Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 has made over $500 million in its first 3 days, players up YoY, more

Nirolak · Oct 18, 2018

SANTA MONICA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 18, 2018-- Activision's Call of Duty®: Black Ops 4 has sold more than $500 million in sell-through (Note: this is sold, not shipped) worldwide in its first three days of release as the total number of players climbed from last year. Through its first three days of release, Black Ops 4 set a new Call of Duty® franchise record for most combined players, average hours per player and total number of hours played, on current generation consoles. The combined number of Black Ops 4 players across its three modes of play during those first three days tops both last year's Call of Duty: WWII, as well as Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 (single player, multiplayer and zombies), respectively, for the same period of time.

The first Call of Duty release on Blizzard Battle.net®, Black Ops 4 on PC continues to be significantly above last year, as the number of players is more than double year over year through its first three days.

Additionally, based on minutes watched, the title delivered the highest level of viewership through launch weekend on Twitch in franchise history.

"Black Ops 4 is off to a blockbuster start. Our player counts and hours played are up year over year, our viewership on Twitch has set new standards and is showing just how fun Blackout is to play and to watch, and the weekend results yet again put Call of Duty at that highest tier of entertainment," said Rob Kostich, EVP and GM, Call of Duty. "Our digital sales results have been record-breaking across all platforms, and the overall performance strong. We're really excited about Black Ops 4's momentum. There's much more to come, we're just getting started."

Following its launch last Friday, Black Ops 4 already established a new day one record on PlayStation for digital full game sales on PlayStation Store, globally*; and also became the best-selling Activision Xbox One digital game on day one, globally**. Through its first three days, PC digital sales and active players are up significantly from last year.

Sell-through sales figures include Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 retail and digital unit sales, including Black Ops 4 season pass sales, for the opening three-days following initial launch. Sales figures based on retail customer sell-through information, Gfk Chart-Track data, and internal Activision estimates. Total players, hours per player, total hours played, and Twitch viewership based on Activision data.

Source: https://investor.activision.com/new...s-4-delivers-over-half-billion-dollar-opening

Deleted member 42 · Oct 18, 2018

oh god, that campaign is freaking toast isn't it

Dark Cloud · Oct 18, 2018

How do I hold all this money?

Powerofthecloud · Oct 18, 2018

Yeah. It is not going anywhere. BR mode will keep it for a long time.

jacks81x · Oct 18, 2018

I guess we can say goodbye forever to COD campaigns.

Powerofthecloud · Oct 18, 2018

BronsonLee said:
oh god, that campaign is freaking toast isn't it

Is that a bad thing? I am sure that some people will miss the campaign. But think about diverting the resources toward multiplayer only from now on. Isnt that a better senario. I mean how many times can you save the world a hundred years from now/or in the past with the same story each time?

ianpm31 · Oct 18, 2018

Remember UK physical sales being down yoy? Digital is increasing

Persagen · Oct 18, 2018

BronsonLee said:
oh god, that campaign is freaking toast isn't it

I'd imagine that the campaign for next year is far enough along that they'll see it through (assuming it isn't facing the same development woes as BO4's campaign supposedly did). After that, I'd be surprised if they didn't axe it permanently.

SaN1ty24 · Oct 18, 2018

:/ no more campaign then.

Benji · Oct 18, 2018

Very likely this game is actually down YoY in its opening month from WW2

I had hoped for a stronger launch for it

Woetyler · Oct 18, 2018

Really good game, okay with the removal of campaign, I don't get CoD for campaign lol.

Sedated · Oct 18, 2018

Wow... Also I'm sure these results will affect how ea and dice go about their own br mode. Theirs is supposed to be 64 players per round 4 man squads only and I don't think this'll be the final output anymore.

henhowc · Oct 18, 2018

Press x to pay respects to campaign

KiLAM · Oct 18, 2018

Made less than BO3 then
https://gamerant.com/call-of-duty-black-ops-3-550-million-sales/

Almost same as WW2
https://venturebeat.com/2017/11/08/...ngs-in-500-million-doubling-infinite-warfare/

FluxWaveZ · Oct 18, 2018

Powerofthecloud said:
Is that a bad thing? I am sure that some people will miss the campaign. But think about diverting the resources toward multiplayer only from now on. Isnt that a better senario. I mean how many times can you save the world a hundred years from now/or in the past with the same story each time?

I enjoyed Call of Duty campaigns, and I only played the games for the single player after MW3. So, for me and the minority who were like me, it's a bad thing.

Effect · Oct 18, 2018

Battlefield being delayed certainly had to have helped. If that released as planned I have to believe the numbers would not be as high.

