'Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare' retail sales are wayyy down

[Shawn Knight]

Early indications suggest sales of Activision’s latest Call of Duty game may be significantly lower than anticipated.

In a recent note to clients, Cowen analyst Doug Creutz said physical sales of Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare came in roughly 17 percent shy of their expectations. A second source confirmed the results with CNBC, noting that year-over-year sales for the month of November were down 51 percent.

Data from both sources came from market research firm The NPD Group (NPD) which shared its findings with investors ahead of a public release that’ll take place sometime this week.

The findings also jibe with what we heard out of the UK regarding first week sales of Infinite Warfare compared to last year’s Black Ops III.

There are, however, a handful of caveats worth pointing out such as the fact that NPD’s data only covers physical retail sales.

As you’ve no doubt noticed over the past few years, gamers are increasingly turning to digital downloads. Virtually everyone was expecting retail sales to slide although such a big drop like this wasn’t anticipated. On the flip side, digital sales are forecasted to increase and will offset some of retail’s downturn but by how much remains to be seen.

Activision this year also bundled a remastered version of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare with special editions of Infinite Warfare, the cheapest of which starts at $80. What that means is that while overall sales may be down, the additional money Activision rakes in from those buying a more expensive special edition will help pad the financials a bit. Upcoming DLC will also bring in more money, just as it does every year.

Furthermore, Infinite Warfare is the first CoD game (in many years) that wasn’t released on aging PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles. Last year’s Black Ops III was available for these older systems albeit with some major shortcomings.

One must not overlook the fact that many gamers were unhappy with Activision’s move to further push the gameplay into the future, especially as rival EA made the decision to set Battlefield I in the WWI era. Fans made their voice heard loud and clear on YouTube as the Infinite Warfare reveal trailer has garnered nearly four million dislikes compared to just 560,606 thumbs-up votes.

It’s also easy to overlook the fact that this is a new sub-series for Call of Duty rather than an established series like Black Ops or Modern Warfare.

Activision no doubt has a lot stacked against it with Infinite Warfare but until we see digital sales figures, it’s hard to know exactly how much the franchise has slid.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/67355-call-duty-infinite-warfare-retail-sales-wayyy-down.html

 

[Evernessince]

This is a console game, most of the sales are still physical and are expected to stay that way.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...t-for-a-third-of-console-revenues-in-2020-pwc

Until internet speeds increase in the US to a point where you can download games within an hour or two at most, Physical will continue to rule on console. I wouldn't hold my breath on that one though as Trump is anti net neutrality. We even have the biggest ISP lobbyist Ajit Pai, who has received a large sum of his campaign contributions from ISPs, talking about it here

http://arstechnica.com/information-...et-neutralitys-days-are-numbered-under-trump/

And let's be honest here, Net Neutrality hardly does anything in it's current state, it is far too lenient. It doesn't prevent AT&T from zero rating it's DirectTV data but at least it prevents companies from slowing down data to extort money. But yeah, according to Ajit we need to take a weed wacker to these laws and hope that Comcast and Charter do what's in everyone's best interest. It's like he wasn't here for the last 4 years and totally forgot that comcast won worst company of the year 2 times. That's saying allot given they won over Bank of America's foreclosing on military personnel's homes when they were overseas.

 

[Greg S]

I've spent less than $100 on my entire Steam library and these people want $80 for basically one game? I think not.

 

[Mr Dude]

So, the good folk at Activison-EA are surprised that the game, whose trailer was very negatively received, isn't selling? Gosh.

On another note, these kinds of articles mention physical sales figures going shy of expectations, then add the caveat that there are also digital sales figures, which aren't included. I'm pretty sure that number-crunchers at -insert topical game's publisher here- are well aware and accounting for digital sales, when they estimate how many physical copies a game will sell.

It could also be just me, being overly optimistic. Like Activision here. As it turns out, there is such a thing as bad press.

 

[EClyde]

These war games are like wrapped processed yellow cheese

 

[amghwk]

What?.....people are STILL playing new CoD series???

Same old, been there done that... yawn....

Missed the originality in the game designs like those days...

 

[MoeJoe]

It's not selling well because it's garbage and most likely because the base has moved on - after saturation.
AW still had the mojo ... but this release bites.

 

[Alex Voinica]

Too little too late.
They finally brought some changes in the campaign which was good. I know a lot of people keep complaining abut the graphics but I really do not think it looks bad. What I disliked was the short campaign - even though it had some cool moments and Ethan was insanely good , the side missions were short and repetitive and the villain was just meh. It was nice to see that the stakes were big in campaign and a lot of sacrifice will come, the voice acting also top-notch and adding cut-scenes besides of boring loading screens was a nice touch.

And now all the bad things :

- short campaign
- multiplayer worse than Black Ops 3
- Zombies mode could not play at all - did not find any game since launch day - forums talk about this and it looks like I am not the only one so I can consider the Zombies mode as missing.

