The remarkable growth that Call of Duty enjoyed following the launch of 2019’s Modern Warfare has quickly eroded away over the last year. 2021’s Call of Duty: Vanguard was met with lukewarm reception from players and critics, which was reflected in disappointing sales for the game. As you may have expected, that has had quite a significant impact on the consistent engagement the series sees from its player base.
In its latest quarterly financial report, Activision Blizzard reported a steep drop-off in its monthly active users count, especially where the Activision side of things is concerned. Standing at 150 million as of March 31, 2021, a year later, as of March 31 of this year, that number stands at 100 million- which is still quite a high figure, but represents the decline that Call of Duty has been on of late.
Activision attributes this to a couple of factors, namely, “lower engagement” in Call of Duty: Warzone and “lower premium sales” for Call of Duty: Vanguard, which has also resulted in a year-on-year decline in Q1 of 2022 for Call of Duty’s net bookings on PC and consoles. Call of Duty Mobile, on the other hand, hasn’t seen much change to its numbers.
Activision will be hoping that upcoming Call of Duty releases will reverse the series’ fortunes once again. Call of Duty: Warzone’s sequel is set to be revealed in the coming months, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019)’s follow-up is being hyped up and teased ahead of its official announcement as well. Meanwhile, Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile is also in development, though it’s been reported that there will be no new premium Call of Duty release in 2023.
