Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is not a good game – in fact, it may be one of the worst entries in the series, aside from spin-offs like the abysmal outsourced PS Vita release. With a Metacritic score of just 56 for the PS5, this dismal edition of the annual first-person shooter series is tussling with titles like The Lord of the Rings: Gollum as one of the worst of the year – not exactly the kind of accolade you’d expect to be attributed to a billion-dollar blockbuster brand.
But according to a post of the property’s social media account, none of this has slowed its success: “Just two weeks in, Modern Warfare 3 has already set records with the highest engagement in the new Modern Warfare trilogy,” a spokesperson said. It goes on to explain that this includes “more hours per player overall”, so it’s working with averages, which could potentially be boosted by the fact that overall sales are down. If so, that’s clever mathematics.
Of course, we don’t have concrete numbers to draw any firm conclusions. In the UK specifically, boxed sales numbers compared to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 dipped by a dramatic 25 per cent, but more and more people are beginning to buy digitally these days, so that’s not a particularly revealing statistic. We’ll probably have to wait until the dust settles for more data, but it’s probably safe to assume, whatever Activision says, this isn’t going to be the most commercially successful Call of Duty ever made.
[source twitter.com]
Comments 50
Most of the annual COD players probably couldn't tell you what Metacritic is let alone read a review.
It's the newest COD and that's about all that matters.
This is just sad.
gamers everywhere deserve the trash they receive. they seem to eat it up every time. let's stop blaming publishers for all the disasters of the gaming industry and start placing some of blame on the players next time shall we?
@GamingFan4Lyf i think thats a rather disingenuous view you present of call of duty players. Some people love call of duty for the multiplayer aspect alone which is obviously where these figures are obtained and some people love call of duty for the campaign and continuation of the story arc. I enjoy both aspects but i chose to skip this years entry after reading (yes a cod fan that can read) the reviews and decided an expansion with regurgitated maps from other entrys were not worth the asking price. I think your assumption that call of duty players are mindless,illiterate drones is rather insulting and uncalled for. If anything its the publishers/devs that deserve your ire for pushing a obvious half arsed cash grab upon those that await the next entry in their favourite franchise.
@Porco so we should start blaming gamers? If we start blaming the gamers and give the devs a free pass when lazy crap like this is released then it will become the norm like micro transactions infesting most games these days. Gamers should pass on things like this thus sending a message agreed but if its their fave game then what do you suppose they do?
@Excess were really in the end times
@Northern_munkey Consumers are the ones WITH the power. We stop buying, they go out of business. But they know we won't which is why they keep doing it which is why, yes, I 100% blame gamers for this situation.
@Northern_munkey the problem lies in the fact that no matter how egregious or wicked publishers are with their business models or quality of their output, some gamers (or many in the case of COD) continue to ignore all the red flags and support them anyways. doesn't that tell us something? publishers have been given the green light to do as they please and they can get away with it (most of the time). it makes me sick to be honest. don't people have the willpower and sense to vote with their wallets when something is justified? this is why the industry is in its current state and there are no signs of slowing down. it is about time that gamers took some responsibility with all this.
@Northern_munkey “ but if its their fave game then what do you suppose they do”
don’t buy it. both the devs and gamers are at fault in this situation
To be fair, people can buy whatever they choose. If it's a bad game and fans don't enjoy it, it may impact future franchise sales.
If this game was breaking sales records they'd be shouting it from the rooftops and it obviously didn't flop but I'd like to see their sales compared to previous titles. Cod was always going to sell well though no matter the quality but I wonder how many of the people who were complaining about it still run out and bought it.
@nomither6 correct. it sets a very bad precedent if a publisher can slap together mediocrity and still come out on top, setting new records. the negative feedback doesn't seem to have made a dent in their sales.
@Ennui How old is he content now? The mappacks are reused so many times and so old already would be a joke.
But all the reused content with ofcourse tons of macro transactions the gamers deserve to be ripped off.
@Ennui great comments and your right to say if you enjoyed the game. How many movies get bad mouthed and then later people say “wow it’s a classic!”.
And this is surprising how?
Because “games” like this aren’t bought as games, they are just supposedly cool social hang out spaces. Most kids don’t really care much about how good it is, just that they can gain entry. There are a large number of exceptions of course, but mostly it will be bought even if it’s total dog**it
@nomither6 @Porco i can see things from your point of views but i still dont think that insulting gamers for what they choose to play is the right thing.
