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As part of Activision Blizzard’s latest earnings report this week, the company gave an update on how its various business are performing, and Call of Duty sales on PC and console came up short. The company confirmed this while also teasing plans for “new, unannounced” Call of Duty games (more on that later).
The publisher said “net bookings,” which is a measurement of the net amount of products and services sold digitally and physically, declined year-over-year for the Call of Duty series on console and PC during the fourth quarter. The publisher attributed the downturn to “lower premium sales” for Call of Duty: Vanguard compared to the same quarter in 2020 with Black Ops Cold War. Additionally, Call of Duty: Warzone saw “lower engagement” during Q4, which negatively impacted results, Activision Blizzard said.
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Now Playing: Call of Duty: Vanguard Review
All of that said, Activision Blizzard said “in-game player investment” on console and PC for Call of Duty stayed “well above” the levels it reached following the launch of Warzone in March 2020. And as a further point of context, even though Vanguard sales were down compared to Black Ops Cold War, Vanguard was the best-selling game in the US during 2021.
While total Call of Duty sales on console and PC might have been lower than same period last year, Call of Duty: Mobile was a bright spot. Its own net bookings grew year-over-year, thanks in part to results from China. Call of Duty: Mobile total net bookings for 2021 “grew strongly,” exceeding $1 billion worldwide.
In other Call of Duty news, Activision also confirmed that 2022’s new game will be developed by Infinity Ward, which will also lead the work being done for 2022’s new Warzone experiences. “The team is working on the most ambitious plan in franchise history, with industry-leading innovation and a broadly appealing franchise setting,” Activision said.
While not confirmed yet, it’s rumored that 2022’s Call of Duty is a sequel to 2019’s Modern Warfare and will focus on Colombian drug cartels.
Finally, Activision said in its earnings release that it continues to add headcount to its Call of Duty development teams around the world to contribute to the franchise’s “ongoing live operations.” These teams are also working on “new, unannounced” games in the Call of Duty universe.
Despite Microsoft’s proposal to buy Activision Blizzard, the Call of Duty series will continue to be released on rival platforms, including PlayStation, at least for the foreseeable future.
Outside of Activision, rival shooter Battlefield 2042 missed its own sales targets, Electronic Arts announced this week.
Best Call Of Duty Games: Ranking The 10 Greatest Entries
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