Activision’s Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 is off to a good start as far as generating buzz for their next shooter, but some analysts see the market for Call of Duty beginning to taper off. Â Black Ops 2 smashed sales records for the Call of Duty franchise, selling well at its launch, followed by year long strength month after month until the release of Modern Warfare 3. Â The Call of Duty franchise hit a record with over 25 million copies of Black Ops sold, and right now, Modern Warfare 3 sales projections put their latest title well under that.
Wedbush Securities’ Michael Pachter believes that it’s unrealistic to think Activision can continually grow the franchise with each yearly release. Â “I don’t think Modern Warfare 3 is going to sell more than the last Black Ops, so I doubt that this one will break a record. Â I think that Call of Duty is a phenomenon, selling way more than 20 million units annually, and it’s unrealistic to think that number can grow meaningfully with each annual release,” Pachter told Games Industry.
“Overall, I think games like Call of Duty need new console hardware – developers are working with 7-year-old technology in an environment when tablets and smart TVs will soon be just as powerful.”
Analysts don’t think the Call of Duty franchise is going anywhere anytime soon. Â But one analyst believes that the next major sales catalyst for the franchise will come when new gaming hardware is released. Â Colin Sebastian of RW Baird believes that at this point, AAA games are needing better hardware to really generate buzz. Â “Overall, I think games like Call of Duty need new console hardware – developers are working with 7-year-old technology in an environment when tablets and smart TVs will soon be just as powerful.”
Nintendo will lead off the next generation with its Wii U hardware in 2012, followed by rumored releases of the PlayStation 4 and Next Xbox at some point in ether late 2013 or 2014.
