A contractual obligation means Call of Duty will remain on PlayStation for at least ten years, despite Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard. But if numbers continue to trend like this, we could foresee the series remaining on Sony’s consoles for a lot longer: an enormous 80 per cent of Modern Warfare 3’s physical copies were purchased on PS5 and PS4 during launch week in the UK.
It’s worth noting that the game was included in a PS5 hardware bundle, and that contributes to these numbers. It should also be reiterated that this only includes boxed copies, so digital data may skew the results in a different way. Still, a ratio of 72 per cent on PS5, eight per cent on PS4, and just 20 per cent on Xbox is pretty imperious to say the least.
On the physical front, sales are down 25 per cent compared to Modern Warfare 2, so it’ll be interesting to see what the numbers look like with digital included as well. Critics are calling this the worst Call of Duty ever, due to a rushed development cycle which saw the publisher transition from an expansion to a full-priced release.
[source twitter.com]
Comments 38
By the sounds of things, they will be very disapointed with their purchase
And Microsoft is thanking all of them for their purchase
Xbox owners waiting out on it hitting Gamepass. 8% on PS4 surely means this is the last entry on the system especially if it is 2 years until the next one.
Can we give a minute to appreciate how Activision always fails to impress? (:
@Godot25 Yep. Exactly. And this just confirms my belief that MS is going to withdraw from the console race and become a predominantly software based manufacturer.
Yep all the PS5 disc bundles sold out across all my stores UK by about 3pm on the Friday.
That was some serious amount of console sales there.
Seemingly all games available on both systems (including Xbox but not Switch) sell for PS5 at a higher ratio. Can tell simply by comparing number of retailer user reviews.
Guess we just love bad games 😀
Was always going to be the case, the UK and Europe are Playstation country. The time has never been riper for the fabled true COD-killer to come along, but unfortunately everyone has been so busy chasing the GaaS dragon that there's nothing forthcoming.
@IAmAshCohen17 It will still be the same, as 80% of playstation game sales are digital and playstation do as well have an all digital console like Xbox do, so PlayStation will have strong digital sales as well.
@UltimateOtaku91 Xbox has way higher digital copies ratio than PlayStation. It's well known fact. Also you have to realise that MW3 copies bundled with PlayStation 5 are counted as physical copies despite fact that there are codes inside boxes, not game discs.
It's Modern Warfare 2 all over again. That game in physical was
71% PlayStation, 29% Xbox. When counted digital it shifted 57% PlayStation, 33% Xbox, 11% PC. So it's pretty clear that Xbox is performing better when you include digital and Xbox platform is skewed more towards digital distribution.
Let's not forget that Series X and Series S has +- 50/50 split and Series S is digital only console. PS5 vs PS5 DE is split of 80/20.
Going to play devil's advocate here.
First, the campaign is trash and I do not condone these business practices.
But.. after playing the multiplayer I can conclude there is no snappier and more fluent FPS on the market than this. Even if competitors make a serious attempt to create something equal or better - the bar has been set pretty high gameplay wise. Multiplayer is in a good place, and Zombies with the new extraction twist is fresh and well received, too.
Considering how little time they had, Sledgehammer delivered on both of these modes (which is what their target audience wants anyway). They did drop the ball on the unlock system though, which is overcomplicated.
At this point Microsoft better off getting rid of they’re failing console brand and just be a full third party publisher.
@Jay767 Unless they can get Game Pass on PlayStation/Nintendo that would be dumb as hell...
COD will be on Sony consoles for more than 10 years, but if MS have their way not much more in my opinion; sales will drop dramatically moving forward too, I’m sure.
If I was MS I would make CoD a platform of ever evolving content rather than individual games (I believe this may be starting to happen). When the next consoles are releasing I’d make a big drive to let people know that anything they have bought on PS5 (likely 100’s of pounds worth of content) will not, by right, be supported indefinitely moving forward on PS, but that it will be transitioned if people buy into CoD via Gamepass, PC, or Xbox. This will bring a lot of CoDbots onto MS platforms.