So for 10 Euros it would make sense to buy !

 

[Nobina]

It was about time people got tired of this game, same **** every year, different game. Also that price is just ridiculous.

 

[BSim500]

 

[Trillionsin]

What?.....people are STILL playing new CoD series???

Same old, been there done that... yawn....

Missed the originality in the game designs like those days...

It has some originality, how would you know if you havent played it? That being said, doesnt mean its any good still. lol

 

[b3nnny]

I've spent less than $100 on my entire Steam library and these people want $80 for basically one game? I think not.

What kind of crap games do you play? Anything multiplayer-online? Probably not and that's why they're only 5 bucks a game. Have fun playing with yourself.

 

[b3nnny]

The game itself is fine. Its CoD fatigue. At a certain point you realize that if you just wait to buy the game and get a discount, there will still be people playing online when you get there. Why pay $60 for a game when you can wait 9 months and its going for $20? You can literally play any CoD from the past and people are still playing online. Why not wait until the price drops below $20? The people will still be there waiting for you when you eventually pick it up. The market is bifurcating into people that want it now and people that can wait for a discount.

 

[b3nnny]

Too little too late.
They finally brought some changes in the campaign which was good. I know a lot of people keep complaining abut the graphics but I really do not think it looks bad. What I disliked was the short campaign - even though it had some cool moments and Ethan was insanely good , the side missions were short and repetitive and the villain was just meh. It was nice to see that the stakes were big in campaign and a lot of sacrifice will come, the voice acting also top-notch and adding cut-scenes besides of boring loading screens was a nice touch.

And now all the bad things :

- short campaign
- multiplayer worse than Black Ops 3
- Zombies mode could not play at all - did not find any game since launch day - forums talk about this and it looks like I am not the only one so I can consider the Zombies mode as missing.

So for 10 Euros it would make sense to buy !

Are you sure you tried hard enough to get a working part of the game to work? Do you know how to use the controller properly?

 

[Trillionsin]

What kind of crap games do you play? Anything multiplayer-online? Probably not and that's why they're only 5 bucks a game. Have fun playing with yourself.

Holy sheet b3nny. As if you can't play a game and enjoy it by yourself. Plus, YOU make the point in another post that if you just wait to get the game at a discount, there will still be plenty people online when you get there. Word for word from YOUR POST. MAYBE THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT HE'S DONE. Holy sheet man... there's so much more I want to say to you... but that is just a completely rude and pointless post man, do you think about what you are typing? Or are you just trying to get a reaction out of someone like this? Troll?

Edit: I'd also like to note that there are plenty of free to play online multiplayer games available on Steam. You would know this if you know half as much as you claim to in your posts...

 

[b3nnny]

What kind of crap games do you play? Anything multiplayer-online? Probably not and that's why they're only 5 bucks a game. Have fun playing with yourself.

Holy sheet b3nny. As if you can't play a game and enjoy it by yourself. Plus, YOU make the point in another post that if you just wait to get the game at a discount, there will still be plenty people online when you get there. Word for word from YOUR POST. MAYBE THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT HE'S DONE. Holy sheet man... there's so much more I want to say to you... but that is just a completely rude and pointless post man, do you think about what you are typing? Or are you just trying to get a reaction out of someone like this? Troll?

Edit: I'd also like to note that there are plenty of free to play online multiplayer games available on Steam. You would know this if you know half as much as you claim to in your posts...

Ok besides MOBA's, what multiplayers games do well on PC? Um, none. I was talking about using that strategy on consoles. The are more people playing Black ops 2 on ps3 than every CoD on pc combined. Do not ever step to this.

 

[veLa]

What?.....people are STILL playing new CoD series???

Same old, been there done that... yawn....

Missed the originality in the game designs like those days...

It has some originality, how would you know if you havent played it? That being said, doesnt mean its any good still. lol

Since when is praying to be Titanfall and Crysis original?

 

[davejonnes]

What kind of crap games do you play? Anything multiplayer-online? Probably not and that's why they're only 5 bucks a game. Have fun playing with yourself.

Holy sheet b3nny. As if you can't play a game and enjoy it by yourself. Plus, YOU make the point in another post that if you just wait to get the game at a discount, there will still be plenty people online when you get there. Word for word from YOUR POST. MAYBE THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT HE'S DONE. Holy sheet man... there's so much more I want to say to you... but that is just a completely rude and pointless post man, do you think about what you are typing? Or are you just trying to get a reaction out of someone like this? Troll?

Edit: I'd also like to note that there are plenty of free to play online multiplayer games available on Steam. You would know this if you know half as much as you claim to in your posts...

Ok besides MOBA's, what multiplayers games do well on PC? Um, none. I was talking about using that strategy on consoles. The are more people playing Black ops 2 on ps3 than every CoD on pc combined. Do not ever step to this.

