Six months after Call of Duty: Vanguard flopped, Activision has worked out why

Date:
Wed, 04 May 2022 09:55:19 +0000

Description:
Activision has blamed the latest Call of Duty's poor commercial performance
on its World War 2 setting and lack of innovation.

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Call of Duty: Vanguard was not the commercial success that Activision had hoped for, with the publisher now blaming the games poor sales on its World War 2 setting.

In its latest annual earnings report , Activision Blizzard said Call of Duty: Vanguard didnt meet our expectations and admits its disappointing commercial performance was primarily due to [Activisions] own execution of the game (thanks, Kotaku ).

The games World War II setting didnt resonate with some of our community, the report says, and we didnt deliver as much innovation in the premium game as
we would have liked.

Activision goes on to say that its addressing both of these issues the poor choice of setting and lack of innovation in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 , the next mainline Call of Duty title due to release later this year.

We are working on the most ambitious plan in Call of Duty history, with over 3,000 people now working on the franchise and a return to the Modern Warfare setting that delivered our most successful Call of Duty title ever, the
report says. (Image credit: Activision) Excuses, excuses

Call of Duty: Vanguard certainly wasnt a roaring success for Activision. Despite being the best-selling game of 2021, its sales were down by 36.1% on 2020s Call of Duty: Black Ops - Cold War . Its underperformance has even reportedly encouraged Activision to break with Call of Dutys annual release cycle , as the publisher pushes Treyarchs 2023 entry into 2024.

However, for Activision to chalk up Vanguards poor sales to its World War 2 setting is a little peculiar. Call of Duty: WW2 flew off the shelves when it launched back in 2017, with Activision even boasting that it sold twice as many copies as Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare during launch. Given the sheer volume of video games and other media set in the conflict, its a little strange to think players arent interested in the setting.

Vanguards lack of innovation might be a better explanation. In our Call of Duty: Vanguard review, we said the campaign mode ultimately falls flat when
it comes to both narrative and gameplay, and thought its multiplayer offered only more of the same. While its Zombies mode was a nice refresh on what had come before, it only offered one game mode at launch, and couldnt prop up a tired franchise on its own.

Of course, Vanguards launch was also colored by an ongoing investigation into alleged sexual misconduct at Activision Blizzard . Its underperformance did nothing to scare Microsoft, however, which announced its plans to purchase Activision Blizzard for $69 billion earlier this year. Exercise your trigger finger with our pick of the best FPS games



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/news/six-months-after-call-of-duty-vanguard-flopped- activision-has-worked-out-why/


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