Call of Duty: Ghosts has had its share of problems, critically. But that’s nothing new; it’s a game we should never bother to review again, and yet we do anyway. But the franchise has been bulletproof, financially… until now, anyway.
Before we deliver the bad news to bros, it’s worth noting that even Activision figured sales on the franchise would drop by about ten percent, largely thanks to a crowded release schedule and the console switch going on right now. But that wasn’t exactly what happened, according to CVG:
“While the year-over-year gap is only 19 percent thus far, that includes two extra weeks of sales for the 360 and PS3 versions [versus Black Ops II]. Against 2011′s release, where the difference is only one week, the title is down 32 percent life-to-date,” said [analyst Doug] Creutz.
The PS4 and Xbox One versions arrived later in the month, but failed to make up the sales deficit.
Really, if you keep an eye out, it’s not surprising. Ghosts has gotten shredded by the community for its hinky maps and goofy code errors. The fans don’t like the game, and it’s reflected in the sales. It doesn’t help that Battlefield 4, while it has its problems, came out earlier and generally fared better with fans and critics.
Still, sales off by a third still means the franchise moved over ten million games, which still makes it a major cross-platform success and means Activision isn’t going anywhere. But just like Street Fighter had to move aside for other games, Call of Duty‘s dominance might be coming to an end.