After the increasingly indifferent reception that the last few Call of Duty titles garnered, it seemed as though the once ubiquitous franchise was running out of steam. From cyborgs to space combat, nothing really appeared to resonate with the intended audience anymore, or at least that's what the more vocal critics claimed. With Call of Duty: WWII, fans of the franchise are seemingly rushing back to get their classic Call of Duty fix, this time without any of those futuristic advancements like wall running and jetpacks.
Within three days of its November 3 release date, Call of Duty: WWII allegedly sold over $500 million worth of games to people all around the world. According to Eric Hirshberg, CEO of Activision, “Call of Duty: WWII returns the franchise to its roots and the results are incredible, selling twice as many units in its opening weekend as last year, and setting the day one record for full-game downloads on PlayStation 4." Mr. Hirshberg also claimed, "Our $500 million opening weekend was not only bigger than Thor: Ragnarok's, it was bigger than the opening weekends of both Thor and Wonder Woman combined. And we're committed to supporting the community with continuous improvements and new content.”
The half a billion dollar figure allegedly includes both physical and digital sales figures, as well as "internal Activision estimates." It would also be rather remiss to not point out that movie tickets tend to be far cheaper than games, and movie theaters usually don't offer multiple premium or deluxe versions of said tickets.
Quick Take
Given that Call of Duty: WWII features microtransactions, the amount of money that Call of Duty: WWII is raking in is likely going to be far larger than what is being reported for initial sales numbers. In addition, it should be noted that the game features a $50 season pass (and thus, DLC), so anyone hoping that the game will go easy on the wallet should look elsewhere for their holiday shooter fix.Want more Call of Duty: WWII? Check out our Quick Thoughts on the Multiplayer Beta or our First Impressions of the game's take on Zombies.