Activision have announced that the launch of Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 was one of the franchise’s most successful, setting a new record for revenue generated on its opening weekend, as well as the highest player counts.
Following in the footsteps of the previous three Black Ops entries, which is by far the most successful sub-franchise of Call of Duty, the fourth in the series has not disappointed.
While some fans may bemoan the exclusion of a campaign mode, it was more than made up for by the addition of Blackout – Call of Duty’s first foray into the battle royale game type.
Blackout has already proven to be a major factor in the game’s commercial success, with Activision reporting earlier that PC sales were double that of last year’s CoD: WWII – and this is likely in large part thanks to the BR mode.
- More: New stats show Twitch viewership numbers of Black Ops 4 compared to Fortnite and League of Legends
But, Black Ops multiplayer is a stalwart in FPS shooters on console, and Treyarch continued their tradition of producing a polished (save for a few teething bugs and glitches) and smooth AAA title experience.
All of this meant a big return. Activision has announced on October 18 that in its first three days, Black Ops 4 generated $500 million in revenue, and the total number of players increased from last year.
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They also say that player statistics have set a new franchise record for current generation consoles, stating:
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.
And it’s not just players playing either, but also watching. Activision claims that based on minutes watched, Black Ops 4 “delivered the highest level of viewership through launch weekend on Twitch in franchise history.”
- More: Treyarch announced that major changes to weapon balancing and tuning are coming to Black Ops 4
Rob Kostich, EVP and GM of Call of Duty, said that Activision and Treyarch were “excited” about the game’s momentum, and have so much more planned. He says Black Ops 4 has “set new standards”, and shows how fun Blackout specifically is, to both play and watch.
Black Ops 4 also beat the record for day one digital sales on the PlayStation store, beating the previous record which was also held by Call of Duty, for 2017’s WWII.
Source: Business Wire