@Godot25 the Series S and X is in no way a 50/50 split. The Series S outsells the X by around 4 to 1.
On topic, I think a lot of people have taken advantage of the price cutting of PS5 and X, because, primarily, it's been cheaper to buy the hardware that way, thus inflating CoD sales more.
@Swirly No, it does not. It did in one month (april 2022 if I remember correctly), but that was because of Series X shortages. But some websites took the info and extrapolated it to the whole three years for some reason.
Given the downward death spiral that all the studios purchased by Microsoft have entered, especially in terms of quality of released games e.g. Halo, Redfall etc. It's probable that this will be the last time we see a COD that even apporaches this level of quality.
Until someone in Xbox actually figures out what games are and how they are different to spreadsheet entries and that player retention times are better serves by making games interesting and fun rather than filling them with empty spaces and long loading screen, looking at you Starfailed, Xbox studio games will always be 2nd rate. But I guess making games that are good takes money and time and that looks bad for your bottom line.
This may seem heavily skewed but in fact it's basically in line with expectations. If you consider PS5 is outselling Xbox at least 2:1 here in the UK, which would be at least 66:34, AND Xbox is usually a higher percentage digital then 80:20 isn't a crazy split at all.
@Godot25 I work in retail and sell these boxes and I can tell you the Series S trounces the X in sales. Its not even close. We used to carry 20+ in stock at a time but reduced this to around 10 to make room for faster moving stock (PS5 and Switch). Where the xbox does compete is controller sales. There's a lot of controller collectors out there
@Enigk No, it's just that PS4 owners have better taste!
ShopTo recently had the COD PS5 bundle in for about £400 so I think that goes some way to explaining the numbers. I mean, it sounds like the game is a broken heap of **** but can't argue at a £60 discount even if you never play it.
https://www.shopto.net/en/ps5-consoledisc/
I have a hunch that should Elder Scrolls 6 release on PS5 it would be a very similar story
Can microsoft really afford to not have call of duty on ps6 after this 10 year deal.
I still expect the marketshare to be similar next gen, playstation has the momentum and as long as they don't screw it up it will remain the same
@Dr-zoidburg Can they afford to? Yes. But unless there is a significant levelling off in the numbers over the next ten years it wouldn't be a very smart business decision.
In the future, the Game Pass effect will ensure even fewer copies are sold on Xbox, digital and otherwise.
Microsoft's strategy of trying to buy their way to the top is really working out for them, huh?
C'mon Sony, its time to give MAG2 a shot!
Nice little earner for Microsoft. It will help them invest more into the gaming division which can only be a good thing.
@Darylb88 Yay! You saying we will get more Starfields? Can't wait for some more loading screens, 30 fps and bugs.
I love Bugthesda games. In the time i enter a door in Starfield i can make scramabled eggs. Delicious.
Thank You Microsoft
@Tr3mm0r This may be the strangest comment I've ever seen on this site.
@Darylb88 Seems reality is strange to You
@Tr3mm0r You were good until you made the comment about the door. Now it's obvious you're a trend follower. Play Starfield before commenting on it again and save yourself some embarrassment.
It was bundled with xbox too. People don’t just buy them?
This is why Sony signed the deal
@Jay767 great logic there a console brand is "failing" because of lack of call of duty physical sales? What happened to all the talk on here of playstation being better off without call of duty because it sucks 🤔
@LifeGirl You mean they'll be forced out of the console business like Sega.
@Yinx
Wow someone who's actually played the game. I couldn't agree more. Really fluid multiplayer gameplay
@Rolyatthegoon I did play SF. I own both PS5 and a gaming PC. Lasted 7 hours in Starfield. 23 hours in Spider Man 2 and i am thinking if not to platinum it. I don't usually do that.
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