Activision might not be feeling too happy right now as it appears Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare is not performing as expected, especially when compared with the likes of Black Ops 3, one of the best titles in the series since the beginning of the new console generation.
If what analysts are saying is to be believed, then there's a serious problem with the Call of Duty brand. Apparently, Infinite Warfare retail sales when compared to Black Ops 3 is down 50 percent in the first month. The numbers were first seen in the UK, but now it's spreading, proving it could ultimately be a worldwide phenomenon.
The information came from Doug Creutz, a Cowen analyst with access to the numbers via CNBC. Furthermore, the analyst went on to say that these numbers came in at 17 percent below expectations for the game.
Here's the thing, the numbers posted here are of the physical copies of the game, and has nothing to do with digital sales. It should also be noted that digital sales have been rising in recent years at the expense of physical, but that should not be enough to warrant why Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare has fallen by 50 percent over the previous title.
What's The Reason For The Drop In Sales?
A huge drop like this in a single year could mean a lot of things. One of the reasons Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare has one of the lowest rated trailers on YouTube is due to the series further moving away from having boots squarely on the ground. It would appear as if players are tired of having to play with jetpacks and other futuristic features.
For comparisons' sake, Battlefield 1 which is a boots on the ground title is not having similar problems when it comes down to sales, and is the game with the better ratings from a reviewer's perspective. Activision will have to make changes for the next game, which is the perfect opportunity to win over fans.
There won't be a Battlefield game in 2017, and the major shooters will likely be future focused.
We should point out that Infinite Warfare is the first Call of Duty game of this generation to ditch the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, so there's another possible reason for the fall in sales. However, 50 percent is still quite large even if two old consoles are no longer part of the mix.
