Could Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 become the highest-selling in the franchise?
The prequel to 2022's upcoming Call of Duty game was the highest selling in the franchise to date but how will the sequel fair?
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You can now pre order Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2
Call of Duty 2022 was recently unveiled as Modern Warfare 2. The latest edition to the franchise isn’t a remaster though, instead, a sequel to Modern Warfare (2019). The Modern Warfare remaster was largely a success and the game hit new records for the franchise, with the title outselling Call of Duty Black Ops and Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3, the previous two top dogs.
MW had surpassed 30 million copies sold by the end of summer 2020 and earned over $600 million in sales within its first three days of release. This made the game Activision’s greatest digital opening in its history. At the time, the title sold the most digital copies for a game in three days on PS4 and was the most successful CoD launch on PC too. As of December 18, 2019, Activision confirmed Call of Duty: Modern Warfare had earned over $1 billion in revenue.
- Insiders/ leakers are suggesting we may see a Modern Warfare 2 gameplay reveal in the not-so-distant future
- When does Modern Warfare 2 come out?
Just because it’s the latest Call of Duty doesn’t mean it will be the top seller
Call of Duty hit a rough period somewhere around 2013 and the franchise was slowly declining in popularity. If it wasn’t for the free-to-play mode Warzone, the franchise may have never recovered, however, the success of the battle royale shooter speaks for itself. Modern Warfare 2019, the title that was released simultaneously with Warzone, was the first for a long time to achieve the golden 30 million copies sold, so what changed?
Call of Duty sales by game:
Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2019 was a relative success, bringing a cult classic, arguably the greatest Call of Duty ever, and rebooting it. The game was built with a new engine, and also brought the much-loved BR game – Warzone to our screens.
The CoD franchise will always sell millions of copies, it has die-hard fans across multiple platforms. There have been a number of blips along the way, with some disappointing titles over the last ten years, and people may be less enthusiastic about paying for the latest edition. Leaks and rumors suggest that there may be some very familiar game modes thrown into Modern Warfare 2, giving the players what they want. Hey, Infinity Ward, how about some mod tools? A Tarkov-inspired game mode and RS6-inspired game mode sounds fantastic if true but let’s open this up to the community with modding support and see a return to esports?
Warzone 2 integration with Modern Warfare 2 could be huge
Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 will integrate with Warzone, much like Vanguard and Black Ops Cold War did, however, we can expect Warzone 2 as a completely new game. Rather than just an update, it is thought that the latest Warzone will be brand-new and created with the same new engine as MW2. This would mean a new feel, upgraded graphics, gunplay, and new in-game content.
As of January 2022, Warzone still hits above 60 thousand average viewers on Twitch. It has declined since its peak in April last year but could a successor beat such numbers? It’s certainly possible.
It is safe to assume this will be the highest-selling Call of Duty to date but until more information on the game is unveiled, it is hard to say definitively. It will be interesting to see if they port Modern Warfare 2 to the mobile platform, seeing as the current mobile title amassed over 100 million downloads worldwide in its first two months of release.
In 2022, according to a Newzoo report, esports audiences and enthusiasts will continue to grow to reach 532 million and 318 million respectively. While the Call of Duty franchise has steered mostly clear from this sector for quite some time, Warzone is big enough and has the audience to support further development. Furthermore, CoD could easily make a return to competitive gaming with a modified version of its fabled Search & destroy game mode. The truth is, the franchise doesn’t need to lean on esports for its success but with esports set to generate nearly $1.38 billion in revenues globally by the end of 2022, why wouldn’t you want a piece of that pie?
