CoD fans’ minds blown by Vanguard’s reported sales

CoD fans’ minds blown by Vanguard’s reported sales
Images via Activision

Written by 

Alex Garton

Published 

8th Apr 2024 13:40

It's no secret that 2021's Vanguard has a poor reputation in the Call of Duty community and is often slammed as one of the worst games in the franchise.

Whether it was the poor weapon balance, forgettable maps, or the Zombies mode that was criticised for being low-effort, Sledgehammer's World War II title completely missed the mark.

As a result, it was assumed that Vanguard didn't do particularly well in the sales department, at least compared to other entries in the series.

Well, a post from a former Activision employee has shed some light on how many copies Vanguard sold, and it's shocked fandom. 

Call of Duty Vanguard reportedly sold 30 million copies

 

 

As showcased by bogorad222 on Twitter, a LinkedIn profile from a former Social Media Strategist at Activision has revealed that Vanguard sold "30 million copies."

Keep in mind that following the game's release, Activision released a statement saying the title underperformed internal expectations. This just demonstrates how much of a behemoth franchise Call of Duty is in the FPS market, given that 30 million was disappointing for Activision.

It also indicates that Cold War, MW2019, and the current Modern Warfare 3 did significantly better from a base game sales perspective. Considering MW3 was statistically the worst-rated game in the franchise's history, it proves that even an average CoD will sell a fortune. 

CoD fans cannot believe 'forgettable' Vanguard was that successful 

WW2 Vanguard Operator
Click to enlarge

As you would expect, CoD fans on the GamingLeaksAndRumours subreddit have been left speechless by this news, as it was assumed that Vanguard was a flop.

No one thought the WW2 title reached 30 million and for some, this just demonstrates why the devs don't feel the need to make "better games" consistently, as the sales will always be there.

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"Please remember this number when asking why they won't make better CoD games," said one user, with another claiming, "This is actually quite surprising, I know Black Ops Cold War and MW2019 both sold over 30 million - Gotta wonder how well MWII and MWIII are doing."

Vanguard may be despised by a lot of CoD fans, but as these stats demonstrate, people are still buying the games every single year, no matter what. This means that even the very worst Call of Duty titles sell countless copies, and that, is almost guaranteed to continue.

Alex Garton
About the author
Alex Garton
Alex is a Senior Writer at GGRecon. With a BA (Hons) in English, he has previously written for Dexerto & Gfinity. Specialising in Call of Duty & Apex Legends, he loves (attempting) to improve his aim in competitive shooters and will always make time for a single-player RPG.
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