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Forums - Sales Discussion - Call of Duty Decline Discussion

 

Call of Duty Franchise Status

Fatigued 78 46.71%
 
Declining 73 43.71%
 
Replenishing 16 9.58%
 
Total:167

So, I was just reading an article about the ever famous decline of Call of Duty or how fatigue has set in for the franchise. The article stated how apparent it was that Activision is in deep trouble due to lower sales for CoD and how Destiny wasn't able to fill the void. My question to this article is, why would Activision worry about filling the void when CoD will eventually fill it back up anyways? You see, I don't think CoD is in a decline so much as a stalled casual fanbase, and for good reason.

People, practically everyone, like to say that CoD is on decline due to lower overall sales than previous entries of the franchise. People like to say Advanced Warfare sold much less than Ghosts and Ghosts sold less than BO2 and BO2 sold less than MW3. To most people this means decline which in all fairness is technically a decline; by definition CoD is declining. But, how do the sales of CoD look when compared to the sales of PS3 and 360's yearly sales? Well, every year that PS3 and 360 grow YOY, so does CoD and so far every year that PS3's and 360's sales have fallen YOY so has CoD.

Ever since the 7 gen HD twins' sales started to pitter out CoD's sales have also began to falter. Not that CoD's sales aren't healthy, because they are very healthy, its just that they aren't as strong as they used to be when people were buying more consoles on a yearly basis. 

What I'm trying to say is, CoD is technically on a decline but not a permanent decline. CoD grows where the crowd goes and currently the crowd is transitioning to 8th gen. As long as the 8th gen grows, CoD grows. One has to remember just how long the 7th generation was and then think about the effects its going to have on annual software sales, especially on casual/annual titles like CoD (although GTA V broke records, but not an annual title). 

8th gen (excluding Nintendo, since Cod wasn't big here) has sold twice as fast as 7th gen so far and again, CoD's sales are following suit. Its quite apparent that 7th gen console owners are buying alot LESS software compared to 8th gen, and I mean MUCH less. 7th gen is where the decline comes in because it sure as sh*t ain't from 8th gen considering Advanced Warfare for PS4 has vastly outsold Ghosts for PS4cummulatively speaking. AW for PS4 has been out for a little over a month and it has already outsold Ghosts for PS4 by more than double the amount copies and Ghosts has been out for over a year. As 8th gen grows, CoD will grow, and it will grow fast.

tl;dr --- CoD has doubled its 8th gen sales YOY but is down immensely in 7th gen YOY. Does this mean CoD's days of 30 million copies sold are done, will they eventually replenish, or has it just fatigued?



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I really liked Advanced Warfare. If they keep the CoDs like that theres no doubt that sells will be back up despite what naysayers might say.



"Say what you want about Americans but we understand Capitalism.You buy yourself a product and you Get What You Pay For."  

- Max Payne 3

alternine said:
I really liked Advanced Warfare. If they keep the CoDs like that theres no doubt that sells will be back up despite what naysayers might say.


To be honest I was one of the rare few who didn't hate Ghosts but god damn after playing Advanced Warfare I cant imagine myself going back to Ghosts or any previous CoD for that matter except maybe CoD4 if they ever ported it to new consoles.

The game feels very fresh, faster paced and just overall fun. I used to play CoD and after a few hours or so you start getting the bullshit matches that just frustrate you but I find myself feeling a lot less frustrated with AW. I get killed in the stupidest ways and instead of bitching I'm like "Wow that was badass!" and I try to mimic it.

I don't know, this game just feels like it has more longevity for me personally, I could see myself actually playing this game this time next year too which doesn't happen often with most First Person Shooters for me.



I think once the current gens install base gets bigger COD sales will get bigger. It's a transition phase to me where games don't sell quite as well.



dont think CODAW are bad there not counting digital and xb1 bundles in NPD

but agree that the last 2 were sub par ghost and AW had good campaigns but its not hard to make a good 4hr campaign they werent great like BO or MW1 and 2

ghost MP was junk maps were all to big played little bit of AW MP but halted due to GTA5 release it felt good and polished but i wasnt feeling the futuristic weapons and maps

also the movement could of been better they should of went all out and had wall climb or walk

i think what made MW1 2 3 and BO sell great was the fact that all 4 had modern weapons and simple maps they need to go back to that, but all in all i feel online FPS and gaming in general are in decline/fatigue since last gen so COD or any other game isnt going to have the success that COD had last gen



                                                             

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I liked Advanced Warfare. I think they are in a strong position as 8th gen grows.



My 8th gen collection

BHR-3 said:
dont think CODAW are bad there not counting digital and xb1 bundles in NPD

but agree that the last 2 were sub par ghost and AW had good campaigns but its not hard to make a good 4hr campaign they werent great like BO or MW1 and 2

ghost MP was junk maps were all to big played little bit of AW MP but halted due to GTA5 release it felt good and polished but i wasnt feeling the futuristic weapons and maps

also the movement could of been better they should of went all out and had wall climb or walk

i think what made MW1 2 3 and BO sell great was the fact that all 4 had modern weapons and simple maps they need to go back to that, but all in all i feel online FPS and gaming in general are in decline/fatigue since last gen so COD or any other game isnt going to have the success that COD had last gen

Ghosts was short but COD:AW had a 7~8 hour campaign.  I think they got a lot right in AW; more decent length campaign, sharp satisfying weapons, new mobility.



My 8th gen collection

Generational transition is just taking its toll, the franchise will be back to where it was before as soon as treyarch drops their next



I truly believe AW is the 2nd worst in the series (after MW3).

Things such as balancing have always been a issue for COD games, but it also is part of their charm, from the overpowers SMG's in black ops to the overpowered shotguns in MW2. But in this game, 99% of the people you come up against are using the same damn weapons. It comes across as very one note and painfully punishing for people who dare with to chose to use smgs or another playstyle.

Also, you are looking at the worst maps in recent years for a COD game. 


Some really neat features for sure, (exo stuff mainly) but the flow of the game is very poor. A combination of declining quality and fatigue is the problem here. 



But it is in decline. What's stopping its casual fan base from purchasing the game on last gen consoles?



    

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