BF1? Overwatch? Arma? Team Fortress? MMORPGs (WOW, Diablo 3, FFXIV, all of them really)? Street Fighter V? GTA V (game even peaked the most concurrent players record on Steam)? Strategy Games (Starcraft, Civilization series, Total War series, even old school Warcraft 3 does extremely well)? And those are only to name a few.... there are plenty more! lol

 

[GreenNova343]

Don't forget Halo. I not only still play Halo:CE on the PC, but still have no problem finding servers to play on...

 

[Adhmuz]

Ok besides MOBA's, what multiplayers games do well on PC? Um, none. I was talking about using that strategy on consoles. The are more people playing Black ops 2 on ps3 than every CoD on pc combined. Do not ever step to this.

CoD doesn't do well on PC because PC gamers have more variety in the way of shooters and realize how utterly crap the franchise has become, do remember CoD started on PC... Also you've clearly never heard of Overwatch if you think that only MOBAs do well on PC, or Counter Strike, Battlefield..., hell, shooters are just better played on PC with a mouse in general.

What kind of crap games do you play? Anything multiplayer-online? Probably not and that's why they're only 5 bucks a game. Have fun playing with yourself.

Do you even have a Steam account? There's lots of free games or very low priced games, not all are great but some are, Path of Exile for example, Warfram, Hawken, Hearthstone, the list is pretty long actually. You clearly don't know what you are talking about.

 

[Nobina]

Ok besides MOBA's, what multiplayers games do well on PC? Um, none. I was talking about using that strategy on consoles. The are more people playing Black ops 2 on ps3 than every CoD on pc combined. Do not ever step to this.

CoD isn't played much on PC cause why would you? It's a **** game made for consoles to not have any recoil and have aim helpers cause controllers suck. If you own a PC there are many better games to play like dave above mentioned. It's no coincidence CoDs favorite teams FaZe and Optic moved to CSGO which absolutely destroys CoD in every aspect.

 

[djangojazz]

I've spent less than $100 on my entire Steam library and these people want $80 for basically one game? I think not.

lol yep. Although I do have a PS4, I refuse to pay full price for most of these games unless I really really want it.

 

[Trillionsin]

Ok besides MOBA's, what multiplayers games do well on PC? Um, none. I was talking about using that strategy on consoles. The are more people playing Black ops 2 on ps3 than every CoD on pc combined. Do not ever step to this.

The post you replied to and quoted was specifically talking about Steam. As another person mention who replied to your post, there's lots of games! The concept of waiting and buying games when they go on sale can apply to any console or PC. I think it's actually easier to find sales for games on PC than consoles, but I'm not 100% sure on that because I mainly play PC games.

I won't disagree with you about how many people may or may not be playing COD games on PS3, because I havent a clue about that, and I wont claim to. I dont play very many games on consoles and I wont talk about something I have no idea about. I do know that on PC, the popularity drops off dramatically when a new game is released, be it another in the series, or just another FPS. I did play BLOPS3 and its silly trying to find a lobby once all the new games came out these last few months. You can play TDM during peak hours, that's about it. If you want to play anything or any other time, good luck, you'll be waiting awhile or forever!

Since when is praying to be Titanfall and Crysis original?

Yea... I guess you got me on that, and I havent played it enough to come up with anything specific that is really original. I guess I was thinking that it's just a little different than previous Cods.

 

[b3nnny]

BF1? Overwatch? Arma? Team Fortress? MMORPGs (WOW, Diablo 3, FFXIV, all of them really)? Street Fighter V? GTA V (game even peaked the most concurrent players record on Steam)? Strategy Games (Starcraft, Civilization series, Total War series, even old school Warcraft 3 does extremely well)? And those are only to name a few.... there are plenty more! lol

Yeah and those are not $5 games which is my point.

 

[b3nnny]

The post you replied to and quoted was specifically talking about Steam. As another person mention who replied to your post, there's lots of games! The concept of waiting and buying games when they go on sale can apply to any console or PC. I think it's actually easier to find sales for games on PC than consoles, but I'm not 100% sure on that because I mainly play PC games.

I won't disagree with you about how many people may or may not be playing COD games on PS3, because I havent a clue about that, and I wont claim to. I dont play very many games on consoles and I wont talk about something I have no idea about. I do know that on PC, the popularity drops off dramatically when a new game is released, be it another in the series, or just another FPS. I did play BLOPS3 and its silly trying to find a lobby once all the new games came out these last few months. You can play TDM during peak hours, that's about it. If you want to play anything or any other time, good luck, you'll be waiting awhile or forever!



Yea... I guess you got me on that, and I havent played it enough to come up with anything specific that is really original. I guess I was thinking that it's just a little different than previous Cods.

No the post I replied to mentioned a completely different post where I was talking about consoles. Thanks for trying to keep up though