Call of Duty Has Been the Best-Selling Game of Its Launch Month Every Year Since 2007
The Call of Duty series has shown no signs of slowing down, with annual releases coming for well over a decade now. With not a single year missed for a Call of Duty release, it is incredibly impressive that all of the games have dominated in their respective launch months since 2007.
Since the arrival of Call of Duty: World at War, CoD games have remained at the top of sales charts during their launch months. According to NPD Director Mat Piscatella, “the last time a Call of Duty game was not the best-selling game of its launch month” was 2007. That year, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare lost out on the top spot due to the release of Guitar Hero 3 (another Activision release). However, the original Modern Warfare game would put the series on the map, leading to an incredible streak that is still unbroken.
For over a decade, every Call of Duty released has been the best-selling game of its respective launch month. With even less popular Call of Duty titles performing incredibly well, this lengthy streak should make it clear why Activision has stuck to yearly game releases for the franchise. The consistent level of success enjoyed by those involved with the Call of Duty brand is unparalleled, and seeing this statistic makes it clear just how big the series is.
Piscatella’s detailing of this streak followed the announcement that the latest game in the series, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, has once again topped the charts of its release months. Beating out strong November competition like Assassin's Creed Valhalla, the latest CoD game has once again proven to be a major success. Ranking first on both PlayStation and Xbox platforms and becoming the “best-selling game of 2020” in only a month, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War has kept the streak alive.
Call of Duty’s incredible success seems unlikely to stop anytime soon, as there are few names that carry more weight in the video game industry. Despite consistent releases of other competing first-person shooters like Battlefield, the brand recognition of Call of Duty elevates it to the top of sales charts every year. With fans being guaranteed a certain level of quality from every CoD product and showing no sign of being burnt out, it was almost expected that the latest Black Ops game would lead to Call of Duty winning its launch month for “the 13th consecutive year.”
With Call of Duty’s success on mobile platforms being incredibly impressive as well, the franchise has lost no steam over the years. With Call of Duty: Warzone doing very well despite all its competition in the battle royale scene, releasing a game with the Call of Duty name seems to guarantee a mind-blowing number of sales.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
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