Sadly this does likely mean the end of the campaign. They could still do one if they want but it looks like they don't need it unless sales really drop off. Actual sales numbers would be interesting to see though to see if there is a drop and if they just made up the money else where.

Megatron · Oct 18, 2018

Nirolak said:
Through its first three days of release, Black Ops 4 set a new Call of Duty® franchise record for most combined players, average hours per player and total number of hours played, on current generation consoles.

We don't really have any context for how well those sales compare to other CoD games, but when they are specifically highlighting this stuff, it seems like sales weren't as strong as in previous games?

Derrick01 · Oct 18, 2018

Powerofthecloud said:
Is that a bad thing? I am sure that some people will miss the campaign. But think about diverting the resources toward multiplayer only from now on. Isnt that a better senario. I mean how many times can you save the world a hundred years from now/or in the past with the same story each time?

What you call diverting resources I call Activision seeing extra $ signs from not having to spend however many tens of millions it cost to make a campaign in the past.

Dark Ninja · Oct 18, 2018

The game is really great Ive been having so much fun with it. Is this a good number for COD though?

Receiving pretty much 100% of BattleNet sales must be really good for the company.

Hamster Plugin · Oct 18, 2018

I also fear that the regular multiplayer may be going away. All the press about this game is Blackout and more Blackout. I still love the traditional Call of Duty MP and I actually play it more than Blackout.

pixelpatron · Oct 18, 2018

Nirolak · Oct 18, 2018

Megatron said:
We don't really have any context for how well those sales compare to other CoD games, but when they are specifically highlighting this stuff, it seems like sales weren't as strong as in previous games?

So, BLOPS3 was $550 million in 3 days, and WW2 was $500 million in 3 days, but the wrench in the picture is the super special editions that cost a lot of money. They might have sold less of those here, but still landed with more players overall.

Mind, it is an October release instead of a November one, so we'll have to see how it shakes out as the season progresses.

Golding · Oct 18, 2018

smh crazy.

Alex840 · Oct 18, 2018

jacks81x said:
I guess we can say goodbye forever to COD campaigns.

Infinity Ward's campaign is presumably already well into production though, they don't start making the game a year out.

Nirolak · Oct 18, 2018

Alex840 said:
Infinity Ward's campaign is presumably already well into production though, they don't start making the game a year out.

Infinity Ward had long been hiring for a campaign, so unless it got canned, I'd expect the game to ship with one.

fiendcode · Oct 18, 2018

ianpm31 said:
Remember UK physical sales being down yoy? Digital is increasing

Physical is growing too, just not in the UK. BLOPS4 actually sold more packaged copies in Japan than the UK.

Sedated · Oct 18, 2018

I think this game didnt cost them as much as previous entries too. No campaign this time which are expensive to make and the blackout map uses assets from past games too. So profitability should be higher for them.

Dark Ninja · Oct 18, 2018

fiendcode said:
Physical is growing too, just not in the UK. BLOPS4 actually sold more packaged copies in Japan than the UK.

Japan plays COD? That sounds fascinating to me.

Deleted member 34239 · Oct 18, 2018

Modern Warfare 2 made $550 million in 5 days in an era where digital distribution wasn't as prolific. Modern Warfare 4 next year is going to easily surpass this figure.

carlosrox · Oct 18, 2018

Carefully crafted patting on the back dealing with very specific timeframes.

NHale · Oct 18, 2018

Hamster Plugin said:
I also fear that the regular multiplayer may be going away. All the press about this game is Blackout and more Blackout. I still love the traditional Call of Duty MP and I actually play it more than Blackout.

That will never happen. If the press and streamers were the true barometer of the COD audience, then the previous games would have sold 1M copies at best considering the game barely had any press coverage besides reviews and the only streamers with a decent viewership (2k-5k viewers) were COD players and they always stop streaming as soon as the CWL League starts.

Nirolak · Oct 18, 2018

carlosrox said:
Carefully crafted patting on the back dealing with very specific timeframes.

They usually report first three days, at least with the last few games.

That said, we'll get the longer picture with each of their fiscal calls.

Maneil99 · Oct 18, 2018

On par with BO3 and WW2 but a month earlier. Will be interesting moving forward

Benji · Oct 18, 2018

So a few things

- with this launch being under COD WW2 opening month is almost assured. WW2 had Black Friday its first month and nothing near the size of RDR2 hitting 1 week later

- Physical is absolutely down YoY. They had record digital as well as double last year sales on PC. Physical units must have taken a big hit

- This is still a very strong performance. That said I'm not sure this is breaking out as well as Activision had hoped

chobel · Oct 18, 2018

Black Ops 4 already established a new day one record on PlayStation for digital full game sales on PlayStation Store, globally*; and also became the best-selling Activision Xbox One digital game on day one, globally**

Hmmm, so there is game which had more digital copies day one on Xbox than BO4?

