Analysts predicted Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare will sell less copies than Ghosts based on early pre-order figures. Activision doesn’t believe this and feel its newest games will still be very successful.
A report from last month had analysts predicting that the Call of Duty series had “peaked”. They felt Ghosts’ sales showed gamers became fatigued of the series and will likely not care to buy Advanced Warfare too. However, Activision still feels there is still a lot of demand for their newest game.
Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg talked with GamesIndustry claiming Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare will still be a big success. He said: “We see purchase intent well above last year and we see engagement with the brand in social media channels all being markedly up, so I’m still optimistic“.
He also doesn’t think pre-order sales figures are an entirely accurate representation of how successful a game will sell. He feels they don’t “they reflect the overall demand for the product“. He says there are other ways people buy games and also digital sales are up. Pre-order figures from retailers don’t give you the full picture in his mind.
The Call of Duty series usually breaks records each year for the biggest launch for a video game. They lost that crown in 2013 thanks to Grand Theft Auto V. It’s possible Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare could do well in 2014 though. It will be interesting if Activision beats itself as Destiny is currently the biggest game launch in 2014.
Published: Nov 4, 2014 05:00 am