Call of Duty: Ghosts Sold Less Than Black Ops II at Launch, Activision Admits

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Lee Bradley

Despite trying to bamboozle us with unrepresentative stats, Call of Duty: Ghosts has sold less copies at launch than Black Ops II, Activision has said.

Speaking during an investors call last night, CFO Dennis Durkin said, “As we have said for more than a year now, console transition years are volatile and hard to predict, and this year is proving no different.”

“Today, we announced that we had shipped into retail more than $1bn of Call of Duty: Ghosts globally on day one based on an average wholesale price. As expected, due to the console transition and digital distribution, this number is down versus last year.

“This year, the sell-through curve will be different than in past years due to the multiple launches of new hardware later in the month and more days between our launch and the high-volume Black Friday at the end of the month. 

“That said, it's a very solid achievement and shows the tremendous confidence our retail partners have and the strength of the game and franchise heading into this holiday.”

Call of Duty: Ghosts’ problem is a common one. Both Battlefield 4 and Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag launch sales were down on the previous year also, with next-gen versions on the horizon. Expect all those games to get a significant bump once Xbox One and PS4 launches later in the month.

Comments
69
  • Have to blame something.
  • Again with the blaming.. It's because people are getting tired of the series and more and more people are checking reviews before buying these days, ghosts is the lowest scored in the series on metacritic and many other sites
  • Pride before the fall. Didnt we get some bullshit yesterday about how they had set the world on fire? Just piss off COD, you have outstayed your generic welcome for far too long.
  • The general public would still buy the Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC versions regardless of this "console transition" or whatever you want to call it. Face it, Activision, they're getting fed up of the same old stuff.
  • Beginning of the end? Is this the first time a new COD hasn't out sold the previous iteration? I'm sure next gen is probably having an impact. But I think people are also get pretty tired of the same games. I usually get COD, and so do 3 other of my closet friends, none of us have got it this year, and I get the impression there are quite a few people that feel like this.
  • gg activision. someone should just email activison and tell them enough with the excuses already.
  • I rarely comment on these things but, after trying to fool everyone into thinking they had set yet another record with first day sales, all I can say is ... ha ha!
  • Oh SHUT UP with your COD is same game blah blah, nobody cares, if you don't like it don't click into anything about it, nobody is making you or even asking you to play it.
  • They're trying to blame for selling a billion? A billion... that's a lot!
  • I admit that the next gen consoles did have a big affect on sales for those 3 in particular. But I also think people are just bored of the series now. Gone are the days of a good WW2 shooter. Oh how I miss them... @#9 That 1 billion covers all of the copies distributed to retailers. For all we know only half of that was sold so it isn't really a big deal.
  • @8 Oh SHUT UP with your "Oh SHUT UP with your COD is same game blah blah, nobody cares", if you don't like the comments then don't reply to anything about it, nobody is making you comment or even asking you to reply to it. ;)
  • The dairy farm is going dry. Here's a thought, how about, I don't know, a new app? Move on with the next generation, build something new and different. Call of Duty has more than seen it's light of day, bury it and create something else that will blow us away for the first couple releases and then bore us to death 5 games later when every ounce of playability is squeezed out of it. If Dexter taught us anything it's that too much of a good thing will eventually start to suck even if it was among the greatest forms of entertainment for its first couple of years.
  • Activision 0 Rockstar 1
  • This is the first CoD game that I didn't preorder and stand in line for at midnight since WaW. This may also be the first CoD I don't buy since CoD2. There is a chance I will rent it or somebody will get it for me as a gift though.
  • Of course. There are probably lots of people waiting for next gen versions. Plus, there are many other games coming out around the same time, which CoD is competing with this time around, as opposed to just another Halo or BF like the last two years.
  • Are they not taking pre-orders into account? It doesn't surprise me, like most of the comments on here the game hasn't changed that much over the years. Maybe they should hold off for a year or two before releasing the next game and maybe release large map packs in between
