As of October 2024, first-person shooter series Call of Duty generated approximately 500 million lifetime unit sales. These unit sales only include the premium main series releases and exclude the recent F2P title Call of Duty Warzone and mobile title Call of Duty: Mobile. The series was originally launched in 2003 and is one of the top-grossing and best-selling gaming franchises of all time.
On the top of the charts
While publisher Activision Blizzard has not released concrete sales figures for the most recent Call of Duty titles, it is safe to say that the games have been selling well, considering they usually top the annual charts.
This also brings in the big bucks – as of the last reported period, lifetime gross of the Call of Duty series amounted to 30 billion U.S. dollars. In the last decade, there were only two instances where Call of Duty was not the top-selling game of the year in the United States based on dollar sales. One was in 2018 when Red Dead Redemption 2 claimed the top spot ahead of Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, and the second time was in 2023, when smash hit Hogwarts Legacy pushed ahead of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III (2023) to secure the crown.
Never change a running system
While Call of Duty has its formula down perfectly, the brand still must innovate with gameplay and features to keep users engaged. However, Activision’s new owner Microsoft might have a word or two to say about that. In November 2024, it was reported that Microsoft had created a committee within its Activision division to oversee key decisions regarding the Call of Duty brand. While Call of Duty developers Treyarch and Infinity Ward can give input about the games they have been developing for the past two decades, it has been suggested that this committee will ultimately determine the features and systems for future games. Developers might be discouraged from innovating in certain gameplay features while focusing on others.
This news has drawn considerable attention in the gaming community, and developers and gamers alike are watching how the new owners of Call of Duty intend to maximize the series' earning potential.