The way most gaming analysts talk, everyone has Call of Duty.  But globally, the biggest seller in the franchise (CoD:MW2) has sold less than one copy for every five HD consoles sold.

Obviously, this will vary somewhat by regions and the numbers may be skewed becaue we do not have information on multiple console ownership and repalcement console purchases.  But it does show that the games which are thought to be selling to everyone are only selling to a fraction of everyone.

A example list of top sellers by console. (This list only includes one game from each series. For example, only the top selling Call of Duty game is listed).  (Pack ins and games primarily sold as hardware vehciles not included -- so no Kinect Adventures or Wii Sports/Play/Sports Resort/Party).

PS3: 

Call of Duty: MW3 -- 17.2%; GTA IV -- 13.1%; Grand Turismo 5 -- 12.0%; FIFA 12 -- 8.6%; Metal Gear Solid 4 -- 7.8%; Just Dance 3 -- 0.6%.

Xbox 360:

Call of Duty: MW3 -- 19.8%; Halo 3 -- 15.7%; GTA IV -- 14.3%; Forza Motorsports -- 7.1%; FIFA 13 -- 6.84%; Just Dance 3 -- 2.6%

Wii

Mario Kart -- 33.9%; New Super Mario Bros Wii -- 27.0%; Wii Fit -- 23.9%; Super Smash Bros Brawl -- 11.7%; Super Mario Galaxy -- 10.9%; Just Dance 3 -- 9.9%; Call of Duty 3 -- 2.2%.

[EDITED TO REFLECT THAT THE DATA IS CoD:MW3]

The biggest differences are the huge shares of some Nintendo first-party titles as well as the shares of casusal and shooter third party games available on all platforms.

In other words, there is great variety to the industry, something a lot of people don't recognize.

Mike from Morgantown

I cannot believe that no one had anything to say on this topic.

Not controversial enough and nothing to refute. Thanks for letting us know though :).

but isn't mw2 the third biggest seller in the franchise?
BO and MW3 has sold more as far as I know.

He used MW3 numbers but he wrote MW2.


But you really think that only 20% of 360 owners have touched a CoD game ?

At the same time I doubt that all those 33 million mario karts sold were only used for single player.

I don't really buy Call of Duty, I like Battlefield a lot better lol so I guess I am not normal by the worlds standard....

Not sure what you're implying.

I'm not counting people who have played a certain game but don't own it.
The initial thesis was "The way most gaming analysts talk, everyone has Call of Duty".

We know how many people own Mario Kart Wii and that's the same amount as all Mario Kart owners on Wii since it was the only game.
We know how many people own Modern Warfare 3 on 360, but that's far from the amount of Call of Duty owners on that console.

Just like with FIFA, not all people are buying the games every year. CoD saw 8 games so far on 360 (the SW attach ratio is 10 btw.), so there is a huge chance that much much more people have played CoD on the console than just 15m (the MW3 number).

Also as I mentioned the 360 SW attach ratio is 10 games per head and CoD sold 75m on the console, so STATISTICALLY every 360 owner has bought one CoD game.

Did you factor in how much each console had sold at the time of the games release or is that not the point you're making?

Also I don't agree with your conclusion. COD on 360 as a series has sold the equivalent of every single 360 owner buying one game in the series. This is obviously inflated by people buying COD yearly but it's still an incredible number. That is not variety. In addition the top 5 series on the xbox take about 25% of its game sales. That is also not variety.

1. Many people bought more than one 360 because of hardware failure
2. If people own both a 360 and a PS3, they'd only own a CoD game for one console
3. People may not buy every CoD game in the series.
4. People go around to their friend's house to play, or to their sibling's 360 in another room

For the last two, remember there have to be millions of people who take gaming far more casually than VGC does, in terms of buying everything in a series, being aware that new games are coming out, and being determined to own a copy.