  • On that day, humanity remembered, there was still hope. GTA V released on 2 console's, ghost's has been released on 4 systems so far, pc, xbox 360, ps3, wii u. They have failed to live up to their last title, let alone take the record from GTA V, when next gen comes around, they will throw figure's out that are unfair to compare to GTA V. CoD has had it;s say, it's time to let the cow rest in piece, or at the very least, let infinity ward die off. The creative team who made it what it is, is gone, they're a shell that seem to do nothing but try to relive the glory days without actualy improving things, only making things worse. Ghost's will sell well on the next gen because it's a game every kid wants, and makes sense to get the next gen version, why you would spend the money? I don't know, because the leap will not be that much, based on what's been shown of the pc version. Activision have gotten too cocky, throwing around that 'they will happily take the record from rockstar at Ghost's launch'. We're here, they failed, and no person of logical thinking will see them as taking it if they surpass after the next gen version's launch. Having 3 times as many platforms isn't a fair comparison. :) At least we can see CoD starting it's nose dive.
  • They oughta just stop blaming other things except their shitty games, who wants to still be playing the same thing over and over?
  • I am not a COD hater, I wish them well. BUT REALLLYYYY I just wish they DO NOT BREAK GTA V RECORD. I want that record to be hold by a great game for this gen :)
  • I would agree with Activision if they did not just pull out some misleading statistics yesterday.
  • 12 players max will big their biggest problem. Gamers hate it when you subtract from a previous offering. Far Cry 3's MP was mostly people complaining about how they took the vehicles away. Going from 18 players or whatever to 'only' 12 is a big drop.
  • “Today, we announced that we had shipped into retail more than $1bn of Call of Duty: Ghosts globally on day one based on an average wholesale price. As expected, due to the console transition and digital distribution, this number is down versus last year". Yeah, because it couldn't possibly be because of CoD being an overmilked franchise that people are now starting to get bored of.
  • Because the first Black Ops was actually good...? (Multiplayer was good - Campaign was crap) Ghosts is just a remake of all other COD series.
  • It's Never going to not be like a cod is all shooters are very very similiar if they had called it ghost squad it would still get the same exact review but it wouldn't make any money as it doesnt have COD as its brand name Like the guys who make assasins creed said when people stop buying the games we will stop making them there is no real way to make a cod game different its come along way since cod4 but the general shooter storyline will always be the same a squad going through lots and lots of enemies to defeat a bad guy(s) ghosts is a very very good game you expect way to much of infinity ward
  • Compare any game to GTA V and it will look shit.
  • @1 that's what Liberal Democrats do,blame others for their failure! Ghosts look the same as 3
  • I didn't pick up Ghosts because of its most touted features that I saw everywhere. "Now you can play as a girl!". Big. Freakin'. Whoop. Is there a reason I should care about that? "There's a dog in this game!" So what? There were dogs in previous iterations of CoD. If CoD has taught me anything about dogs, it is to hate them without mercy and to wish death on anyone who gets them as a killstreak. Suddenly you want to turn a killstreak into my ally? I'm sorry, but that's hardly interesting, and doesn't sound like something innovative or fun. I didn't pick up Ghosts because it sounded boring and quite like stupidity personified to me. I liked Black Ops 1 and Black Ops 2. I liked the multiplayer of some of the other games as well (though I arrived to the party late on most of them, and the servers are overrun with cheaters). But, honestly, after getting "Modern Warfare 3", I have no desire to see such super tiny maps again that allow for frequent enemy spawns behind me. I'm going to stick with Battlefield 4 for now. Bought it on Xbox 360 and when my Xbox One shows up, I'll buy it on that console as well. Probably even pay for Premium on both consoles. As for Ghosts... Well, I'll pass on this title and see what they come up with next year.
  • I actually agree with activison GTA was real eased long enough ago that new console releases won't have much effect. Where as it's onl a couple of weeks till new consoles here people who are planning in getting them which will be in the millions. Will be waiting for that's version. I know I wouldn't get the 360 one if I was gettin a ONE soon. (I won't get it reagardless, I only ever get cod for zombies)
  • @23 cod has been a milked franchise for years now and it still sells more year, if you don't believe that releasing the game 2 weeks later on the brand new xbox woun't affect sales then you're an idiot. I agree with most though, It would be criminal if they did eventually sell more ghosts than gtav (which they will)
  • Activison: "COD Ghosts has sold more than $1 billion worth of product on launch day! Take that GTA!......*whisper* by the way, it ACTUALLY sold less than our last cookie cutter game, but $1 billion worth of plastic is totally out there."