@Northern_munkey What's Joe Public who only buys FIFA, COD and occasionally AC isn't going to do, not buy the new cod?
A few of the fuys from work got it on launch and the they are annual buyers. From what ive heard them say the single player campaign is shocking but the online is good. Myself? Wouldnt touch a call of duty game again for my own reasons despite them trying to persuade me.
@Northern_munkey I think your missing the point a little, he was more talking the majority of COD players and not that they are dumb, but many don't read reviews nor care about metric. Many are young kids with parents who every year go out and buy cod. Many adults who only play a few games, play the same games and COD is one of them.
I've spoke to 4 or 5 people the last few weeks, in my taxi, who have gone on about buying the next COD because its modern warfare 3 and then go on to tell me how good the modern warfare series was back then and they are redoing them.
Like they had 0 knowledge of this game being more of a dlc to the last game and have 0 knowledge of the reviews or even cared, all they knew is the new COD is coming out or is out and thats it.
@Porco "don't people have the willpower and sense to vote with their wallets when something is justified?"
Unfortunately no, they dont. This is what ive told the chaps at work when they moan about the campaign and other things. "well you guys are the ones supporting the shoddy practice by buying day 1. Vote with your wallets" I can guarentee they will all be there day 1 for MW4 and moaning about the same things.
I mean, none of this ultimately matters. Everyday gamers will lap it up and their focus won’t shift for many years (look at the FIFA years).
The majority of us lot will appreciate a game like a fine wine and be a bit more picky on our approach.
Both fans of gaming can co-exist without the ‘end of gaming’. Not really understanding people’s narrative with this; it’s fine, this ‘crap’ can do well and we’ll await some strong titles elsewhere.
COD being super popular doesn’t stop the Baldur’s Gate 3’s of the world being made.
@Porco The problem with that line of thinking is that "gamers" don't really exist, or at least not in the way that you're using the term. There's no homogenous mass of people who are all responsible for each other's actions, just a group of individuals who all have their own tastes and priorities.
As a "gamer" who is very conscious of what he's spending money on and who likes to experience a wide variety of genres, with a heavy focus on indies, I certainly don't feel responsible for other "gamers" who might only be interested in the latest COD or Fifa and don't care about the rest of the industry.
So the idea that it's about time that gamers take responsibility or that we all deserve this sort of crap, well, that doesn't work for me. We have no control over what others do. Fortunately though, we have the option to ignore games we don't support.
@Northern_munkey well i guess it’s a good thing i for sure didn’t insult anyone . i just said both the devs and players are to blame
@Porco Following certain people's logic, the game is great, because it sells well. Apparently, sales = quality
Call of duty is one of the most Casaul like games there is, the casual gamers will walk into a shop see it on the shelf and think "ooh a new call of duty?" and pick it up without knowing beforehand if it's rubbish or not. People buy it for the name alone, not the content.
Stupid people.
I could blame the developers, sure. But just like politics, we get who we vote for. With games, we have micro transactions and unfinished/broken games because we keep buying them.
We have to force change because publishers won’t when we just throw money at them.
@thefourfoldroot1 exactly! I see that when I visit my nephew and niece. They just passively watch Minecraft and they don't even seem to get excited. They do it because all their friends are doing the same and when they get together, they don't wanna feel left out.
@Kienda I couldn't agree more. When people stopped buying Assassin's Creed games, Ubisoft was forced to take a break and improve their games.
I'm enjoying it . Love the MP and while shipment 24/7 is life terminal 24/7 is close behind.
Really like the new zombies mode as well.
Not tried the SP yet. Shame it's not an expansion but 🤷 I enjoy it just as I enjoyed mw2
I'm not even surprised. I've long since given up caring about the well-being of the games industry. I just buy what I want to support and avoid what I consider scummy practices.
@Bez87 no i understood exactly what he was implying.
@nomither6 sorry i was in a rush and just replying to the main people i was conversing with..my bad bud 👍
@Fyz306903 not quite sure we are on the same wave length...
@naruball Has it sold well though? In CoD terms that is. Notice how they aren't going on about player numbers, it's hours per player. They're suspiciously quiet on actual player numbers.
