Sledgehammer Games may have a ton of positive press for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, which significantly updates the game’s visuals and gameplay, but according to Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia, the game is still likely to sell 15 percent less copies by Q4 2014 than its predecessor, Call of Duty: Ghosts.
That roughly equates to 17 million copies sold versus 20 million copies. It’s worth noting that even Ghosts experienced decreased sales despite selling through $1 billion. For now, Bhatia believes that there may be less enthusiasm from fans unless “word-of-mouth or reviews are strong”. It’s expected that the lack of competition from the delayed Battlefield: Hardline could help Advanced Warfare in sales though.
Bhatia also predicts that the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare could see decreased sales of 50 percent and 46 percent respectively due to the prevalence of next gen consoles. We’ll find out just how the game performs when it releases on November 4th.