Fans of online MP FPS aren't going anywhere, they still need games to buy that satisfy this preference. Until something comes along that actually does sell really well, and goes head to head with CoD on release date, then CoD will keep selling big numbers.
I don't think it will hit 30 million again, but it will continue to sell >20 million for the foreseeable future. Maybe a multiplat TF, with a compelling SP campaign, can effectively bring down CoD sales. But if TF's release pattern will be March, then it really isn't a challenge to CoD at all, since CoD gets teh vast bulk of its Sales over it's first holiday period. If TF becomes the first 8th gen only franchise, and they use that to its fullest advantage they might be onto something. But they will need to have the balls to shift it's release schedule to Oct / Nov. Of course TF will probably never be annualised, so ultimately it won't truly compete with CoD in a way that is likely to take CoD into sub 20 million territory.
Of course Activision will never put Destiny directly up against CoD, so they will have Destiny as a non-annualised franchise, and each game will launch late Summer to give breathing space for both franchises.
CoD can, and might, doom itself if it has 2 or 3 releases in a row that are rubbish.
“The fundamental cause of the trouble is that in the modern world the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt.” - Bertrand Russell
"When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace."
Jimi Hendrix
