Activision’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 launched worldwide before the weekend amid the backlash against the campaign. As for whether that impacted its sales performance, its physical launch sales in the UK are 25 percent lower than Modern Warfare 2 (2022), as per Gfk.
Games Industry’s Christopher Dring noted that 72 percent of sales were on PS5, while 20 percent were on Xbox and eight percent on PS4. With digital sales increasing throughout the region over the years, they can likely compensate for the drop in physical sales. Nevertheless, such a drop is still noteworthy, especially considering how well the previous two Modern Warfare titles have performed in the UK.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is available on Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS4, PS5 and PC. It was reportedly developed in about 16 months, with Sledgehammer Games working on an expansion spin-off to Modern Warfare 2 before Activision rebooted it. The developer has denied these reports, stating, “We have worked hard to deliver on this vision, which has been years in the making. Anything said to the contrary is simply not true – this is our game, and we cannot wait to play it online with all of you.”
UK Physical data (GfK) has Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3’s launch sales as 25% lower than last year’s Modern Warfare 2. 72% of sales on PS5, 20% on Xbox and 8% on PS4. Obviously, digital data will change all this.
— Christopher Dring (@Chris_Dring) November 12, 2023
