The first unveiling of Infinity Ward’s Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare just 6 months ago was the prime example of what one would call an anticlimax, with the cinematic reveal trailer gathering a significant amount of hate almost immediately upon release.
Fast forward to three days ago, the latest installment of the mega-popular shooter series finally lauches worldwide, and appears to defy any and all initial negative impressions, garnering mostly positive reviews across several game reviewing publications. However, it appears that this positive word of mouth can only take the sales of a triple-A title far, a sentiment that has been so blatantly reflected in the the first week sales of Infinite Warfare in the UK.
According to sales tracking site, Gfk Chart-Track, while Infinite Warfare did manage to take the sales chart crown within its first week of release in the UK, the overall sales showed a downward slope of a whopping 48.4% as compared to last year’s Black Ops 3 launch. Even if we take into account the console install base disparity between the PS3 and Xbox 360 compared to the PS4 and Xbox One, sales are still down by 43.6%.
Despite the aforementioned dip in their sales, it appears that Activision is currently content(to say the least) with the UK sales numbers, going so far as to send out a statement to VG24/7 stating that Infinite Warfare is currently the biggest shooter launch of 2016 so far, surpassing even the spectacular first week sales of Battlefield 1.
Now to possibly explain why Infinite Warfare has suffered such a dramatic UK sales drop as compared to Black Ops 3, it seems to be that the big daddy military shooter series is finally suffering from an inevitable case of franchise fatigue, which shouldn’t come as too much of a shock given that new Call of Duty instalments are released on a yearly basis.
Having said that, if the last few Call of Duty titles are of any indication, it is extremely likely that the new space-themed shooter will regardless end up being a huge financial success for Activision, and this sales dip will be seen as nothing more than a mere blip in its path.
Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare is available now for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.
