Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare launch sales down nearly 50% on Black Ops 3 - You sold nothing, Jon Snow!

Launch sales of Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare were down 48.5 per cent compared to last year's Call of Duty: Black Ops 3.

Both Infinite Warfare and Blops 3 launched on a similar Friday in November. Both games had a huge marketing push. But, for a number of reasons, Infinite Warfare sold only half as well.

That's not to say Infinite Warfare flopped - far from it. Infinity Ward's sci-fi shooter was still 2016's second-largest launch in the UK - behind FIFA 17 - despite losing half its sales year-on-year.

But what caused all those lost sales?

Firstly, Infinite Warfare launched without PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 editions, as Black Ops 3 did.

However, even accounting for the loss of last-gen platforms, Infinite Warfare's sales were still down by 43.6 per cent, UK numbers company Chart-Track noted.

Launch sales of Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare were down 48.5 per cent compared to last year's Call of Duty: Black Ops 3.

Oh Snow.

Both Infinite Warfare and Blops 3 launched on a similar Friday in November. Both games had a huge marketing push. But, for a number of reasons, Infinite Warfare sold only half as well.

That's not to say Infinite Warfare flopped - far from it. Infinity Ward's sci-fi shooter was still 2016's second-largest launch in the UK - behind FIFA 17 - despite losing half its sales year-on-year.

But what caused all those lost sales?

Firstly, Infinite Warfare launched without PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 editions, as Black Ops 3 did.

However, even accounting for the loss of last-gen platforms, Infinite Warfare's sales were still down by 43.6 per cent, UK numbers company Chart-Track noted.

In a financial briefing last week, publisher Activision said it expected Infinite Warfare to sell less than last year as it was a new sub-brand, compared to the return of the popular, established Black Ops franchise a year ago.

This will have been a factor - Black Ops is by far the biggest sub-brand for the series.

Eurogamer

Well, this is some good news, isn't it?

Or should i feel bad for being happy about CoD not selling as expected? :D

Well they were just unlucky BF1 looks so fantastic. If Bf1 was just some other generic shooter, this years CoD would have sold just as well as last years one (sorry, I have no idea how they're all called)

I have bieng said same things that COD popularity is down. its peak was at 2009 when MW2 break sale record. that was popularity peak.

even fans are sick of them.

Well, people aren't buying Titanfall 2 either. How are Battlfield 1 sales?

Anyhow, Blops 3 was on last gen systems too. Think that could be a reason and not all this Infinite Warfare hate?

I guess gamers are getting smarter, they are evolving.

Well, it's supposed to sell good but it didn't sell as expected, i mean 50% down is a lot !

Seeing not so popular games like Titanfall 2, with practices like offering free maps and no season pass, selling not well, and the continuous dominance of big franchises like CoD, makes me happy to see the latter experiencing a down in sales.

And yeah i have heard good stuff about campaign and as i'm not a fan of its MP, i gotta wait for some huge sales to grab it

Don't know about that

i think they were in minority and i wouldn't take that as the reason for this not selling as expected tbh.

And no i don't hate IW, it's just that i want quality games to see a surge in sales, not rehashes.

Yeah that's one of the reasons, BF1 simply nailed it

Don't be, it was Black Ops 3

i didn't read the article thoroughly tbh, well yeah it's expected to be lower than Blops 3 which was the third installment in the series, but again, 50 % is a lot! And obviously they ain't gonna admit that.

isn't that the case with all games? correct me if i'm wrong but this is how they report sales

It's short but awesome according to almost all reviews and gamers' feedback. And yeah that's a good and valid point.

No i haven't :D i'm waiting for a price drop, i simply can't afford any game day 1, it costs a lot here

Well, i'm happy to hear that, how about Multiplayer? don't you think it's the same old same old? (And again, i'm saying this based on the reviews)

Half of loads is still loads

Casuals have moved on to flappy bird, pokemon GO, etc

Thank god! Let's hope Activision learned the lesson, and start releasing each game every 3 or 4 years, like the GOOD devs do (Rockstar, Bethesda, CDPR, etc).

This could be accurate if NMS didn't just happen

This is good news for sure. Even though Infinite Warfare is a better game than BO3 (I don't play the MP because it is shit), the series needs to take a serious hit so that they switch up the formula.

Nothing to see here folks. Infinite Warfare is not on PS3 or Xbox 360, and it dropped basically with Battilefield and Titanfall 2 and still sold well.

It's still popular haters, try and knock it down a peg somewhere else....

You get it for PS4? We should try Zombies!

A lot more competition this year as far as shooters go with Battlefield 1, Titanfall 2 and don't forget Overwatch is still a thing.

Bugger! Still have Gears 4 though!

It actually sucks.

Bc from what I understand the single player is actually really good and hasn't been that way since the original BLOPS.

Why be happy that good stories and games are getting bad sales and shit like BLOPS 3 is getting good sales.

It's a better game than BLOPS 3 IMO. Both games have shit MP but that's to be expected but IW has a stellar campaign. Easily the best COD campaign since COD4 while BLOP 3's campaign is the worst ever.

Wasn't BLOPS 3 released on lastgen consoles? Of course sales will be down compared to that. Couple that with BF1 looking stellar and you'll realize there's no way IW could have beaten BO3 sales.

A wake-up call CoD has had coming for many years. The franchise is officially outside of its staple moneymakers (MW and Black Ops) and struggles are to be expected, given the degree of monotony the series has accumulated from its yearly iterations.

I'm too busy playing BF1 to care about CoD. I bought Black Ops 3 last year because the shooter market was a bit thin. That's not a problem this year.

good good. now imagine if MW1 wasn't bundled in, sales would've been laughable.

Hating CoD is last year like skinny jeans. Flared pleated pants are now in.

@mjorh: It may indicate buyer fatigue - there's just too much going on, and CoD doesn't stand-out as a premier shooter like it used to.

Indeed.

i hope they stop this annual releasing and reinvigorate the franchise.

Yeah, i've heard a lotta good stuff about the campaign, especially Jeff Gertsman spoke highly of it, and tbh when it comes to CoD, that's what matters to me, i'm not a fan of its Multiplayer anymore, so i might end up grabbing it in sales or sth. The thing is the MP is the same as the previews two titles, i mean every single reviewer has mentioned this, from PC Gamer (which bashed the game, gave it 48/100, which seems unfair) to Jeff Gertsman from Giant Bomb (who gave it a 3/5 praising the campaign and criticizing the MP for being the same old same old).

I guess it comes down to how much of that physical copy drop is related to a potential increase in digital sales. I'm sure digital sales didn't increase enough to cover that drop. There is also the reality that BLOPS three is probably the biggest COD franchise on next gen consoles (Ghosts, Advanced Warfare, BLOPS 3, Infinite Warfare). Lastly, there is BF1 and TF2 that came out right before. I do wonder if they are going back to Advanced Warfare next year.

@sts106mat: Glad to hear that as i dig those kinda stuff myself. Although i love MW2 more and it's my fav CoD game, MW1 is a great game and i'd definitely buy it if they'd sell it as a standalone game, and them forcing you to buy IW in order to have access to MW1 pissed me off as well

Some even claim that the spaceflight parts have the potential to be a standalone game, they've done a good job with them.

Interesting situation with COD, Battlefield, and Titanfall all launching around the same time

i've already watched it, that's why i said "some", i haven't played it myself so i can't really weigh in on that