Renna Hazel · Oct 18, 2018

Benji said:
Very likely this game is actually down YoY in its opening month from WW2

I had hoped for a stronger launch for it

Would an Oct launch vs Nov launch explain that difference since November is considered a holiday month?

SliceSabre · Oct 18, 2018

Funny how people were doomsaying them when they announced the campaign was gone.

fiendcode · Oct 18, 2018

Dark Ninja said:
Japan plays COD? That sounds fascinating to me.

Sony publishes it there, just like Crash and Destiny. BLOPS4 is their biggest selling Japanese debut since GT5 actually. It sold more copies 1st week than GT Sport, Bloodborne, Spider-Man or any other Sony published PS4 game.

Khrol · Oct 18, 2018

fiendcode said:
Sony publishes it there, just like Crash and Destiny. BLOPS4 is their biggest selling Japanese debut since GT5 actually. It sold more copies 1st week than GT Sport, Bloodborne, Spider-Man or any other Sony published PS4 game.

Damn that's wild lol

Parenegade · Oct 18, 2018

Megatron said:
We don't really have any context for how well those sales compare to other CoD games, but when they are specifically highlighting this stuff, it seems like sales weren't as strong as in previous games?

Guys it's 2018.

You have to let go of the sales thing. Publishers aren't just looking at sales for games like these. DAU and the money they spend is way more important.

ghostcrew · Oct 18, 2018

My favourite COD in years. Totally fine saying bye bye to the campaigns.

Benji · Oct 18, 2018

Renna Hazel said:
Would an Oct launch vs Nov launch explain that difference since November is considered a holiday month?

Pretty much yes. BO4 will have less days tracked for its opening NPD as well as no BF. Also PC sales wont be tracked.

There is basically no world where the game isnt down YoY in its opening month at least in regards to NPD. It will have to make that gap up over the coming months

kiguel182 · Oct 18, 2018

Hamster Plugin said:
I also fear that the regular multiplayer may be going away. All the press about this game is Blackout and more Blackout. I still love the traditional Call of Duty MP and I actually play it more than Blackout.

I'm more worried about this than the lack of campaign. I like Black Ops traditional multiplayer and would hate to see it go away. Even if Blackout is fun they both complement each other really well.

P A Z · Oct 18, 2018

And that's not including revenue from mtx which aren't available to buy yet (judging by the PSN store)

Oddhouse · Oct 18, 2018

Does it say how many units this translates to ? I guess the margin is higher on digital and so they can sell less units for more $$$.

I also wonder if they include MTX sold over those three days.

kaftan · Oct 18, 2018

People say that campaigns are dead, but I bet you that lack of it turned off a major portion of potential customers. Me and almost all my friends bought Call of Dutys exclusively for single player. Had there been one with addition to Blackout, I'm sure they'd have a winner right there. Lack of SP is on production mismanagement and it will be back next year, and next one and...

Dark Ninja · Oct 18, 2018

Oddhouse said:
Does it say how many units this translates to ? I guess the margin is higher on digital and so they can sell less units for more $$$.

I also wonder if they include MTX sold over those three days.

The game has no MTX in it yet. There is no store yet.

fiendcode said:
Sony publishes it there, just like Crash and Destiny. BLOPS4 is their biggest selling Japanese debut since GT5 actually. It sold more copies 1st week than GT Sport, Bloodborne, Spider-Man or any other Sony published PS4 game.

Thats crazy

Yautja_Warrior · Oct 18, 2018

jacks81x said:
I guess we can say goodbye forever to COD campaigns.

Campaign was scrapped because of the massive success of PUBG / Battle Royale earlier this year and the CoD developers didn't have time to make both, so they had to pick one and went with BR Mode, as that would make more money than a Campaign.

Campaign will likely be back in future games, as developers will have more time. Hopefully anyway.

Dokkaebi G0SU · Oct 18, 2018

Going to be a hard follow for Infinity Ward and Sledgehammer - do they include single player now or juice it up with their version of BR? or is this BR the version until they release bo5? thinking, thinking

TheMrPliskin · Oct 18, 2018

Hamster Plugin said:
I also fear that the regular multiplayer may be going away. All the press about this game is Blackout and more Blackout. I still love the traditional Call of Duty MP and I actually play it more than Blackout.

0% chance of that happening given how huge that audience is. Also it's not like there's generally a lot of chatter about COD MP anyway as it's a known quantity whereas Blackout is a first for the series and the first example of an extremely popular and long running series adding a battle royale mode so it's obviously getting a lot of attention.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 has made over $500 million in its first 3 days, players up YoY, more

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