News - Warzone 2 Sales Are Not Good
And I don't think it's much of a surprise when Call of Duty appears at the top of every single list for the highest-selling game for the month it releases. There's a reason why Call of Duty releases an annual game even in a down year; they're going to top any list because the Call of Duty name is so massive and has such a large appeal.
This was the question that I wanted to find the answer to, and it appears as if I did find my answer in an article dated December 11, 2023, so that would have been on Monday. Modern Warfare 3 sales in the UK are down 38% compared to last year's Modern Warfare 2. This number is incredibly shocking.
38% that's quite high, but then when we start to think about the reasons why that would be, these numbers begin to make a little bit more sense. Remember all the hype around Modern Warfare 2, it was the first game that had a true three-year life cycle, and honestly, people did enjoy Modern Warfare 2019, so they're hoping for a really good followup, and they believe that it would at least pay somewhat of an homage to the original MW2, that had utilized some of the same assets and some of that nostalgia that the original Modern Warfare 2 had and inject it into Modern Warfare 2.
And as we progressed throughout the year, we figured out that no, we were all lied to in no way, shape, or form. Was Modern Warfare 2 the game that we were promised? In no way was it the most innovative experience. In no way did they utilize these 3, 000 developers to create anything immersive. It was just another front for them to sell you bad cosmetics and battle passes; that's what MW2 was.
There were major gameplay flaws throughout the entire game's tenure that were never addressed or changed, and they were pointed out to Activision and Infinity Ward during the game's beta, and none of them ever changed, which made Modern Warfare 3 have to correct course and make these staggering gameplay changes, and yes, it's great that we have red dots on the mini map again.
It's great that we're back to the classic perk system; sort of here in Modern Warfare 3, there's no time perk releases. But there was so much damage done by Modern Warfare 2 and their constant lack of any sort of engagement from the community because it seemed as if the developers weren't engaged in their own game, which caused a huge ripple within this community.
And I'm not surprised by this 38% number. This 38% number tells me exactly what I need to know: people are done dealing with Activision's BS; they are done dealing with Call of Duty's BS. They are waiting for Call of Duty to show them that the game is worth $70. Remember, the game was touted? This time last year, as a DLC to Modern Warfare 2, that was what the 2023 Call of Duty release was supposed to be, and it wasn't until like May or June when it appeared as if Modern Warfare 3 was actually going to be this year's release that it was going to be a full release with campaign zombies and multiplayer.
And it was hard to get people to buy into it because all you're getting are the MW2 maps that we should have had last year with Modern Warfare 2; instead, we're getting them with Modern Warfare 3. None of it ever made any sense, and this all culminates in where we're at right now with the Call of Duty community, where it's a situation.
Where the community is disinterested in Call of Duty, they feel betrayed. They bought into the hype and thought Modern Warfare 2 was finally going to be the game we've been waiting for. And they didn't do it; they weren't able to capitalize on any of the hype; they weren't able to capitalize on the nostalgia.
Instead, what they decided to do was just release the same half-assess effort that they've been doing for years, and the community was like. No. I don't want this; this isn't what I want, and it's shocking that a game that records record revenue every single quarter can lose players at the rate they're losing players and still pretend that they're doing something great for the gaming industry.
Call of Duty as it stands right now is a complete and utter joke, and we can even see it here in Modern Warfare 3. There's a lot of problems within Modern Warfare 3. The core issues that the game has—matchmaking being at the top of it—will never get addressed because, as per Activision's mandate, they will not make the game more playable for their community; they will not address the number one concern the community has, and I'm not even saying abolish skill-based matchmaking.
Skill-based matchmaking has been in games for decades, but it was never implemented. The way it's been implemented here and the way it's currently implemented does not work; it makes players not want to play your game, and that's why I think more people are staying away from Modern Warfare 3. I also think the fact that your campaign at the start of the year was so half-assed that it made people just say nope, not going to trust Call of Duty this year, not going to do it, and good on you if you're somebody who actually walked away from the Call of Duty franchise this year.
Bless you honestly; you're doing it well because hopefully these numbers. Shock Activision; hopefully these numbers show them that we're done with them just treating this franchise as a cash cow that will never tip over. Unfortunately, it's starting to not be as successful as it used to be. You can only milk this franchise so much; you can only milk your mega players your whales for so long until people start to get fed up, and that's where we're at right now with Modern Warfare 3.
This community is getting fed up; they're disinterested; they're disengaged with what you're doing because the game feels so stale. It feels so inauthentic that it feels just boring, and that should not be the type of experience you're trying to deliver in 2023. I've talked about this before, and I'll reiterate it again.
What about Modern Warfare 3 is innovative to the Call of Duty experience? Nothing; what does Call of Duty mean? Modern Warfare 3 does better than any other game in the Modern Warfare franchise or in the Call of Duty franchise as a whole. Nothing, and that's the problem with Call of Duty: they used to push the boundaries; they used to set the president; now they're just following whatever Fortnite does and hoping that they can reap some of the benefits that Fortnite has; they hope that they can get some of those cosmetic sales that Fortnite boasts.
But guess what, guys? They're failing at it. They're not able to engage their player base the same way Fortnite does. Fortnite beats them in every single player count. It's true look at the numbers. The top-played game for all of November was Fortnite, and number two was Call of Duty: Great War.
