Ben-DutkaDespite the upswing in quality this year's entry represented, it seems the Call of Duty franchise continues to decline.
After the recent NPD report , Piper Jaffray analyst Michael Olson pointed out that retail sales for the blockbuster series have declined 27 percent year-over-year.
Call of Duty has posted declining sales in each of the past three years, and the positive reaction to Advanced Warfare hasn't halted the slide. As GamesIndustry.biz reports , the latest installment earned less than half the first-month sales of 2011's Modern Warfare 3 . Activision says Advanced Warfare is the highest-selling digital launch in console history, but Olson doesn't think these sales are good enough:
"NPD data does not include digital copies or international sales, which, if included, would lessen the year-over-year decline, but we believe this data suggests potential for Q4 revenue upside is now very low."
Maybe it's not enough that the franchise got better. Maybe it's simply that consumers are just tired of the name, "Call of Duty."
Related Game(s): Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
I believe that last sentence is the whole deal, Ben.
It's really interesting, this. Cause just like COD seemed to be such an unstoppable train that nobody could touch just a very short time ago, it now appears to be an unstoppable train downwards, seemingly regardless of what they now put into that franchise.
There's much to learn from that, for everyone that is into business and marketing.
Last edited by Beamboom on 12/13/2014 3:21:58 PM
What goes up must come down.
Always, even if it doesn't look like it when it is on the top.
Last edited by Beamboom on 12/14/2014 2:22:53 PM
yeah i think ur right there it does kinda sum it all up
The same people that would buy COD for the name alone without caring about quality or innovation won't suddenly start caring about a series they're getting tired of because now it's getting better. The mass mainstream crowd tends to be fickle like that.
That said, I hear advanced warfare was pretty good, and the first MW became huge for a reason. I don't think it'll stay the same money printing-press of a franchise it was, people will move on to some other huge name they buy year after year until they get tired. But it can still survive as a decently profitable series if they still make quality games that can appeal to gamers that actually care. Thankfully, for all its flaws, this is still an industry that rewards quality and effort.
From someone who's played most of the CoD games since the first Modern Warfare, the game has a fresher mechanic, i.e the vertical dimension achieved via boost jumping. However, the online multiplayer is still full of twitch play which I'm growing tired of. I've actually found the Last of Us Remastered multiplayer more satisfying, as it requires strategic teamwork to succeed against equally skilled opponents.
It's not surprising. You can't push out annualized sequels and then some for close to ten years without people burning out on the franchise.
i got burned out 2 or more years ago so i know what u mean
I got Blops 2 for Wii U as part of a buy 2 get one free deal at launch but besides that I hadn't bought a COD since MW2. Over it.
MW2 was definitely the peak of the franchise
yeh mw2 was defo the peak of the cod series. After that it just seemed to go downhill in terms of new ideas and change. I think people really expected something big from the next sequel especially from a franchise that makes so much money and the producers knew was sure thing sales wise. I guess from me thats the most disapointing thing. New ips take a big risk to really try something new and put time and money into making something great. At that point the cod series had zero risk involved, they knew it would sell and that they could really push out something great but instead just rehashed the game year in year out.
For the most part you would think the changes would be refreshing but alot of the gripe I hear is about the changes also ppl are mad cause they have changed the match making so I finds n puts u in matches on a different basis another reason for the decline is there are so many new games u can't stick to just one anymore and ppl try them find 1 they like n go to that but let's not forget like in most years December also brings out the Christmas noobs and we should see a lot more physical copies sold I also believe a lot of ppl r game sharing as much as they can and sense if u bought it for ps3 u can put it on 2 consoles and then a ps4 as ur primary and also another if u sign into that 1 to play some r still on ps3 n therefore don't have the ps4 n some on ps4 no longer have a ps3 so let a friend use it also I used to buy several copies on disc n w digital its one n done
i think we will see and decline if this trend is true but how fast or slow is yet to be seen thats saying this based on what is being said here just looking at the facts
happy gaming