More than 60 million players have parachuted into Call of Duty: Warzone in the past 52 days since its launch, according to Activision Blizzard.
When Warzone launched on March 11, the U.S. was just going into a pandemic lockdown. Video game players needed something to do, and in its first month, the free-to-play game got more than 50 million downloads, or the same number that Electronic Arts and Respawn saw with the debut of Apex Legends last year.
In this case, social distancing and self-isolation contributed to Warzone’s success, and now the number of downloads has grown even further.
I had my first victory in Warzone on Saturday, and that’s no small feat, as you have to be the only squad to survive in a battle with 150 players. In my opinion, Warzone is a lot more engaging than Call of Duty: Blackout, which debuted with Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII. That battle royale mode came out last year, and I didn’t think that game was as engaging.
In its first-quarter earnings report today, Activision Blizzard said it saw strong demand for Call of Duty games and World of Warcraft. In the first quarter, Activision had 102 million monthly active users.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare has sold through more copies and has more players than any prior Call of Duty title at this point after its release. Sell-through (sales of the game to consumers, as opposed to retailers) for Modern Warfare in Q1 was the highest for the franchise outside of a launch quarter, driven by rising demand amid shelter-at-home conditions, the company said.
And Modern Warfare in-game net bookings more than doubled year-over-year versus Call of Duty: Blacks Ops IIII from last year.
Call of Duty: Mobile continued to build on last October’s launch with new content, features, and events aimed at player engagement and retention. The game saw increased reach and engagement in March. And the Call of Duty League pivoted to all-digital matches. That game has topped 170 million downloads, per estimates from Sensor Tower back in December.
In a call, Activision Blizzard said that the next “premium Call of Duty” title remains on track for launch later this year.
Author: Dean Takahashi.
Source: Venturebeat
