Call of Duty
GameBy Infinity Ward · Released Oct 29, 2003
Documents about Call of Duty
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II Generates Over $1 Billion in 10 Days
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II achieved a significant commercial milestone by generating over $1 billion in worldwide sell-through revenue within its first 10 days of release.
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II generated over $1 billion in worldwide sell-through revenue within its first 10 days following its October 28, 2022, release.
- The title set a new franchise record by reaching the $1 billion threshold five days faster than the previous record-holder, Black Ops II.
- Initial engagement metrics for the 10-day launch period included over 200 million hours of gameplay and more than 1 billion completed multiplayer matches.
Activision Touts Sell-Through Success of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II
Activision Blizzard reported significant commercial success for the launch of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, which generated over $800 million in worldwide sell-through revenue within its first three days of release.
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II generated over $800 million in worldwide sell-through revenue within its first three days of release.
- The game achieved the biggest opening in the franchise's history, surpassing the previous five-day record of $775 million set by Modern Warfare 3 in 2011.
- Modern Warfare II set a new franchise record for the highest-grossing digital opening weekend.
American Gaming Market: October 2022
The United States gaming market experienced a period of stagnation in October 2022, with total consumer spending reaching $4.3 billion, a figure essentially unchanged from the same period in the previous year.
- US consumer spending on games (software, hardware, accessories) in October 2022 remained flat year-over-year at $4.3 billion.
- Software sales were the only segment to see growth in October 2022, increasing by 2% year-over-year to $4 billion, driven by multiple new game releases.
- Hardware sales declined by 10% year-over-year in October 2022, reaching $424 million.
New Games' Biggest Discovery Competition? Old Games
The primary thesis of this analysis is that "evergreen" legacy titles represent the most significant competition for new video game releases on PC and console platforms.
- Legacy titles are the primary competitors for new releases, with the top 20 established games receiving 50% more reviews than the top 20 new launches on Steam in October 2022.
- When excluding the outlier Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, older games outperformed new releases by 225% in player engagement metrics.
- The competitive gap widens as the sample size increases; when comparing the top 40 games, legacy titles outperformed new releases by 258%.
Plus: How Rimworld Shows DLC Strategy Done Right
The primary objective of this analysis is to evaluate current market trends and monetization strategies within the PC and console gaming sectors, specifically focusing on Steam, Epic Games Store, and major consoles during late October 2022.
- High-quality, substantial DLC expansions can significantly boost player engagement, as evidenced by RimWorld’s Biotech release doubling its average concurrent user count from 13k–20k to nearly 40k.
- Maintaining a disciplined pricing strategy, such as RimWorld’s practice of rarely discounting the base game by more than 10%, allows developers to sustain high average purchase prices and reach a total bundle value of $95 years after launch.
- The 'three-in-one' content model is a viable strategy for justifying higher DLC price points, with RimWorld successfully commanding a $25 price for its Biotech expansion.
Call of Duty: Online Is Dead. Long Live Call of Duty: Online!
Call of Duty: Online functioned as a strategic bridge between Western console-based design and the high-velocity, free-to-play market of China.
- Call of Duty: Online served as a strategic development bootcamp for Activision and Tencent to master free-to-play mechanics, seasonal content cadences, and robust onboarding.
- The technical infrastructure and asset libraries developed for the Chinese market project directly enabled the global scalability and success of Call of Duty: Mobile.
- The project functioned as an innovation hub that pioneered foundational features for the modern franchise, including cross-mode progression and early Battle Royale iterations.
Microsoft thinks Activision Blizzard deal will provide devs with “better revenue and fair marketplace rules”
Microsoft’s $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard is framed by the company as a transformative move intended to benefit the broader gaming ecosystem, including players, developers, and the industry at large.
- Microsoft is pursuing a $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, positioning the deal as a means to increase competition through improved developer revenue models and equitable marketplace rules.
- The merger faces significant regulatory scrutiny from the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority and European Union regulators due to concerns regarding potential anti-competitive impacts.
- Microsoft intends to leverage its app store principles to challenge dominant mobile storefronts and expand the availability of gaming titles across console and mobile platforms.
Global Mobile Games in August 2022
The August 2022 global mobile-game landscape was dominated by a mix of long-standing titles and new viral hits.
- Fate/Grand Order revenue surged 150% month-on-month to nearly $70 million in August 2022, driven by its 7th-anniversary event and consistent content updates.
- Call of Duty: Mobile saw a 38.3% month-on-month revenue increase to $15 million on the App Store following the launch of the 'New Vision City' map, while PUBG Mobile generated over $40 million in combined revenue through a Blackpink collaboration.
- Classic parkour games experienced a resurgence in downloads, with Subway Surfers reaching 19 million Google Play downloads and Temple Run growing 30.4% month-on-month to 10.3 million downloads, the latter fueled by TikTok-influenced content.
Pistols at Dawn
The public dispute between Microsoft and Sony regarding the proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard highlights significant regulatory and competitive concerns surrounding the future of the Call of Duty franchise.
- The acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft faces significant regulatory scrutiny, with the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) initiating a 'Phase 2' investigation due to potential anti-competitive concerns.
- Sony’s Jim Ryan publicly rejected Microsoft's offer to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation for three years beyond the existing contract, labeling the proposal inadequate.
- Microsoft claims it offered a signed agreement to guarantee content and feature parity for Call of Duty on PlayStation for 'several more years,' though the specific duration remains a point of contention.
Sony Was Activision Blizzard’s Largest Customer by Revenue in 2020
The primary objective of this analysis is to quantify the revenue dependency of Activision Blizzard on major platform holders during the 2020 and 2021 fiscal years.
- In 2020, Sony was Activision Blizzard’s largest customer, generating 17% of the publisher's total net revenue, or approximately $1.37 billion.
- By 2021, Apple and Google each grew to represent 17% of Activision Blizzard’s total net revenue, while Sony’s share declined to 15%.
- Microsoft’s revenue contribution to Activision Blizzard fell from 11% ($890 million) in 2020 to below 10% in 2021.
Inside the Microsoft vs. Sony 'Unfair Competition' Feud
Public filings from Brazil’s Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE) provide a rare, unredacted look into the strategic friction between Microsoft and Sony regarding the proposed $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
- Microsoft’s $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard has triggered a public regulatory dispute in Brazil, revealing a fundamental clash between Sony’s hardware-centric model and Microsoft’s service-based ecosystem.
- Microsoft admitted to losing the previous console generation, noting that the PlayStation 4 outsold the Xbox One by a margin of more than two-to-one.
- Microsoft developed Xbox Game Pass as a direct strategic response to its hardware deficit and the dominance of the PlayStation brand.
VIP Subscriptions & The Recurring Revenue Revolution
VIP subscriptions represent a critical, often overlooked component of modern free-to-play (F2P) mobile game monetization.
- VIP subscriptions increase player lifetime value (LTV) and average revenue per user (ARPU) by securing recurring income, which is more stable than relying solely on individual in-app purchases.
- Once a player makes an initial purchase, they have a 60-70% probability of becoming a repeat customer, making the conversion to a subscription model a highly effective strategy for long-term revenue growth.
- Subscriptions can be designed to enhance other revenue streams, such as offering store discounts to boost in-app purchase (IAP) volume or removing ads to capture the maximum potential ad revenue per user.
Companies behind it
- Activisionpublisher, developer521
Microsoftpublisher, developer, owner1,092
Activision Blizzarddeveloper, owner, publisher418- Xbox Game Studiospublisher13
Valvepublisher385
Overwolfowner25
Nintendoowner1,404
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