper Command, Pitfall, and Interstate '76 are still three of my favorites that they did.
I think their is another reason why kids like COD so much cause they can take advantage of hacking. I still enjoy W@W, love laughing at the kudos with their MP40 when I own them using bolt action rifles.
You have to admit, Activision should be praised on their success for attracting a mass audience. To say one or another studio is "more deserving" is absolutely ridiculous. If these such studios are "more deserving" then why haven't they amassed the same success and glory that Activision has? The ingenious developers and marketers working for Activision should be praised for creating something so addicting and exciting such as COD. Yeah sure trends come and go, and maybe one day Activision may have to step down as King of the gaming society, but for now in this era its their turn for glory and bashfulness for their game as it was for Nintendo and Sega in the olden days.
I bought this game, but it wasn't because the developers are "ingenious". There are plenty of reasons to buy MW3. But "the best game ever" isn't exactly true by any objective measurable aside from "total sales".
I don't really think there is anything in entertainment that can be called "The best ever" simply because of sales figures.
At any rate, I simply disagree with your comment only because you try to state absolutes on a topic of subjectivism. For example, you saying their developers are ingenious is a bit of an overstatement, I think, as innovation is lacking. It is only "ingenious", because they have made a simple formula work over and over.
So to me, who considers "ingenious" work to be work of quality, full of story, thought, and foresight, would simply conclude that Activision managed to get lucky with a forumla that is purchased year in and year out despite an ancient engine. One that even the hardcore fans are beginning to tire of.
Last edited by Underdog15 on 12/12/2011 5:38:14 PM
Somewhere an angel dies
only if they would take half that success and completely retrofit the game!
thats the only thing i hate about the series, its so popular so you would expect with all the money they make they could do something radical.
its not like they have low budgets restraints….
obviously Uncharted is a rip off of the Pitfall series …. lol
Loved Pitfall and Pitfall 2 back in the day on my Atari.
I buy COD every year – not because my friends get it (although it does seem to be the definitive game for gamers of my era) but because I find the multi player to be so much fun.
In addition to MW3, this year I have bought UC3, BF3, R3, KZ3, Crysis 2, Infamous 2, Halo CE HD, Rage, GOW 3, Homefront and DNF and the Infamous FOB and Crysis downloads – so you can't say I'm not supporting other 'more deserving' titles.
COD is the holy grail of FPS games – if you don't like FPS then you won't like (and may follow the trend of hating COD – which is equally as drone / sheep like as those who buy it just because) it.
I and millions of others love it – because its just so much damn fun online