I'm def getting it when it's like under 20 eur. The original mw2 is the one I put most time into and I know the maps off by heart. But ya paying full price for dlc is a real indictment of what certain game companies can get away with these days and it's only gonna get worse
The campaign was garbage but the multiplayer is fine, there’s nothing revolutionary or interesting about it, we’ve all seen it before but it’s nice to see the old maps remastered and for me personally it is very nostalgic
There are thing people just love to hate on and COD is one of those things
Lol same old news cycle happens every year. Headlines saying 'this is it! this is the death knell for CoD! The campaign sucks, etc'. The player base cares about the campaign as much as the playerbase for Madden, or FIFFA (or whatever its called now). Let's not acted surprised its selling like hotcakes regardless.
People buy CoD because it's CoD. I imagine most of us here probably bought those games back in the day, around 2008/2009 or earlier, just to play with friends. That's probably what's happening today. One kid gets it, then you multiply it by four, five, six, or more.
I'm not a fan. I haven't played CoD multi-player in years. But that's just the way it is. And refusing to buy CoD doesn't change anything substantial. You get a different CoD, or you get more aggressive MTX. It's like a drop in the ocean.
@Northern_munkey @Bez87 That’s exactly the point I was trying to make.
The people in the comment sections are a subset of a subset of gamers.
Most of the core fans of all consoles makes up about 20% - 30% of the gaming market. Of those, probably a small percentage actually engage with other gamers here (and other gaming websites).
The rest don’t read reviews, care about Metacritic, or even really give a crap about console wars. They are just gamers of habit and play the same 2 - 3 games per year.
I don't buy the game elbut every few years, but this is the first I've been excited about in a long time because I've wanted returns of MW2 maps. Maybe it is just DLC of MWII, but I never played it so that's not a deterrant. It's still a 5 year jump for me.
I'm having fun and game reviews can't tell me otherwise.
Activi$ion sits on a throne of lies
@Ennui The last one i bought was the 2019 reboot I really like the Farah Karim her story was fresh and new to play another view for once.
I would love to see other games arise with some more original settings. It sucks that games like Killzone try to copy the COD with gameplay and ruin their original feel.
Killzone 3 was really cool I loved Operations I would buy it in a heartbeat if they would re-release it.
Honestly it seems like, to me at least, a lot of the people doing so much complaining about this game haven't even played it. I bought the game and from what I've heard the campaign is bad. That's not what I'm buying Call of Duty for personally however. The multiplayer is what I buy it for and the movement and gunplay is bang on the money this year. Add to that the return of fan favourite maps from MW2 and I have a multiplayer shooter that I am guaranteed to spend hundreds of hours on with my mates. I see they have already announced more new maps arriving at the start of December too when the new season starts. Personally, so far it's got everything I want bar some nitpicky complaints.
@Ennui The last was terrible though no idea why they tossed out the identity of the Killzone franchise the heavy feel of the guns and went for a COD copy....
I just watched the COD campaign on YouTube yes this should have been a €30 release max there is no excuse with all the monetization in there.
I can see the fun in the game but I won't pay so much for such a mediocre looking game with way to much copy and paste I just can't reward something like this.
I rather pay €60 for a Killzone 3 🤣
"Engagement" is a nebulous metric used to spin results as positive. It's common use these days. It means nothing.
It's pretty simple : if you don't like the game - don't play it.
Yes the Campaign was trash, but multiplayer and zombies is fun. People are such babies when it comes to COD.
Soo many ppl so salty that MW3 has done well. Guess that's what happens when the main reason people buy COD has too much content. Gameplay wise it feels more like Cold War and is a lot more fun than MW2 was. With 4 years development next years Gulf War should be really good. 🤞
For so many people, gaming is CoD and FIFA (or FC as it is now). So their reference pool is going to be previous versions of those, and unless they were significantly bad or broken as compared to before, the ones who lap these games up aren't going to notice or care.
SP campaign was meh. Short and not telling a good story. MP is good, but the 10x worse SBMM than in MWII is killing the fun. And bigger TTK. It's still good, but I prefer MWII more. Gun play is still the best compared to any other shooter out now. Oh, and the Zombies is so great fun. Feels like evolution from Cold Wars Outbreak. I've been suprised how friendly & helpful the community is in it. I have had great fun & tips from randoms. Sure the game feels like 80$ DLC, but if you want full price "complete" zombie only game then maybe buy Redfall.
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