  • Why are people still bitching about it being the same thing year in year out? I still enjoy CoD, heck, I'm sure EVERYONE commenting here will get this game at one point or another, I myself don't have it yet, but I intend to buy it in time - because it's a good game to sit back and play with friends, and thats what gaming is about. They also explained why they haven't changed the basic fundamentals of CoD multiplayer - due to it's increasing popularity as an eSport - to which I understand their reasons and think, sure, that's fine. (look it up yourselves, it's all on the interwebz). At least by sticking to its guns they won't cock up their online side as much as R* did...I hope it outsells GTA, I like seeing cool records being broken. :)
  • @33 because it's pretty much the same year in and out and with the Copy/Paste scene from MW2 into ghosts, they might as well come out and blatantly say they don't care about innovating their game to be better and they like making us pay $60 every year for the same game. That eSports BS is a load of crap anyways. If your "Sportsmen" can't adapt to and overcome change, then they just outright suck. I will admit however, that the online, from what I've seen, is still quite similar to BO2 and MW3, but it IS different. there seems to be a different feel to it just by watching it. Am I going to buy it? no. I'm not wasting $60 on this game. No point for me to really. I'll just redbox it on my day off. My friend finished up the campaign in 4 1/2 hours on Veteran, and if I'm buying a game for Multiplayer, I already have 2, soon 3, to do that for me. Also, go on youtube. Couple of my friends told me you can already find hacks for multiplayer. One sent me a link, but it was just a guy being severely butthurt for getting shot through a wall after the enemy watched him kill his buddy. Sorry long post is long,
  • @2 I would like to agree with you I really would, it would be great if it were true, but fact is alot of people are waiting for the next gen version instead. @13 How??? GTA5 took 3 days to make a billion, Ghosts just did it in a day. Not that it's a better game, I LOVE GTA5!!!.
  • @2 COD is one of those games that is review proof. The kids who buy them don't read reviews. They just see a new COD and buy it immediately. As far as sales go i'm not surprised. Even majority of the COD youtubers are saying this game is bad so thats saying something
  • *waits for ton of idiots who will no doubt boast that GTA V best it*
  • Bad musician always blames his instrument.
  • weren't they the ones telling GTA to enjoy the title till ghost comes out?
  • I agree with the fact next gen is round the corner that's why sales have declined as well as all games this year except gta but mainly becuz it's exclusive to current.
  • @34. er, because GTAV made 1 billion in CUSTOMER sales and COD only made 1 billion in WHOLESALE sales (bought by retailers). therefore; Rockstar 1 Infinity Ward 0
  • This is Tony Hawk all over again...
  • @2 You know what, people are tired of reading posts from idiots like you saying the same thing over and over. We get it, you don't like it. Stop being the very thing you keep bashing, hypocrite.
  • First you take normal release date Then new gen date Add em together and check the sales yo, kinda fucking stupid to do it now when it isnt even on all 5 systems
  • No no no no no, don't blame that. 'GTA V' shattered records with console transitions coming up soon. Just realize that your products are the same shit year after year and you can't keep dishing the trash out, because people start to realize they're being scammed. Finally, the year has come that CoD hasn't made more than its predecessor.
  • I think some people are forgetting that GTA V Hasn't launched on PC or next gen for that matter, yet Ghosts did/is. and GTA outsold CoD While already at a handicap (2 platforms v 3 platforms) Also, you need to factor in how many people bought the game and are getting a next gen console on the respective launch? PS4 will require people to keep their PS3 copy to get the digital version of Ghosts on PS4but for physical copies are concerned you pay $10 for the next gen version or you get a free upgrade if you own the season pass. And right there is when shit hits the fan. Ghost's will be really cheap on current gen from a lot of people trading it in to get the next gen version.
  • It's got nothing to do with the nex-gen BS. The series sucks and is losing followers...period.
  • Delusional internet bandwagoners think Ghost's sale aren't going to sky rocket in a few weeks.
  • this has nothing to do with next gen consoles. its an excuse that they are not ready to face about their product. i believe ghosts is a garbage game. half my friends that play cod have not bought it and its primaroly due to gta v and the continous same pos product every year. i am happy without any more cods. the community ruins the game and by watching elpresador and legntdofthunder vids you can see why it sucks
  • CoD4>Black Ops II>Black Ops>WaW>MW2>MW3>Ghosts
  • cod (infinity wards) > cod (treyarch) cod1,2,MW,MW2,MW3 > cod3, WaW, BO, BO II
