As the difficulties with Vanguard and Warzone begin to bite, there are currently one-third lesser individuals playing Call Of Duty than there were in 2021.
Nothing lasts a lifetime. Call Of Duty has been the West’s favorite video game for more than a decade. But last year’s Vanguard was the turning point. Although it is only now that we get a clear picture of how poorly it did.
Vanguard had already been the lowest-selling entry since Call Of Duty 4 in 2007. But Activision Blizzard’s latest financial results show that the company had 150 million monthly active users in the first three months of 2021. But that number has dropped to 100 million in the first three months of 2022.
This is for Activision as a whole, not just Blizzard. While they don’t produce anything other than Call Of Duty games with monthly active users, the stats can only be credited to paid-for entries like Vanguard, the free-to-play Warzone, and Call Of Duty: Mobile.
Call of Duty subscribers’ decline is unhealthy
To be sure, 100 million is still a massive number. It is far above virtually any other brand despite its flaws, Vanguard remained the best-selling game in the US in 2021. But a decline of a third in just a year is certainly unhealthy.
The pandemic can be attributed to some of the losses. However, Activision concedes that Vanguard underperformed, Call Of Duty: Mobile performance was ‘flat,’ and Warzone has ‘lower engagement.’
The troubles with Warzone are due to the game’s transition to a Second World War setting to match Vanguard. Also, there are continuous issues with cheats and bugs.
Warzone 2 is already in development and has plans to be out this year, alongside Modern Warfare 2. It is more anticipated than Vanguard.
The scenario for Activision Blizzard as a whole isn’t much better. The monthly active users are falling from 435 million to 372 million across all games.
This is due in part to the lack of lockdown. It’s also owing to waning interest in older games like World of Warcraft and Overwatch. The continuing debate about employment discrimination and harmful working conditions hasn’t helped matters.
Overwatch 2 is presently in beta. Blizzard recently revealed a new World of Warcraft expansion and a release date for Diablo Immortal, a mobile and PC game.
Activision Blizzard sinks to its lowest since the Microsoft deal
The only portion of the corporation that witnessed revenue gain this year was Candy Crush Saga publisher King. It saw revenues rise by 8% over the previous year.
Of course, the reality that Microsoft is attempting to buy Activision Blizzard for a record-breaking £50 billion is lurking over all of this. Rather than deterring Microsoft, these findings are the reason they were able to purchase the company so ‘cheaply.’
Because of the troubles with Call of Duty and the workplace controversies, Activision Blizzard’s stock value plummeted. Thereby, allowing Microsoft to buy the firm for a fraction of its regular value.
That reality hasn’t gone unnoticed by investors. They claim the purchase undervalues Activision Blizzard and have moved to prevent the merger on that basis.