2017's edition of the annual Call of Duty cycle has officially run its course. As usual, it began with a predictable announcement, followed by a massive marketing campaign, beta, and release. Now, it's time to talk about sales.
Infinite Warfare's sales were particularly difficult to measure before release. Early press was positive about new gameplay mechanics and climactic single-player moments, even if the look and feel was as familiar as we've ever seen from the series. But it had the benefit of a special edition that exclusively included the highly sought after Modern Warfare Remaster. The $80 package would go on to outsell the standard edition for the first time in Call of Duty history.
Although no official figures have been shared, which is worrying in and of itself, GameStop has gone on record to say that the title "underperformed". Instead of being the sales giant of the season, Nintendo claimed the spot with Pokemon Sun & Moon. The UK software sales chart painted a similar picture, placing the title in the #4 spot with a 48% decline over last year's numbers in the country.
Prior to Infinite Warfare, the first week sales of each Call of Duty game looked like this.
Infinite Warfare is expected to fall slightly short of Black Ops 3's 6.1 million figure, indicating further recession.
We're now looking at a reduction of week one sales of over 100% from just four years ago. Looking at the chart above, the franchise managed to exceed the 12 million mark twice in a row; it wasn't luck. Call of Duty has become a questionable purchase for several million consumers, and finding a solution isn't easy.
The biggest concern to come out of this is how far Activision went to prop up the title for release. Just like with Black Ops 3, Hollywood actors were hired and one of the most expensive marketing campaigns of the year was executed. But it was the Deluxe Edition that was the star of the show. Thousands of consumers have purchased the title even if only to play Modern Warfare Remastered, as indicated by its popularity. This one-of-a-kind strategy has paid off in a big way, even if the end result was a less dramatic decline in sales over prior years.
The reality is that at some point Call of Duty is no longer going to be the premier shooter franchise no matter how hard it tries year after year. Whether that's in two, three, or even five years is yet to be determined, but trends indicate that it might not be far off.
Now that the game is making less money, Activision has some tough decisions to make. Marketing and development costs could take a hit as it readjusts itself for the situation at-hand, one where it doesn't lead sales charts and has to worry about multiple potent competitors.
It has been rumored that the next Call of Duty will be set in Vietnam. This era has never been particularly popular in mainstream, but nonetheless it'll be a nice change of pace for a franchise that has overstayed its welcome in the sci-fi space during the past three years. You can bet it'll sell well, but without the benefit of a Modern Warfare Remastered bundle, the odds are stacked against it.
