Call of Duty has been one of Activision’s biggest heavy-hitter for some time now. Despite critical interest in the franchise waning year-after-year of late, Call of Duty has continued to enjoy great success on a commercial front (which is the biggest reason Activision keeps pumping them out year after year). However, Activision Blizzard’s recent quarterly earnings report has revealed a rather interesting pattern regarding recent sales for this long-running franchise.
The publisher confirmed that year-on-year sales for the Call of Duty franchise are down, with the 2021 premium release Call of Duty: Vanguard selling markedly lower than Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War (even though Vanguard was still one of 2021’s top-sellers). The free-to-play battle royale Call of Duty: Warzone also had lower engagement this quarter. On the flip side, Call of Duty Mobile has continued to rake in large amounts of money for the publisher thanks to its sheer popularity in Asian markets.
“Call of Duty net bookings on console and PC declined year-over-year in the fourth quarter, reflecting lower premium sales for Call of Duty: Vanguard versus the year ago title and lower engagement in Call of Duty: Warzone. Fourth quarter in-game player investment on console and PC remained well above the level seen prior to the March 2020 launch of Warzone,” the report says.
“Call of Duty Mobile net bookings grew year-over-year in the fourth quarter, driven by continued contribution from the game in China. For the full year, Call of Duty Mobile net bookings grew strongly, with 2021 worldwide consumer spending on the title exceeding $1 billion.”
The earnings report also confirmed that Infinity Ward will be handling development duties for the next instalment in this franchise, which is rumoured to be titled Modern Warfare 2 and will see players battling Columbian drug cartels- read more on that through here.
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