Despite topping the sci-fi shooter chart of 2016, "Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare" saw an almost 50% down in sales during its first-week release in the UK, even lower than its predecessor "Black Ops 3." The reason behind this major loss in sales could be due to the lack of PS3 or Xbox 360 editions in the "Infinite Warfare" during its launch.
Compared with the previous year's "Call of Duty: Black Ops 3," "Infinite Warfare" sales were down specifically by 49.5%. This isn't a particularly great start for the game's debut. In fact, 2015's "Black Ops 3" was in itself down in sales compared to the 2014 "Advanced Warfare."
Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare sales down almost 50 percent on Black Ops 3: https://t.co/0LwI4mKtoH pic.twitter.com/0Pq0CbbQkF
— PC Gamer (@pcgamer) November 7, 2016
Sales of the "Infinite Warfare" are not the only thing down. According to Githyp, based on the viewer and player counts, "Infinite Warfare" only had 15,280 players, compared with last year's "Black Ops 3" that had 63,681 players. This an even bigger marginal lost for Activision's franchise.
The king of shooters "Call of Duty" has perhaps taken its biggest hit yet going up against other recently released heavy-hitters such as "Battlefield 1" and "Titanfall 2," which were released late October.
According to EuroGamer, publisher Activision said that, in a financial briefing early November, they expected "Infinite Warfare" to sell less than the "Black Ops 3" as it was a new sub-brand. "Black Ops" is by far the biggest sub-brand for the "Call of Duty" franchise. If being a new sub-brand was a big factor in loss of sales, then this overlooks the fact that "Infinite Warfare" received major backlash since the release of its trailer last May. Many fans did not warm up to Activision's "Infinite Warfare," calling it "slick, morbid and a bit dull."
Activision's decision to only bundle "Modern Warfare Remastered" with premium "Infinite Warfare editions" have been criticized by fans and gamers alike despite the having had a huge marketing push.
However, even accounting for the loss of last-generation platforms such as the PS3 and Xbox 360, it is still a fact that "Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare" sales were still down by a large leap.Meanwhile, check out "Infinite Warfare" game trailer.
