A new Call of Duty game, Call of Duty: Ghosts, is set to hit the shelves later this year. But after the huge success of its predecessor, Call of Duty: Black Ops II, Call of Duty: Ghosts is struggling to keep up. Activision’s Publishing CEO, Eric Hirshberg, noted that pre-order numbers for Call of Duty:Ghosts are “well below the record-setting pace set by Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 last year,” and the arrival of the next-gen is to blame. He said,
“Our quantitative consumer research indicates that hesitation amongst past COD pre-orderers is primarily due to not knowing which platform they will be playing on, which is natural at this time in the console transition.”
Hirshberg also noted that despite the low pre-order numbers, DLC sales and number of players playing per month are all higher than previous years. He also added that pre-orders are more than double that of the original Call of Duty: Black Ops, which was the last time Activision introduced a new Call of Duty sub-brand.
EA Sports Brand President, Andrew Wilson, reported a similar situation, reporting “softness” in pre-orders for current-gen sports titles as we get closer to the fall and the launch of the PS4 and Xbox One.
So what does the impending arrival of the Playstation 4 and Xbox One mean for upcoming current gen titles?
