Call of Duty sales have plummeted by 25% with Modern Warfare 3
Is it a DLC? Is it a game of its own? Is Modern Warfare 3 that bad? Or are we all getting a bit overzealous and jumping on the bashing bandwagon?
No matter what your answers are, or your opinions on Modern Warfare 3, some hard, cold, facts will prove Call of Duty's latest instalment is actually on a downward spiral. According to reports, the good old Call of Duty monopoly appears to be cracking, and sales are down - big time.
Call of Duty physical sales plummet in the UK
Click to enlargeFor as long as we can remember, Call of Duty has topped charts when it releases, often staying at the No.1 spot for sales figures all the way through to post-Christmas.
And the same looks to be happening again, as MW3 already finds itself leading the way into the festive period as a best-seller.
But there's a big chink in the armour of the seemingly impregnable franchise, as Modern Warfare 3 is reportedly down 25% in sales in the UK for hard copies.
According to GamesIndustry.biz, Modern Warfare 3 is down 25% in sales compared to Modern Warfare 2, even if it has taken over EA FC 24 and Spider-Man in the charts.
Call of Duty's physical sales spark interesting reading for Xbox
Amid Activision's ongoing internal wars between developer studios (Sledgehammer Games appeared to be at a crossroads with Infinity Ward about developmental features), the higher-ups will likely be looking at these statistics, since Microsoft will soon be looking into how it can put its own stamp on the titles.
The Xbox owners will also have room for concern that the physical copy distribution saw only 20% of players pick up copies for the Series S|X, with PlayStation couping 80% of purchases (72% for PS5, 8% for PS4). Of course, none of this considers digital copies and the argy-bargy with Call of Duty HQ.
Still, Modern Warfare 3 has not left a good imprint on the series, and is being marked down as the worst Call of Duty game ever. While sales speak louder than words, it still won't stop MW3 from being one of 2023's biggest games - maybe just not as big as Activision hoped.