  • Typical Activision. Always have to blame it on " oh new consoles are coming out, must be that". Shows them!
  • @32 speak for yourself, I'm commenting and I have no intention of buying Ghosts. I'm bored with the franchise now. COD will always sell, much like sports games, until the Dev's seriously mess something up or another franchise does something truely innovative in the FPS MP genre. No doubt it will sell a huge amount on next Gen (launch title helps too) doesn't mean it's a great game though.
  • Here's how you innovate CoD: 1. Give us a great reason to prestige. Like... You get an extra POINT to spend on your loadouts. This would give people with higher prestige a nice advantage while also promoting prestige in general so you don't run into jerks who never prestige 'cause they want to keep all their OP max level junk. 2. Interactive maps. Throw some switches into the levels and make some points innately desirable. 3. Make maps large enough with equal bits of close quarters and open space areas in order to promote snipers actually sniping and shotgunners actually shotgunning. 4. Complete removal of "quick scoping", also known as "exploiting a glitch to get insta-kill headshots with a sniper rifle". 5. 3 Second respawn protection would be nice, especially since you APPEAR ON THE MAP long before your screen ever gets off of "black screen". You could turn this protection off if the player is using a respawn beacon. 6. Weapon balance would be nice. It's rather disconcerting that 2 hit weapons exist in the game, so that the game boils down to "who sees who first" instead of "who has more skill with maneuvering and aim". 7. I'd like to see a return to the "parkour" style the original Black Ops had. It made map use fun and clever players used it well. 8. Removal of the "lag fairness" crap that exists, which basically gives a disadvantage to people with good to great connections while favoring those with truly terrible connections. Ever empty half a clip into someone, then they turn around and shoot you four or five times with a poor to mediocre weapon and walk away without being hit? Yeah, that's the lag fairness crap they programmed into their servers. It needs to be removed. In its entirety. 9. Killstreak reduction or at least specialization. Currently, we're sitting on like 30 options to choose for killstreaks. There are too many of these freakin' things. I support a reduction in these things and the complete obliteration of "overlapping" killstreak types. We don't need both Dogs and a Swarm. We also don't need choppers as well as escort choppers. Etcetera. We need to tweak things like the Death Machine as well so that if you die with it, it's gone. Or, maybe, you only get two or three lives while you have it. Holding it until it runs out of ammo is somewhat overpowered. It's even worse with the Grenade Launcher thing that works the same way.
  • For sure that's the reason. I would have bought it for the 360 day one. But, I'm holding off until Xbox One.
  • That's why you dont go all out saying your the shit, going after rockstars records. They didn't call out they hoped and they succeeded. That's what GREED & COCKYNESS got to you... your not the shit anymore. Improve your COD franchise, thats why I got tired after B.O.'s 1. same shit diff. year...
  • CoD is dying and the new boy on the block is Titanfall.
  • 4 dleifelttab
  • Maybe the 2.3 million people who saw this video decided not the buy the game? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5E82ZkHTiVU
  • It's fun, it's the only game I get to play with my brother and friends online (they're out of town) so I'll keep having a good time. But really speak with your money and shut the hell up about your hate for COD.
  • How many people are waiting for next gen versions instead? I'm not getting CoD at all, but I had no intention on buying BF4 on this gen just to buy it again when the One is released. I expect a lot of people will be doing the game thing.
  • I've bought every previous CoD, I'm really not fussed about this one for the main reasons everyone has already said. Am I the only one so bored with the "modern warfare" futuristic crap that I'm almost pining for a decent WW2 shooter?
  • I can honestly say that I was so looking forward to playing Call Of Duty: Ghosts but after 4 hours of multiplayer I am glad i did not trade in Call Of Duty: Black Ops II.
  • A few things... Then maybe they should have waited to release the game on next gen to begin with would be the most obvious answer... Another thing.. GTA5 should have suffered the same outcome also am i not correct? That's the perfect example of a title that would sell regardless of next gen consoles on the horizon. Just man the fuck up and say it, it's over! You had fun while it lasted...
  • My Uncle Carson just got an almost new silver Chevrolet Express Van blog link http://www.jobs64.com
  • I played this at my bros place and it really is just same shit and the story sucks it's no fun but hey if your a diehard COD fan than you'll love it,as for me the Blacks ops were fun but this?...wtf is this?
  • i didnt like CoD ghost
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