According to one analyst, Call of Duty as a franchise is "underperforming" in 2025 due to a variety of factors. Rhys Elliott of Alinea Analytics said in an interview that some of the factors that he believes are contributing to Call of Duty's decline include "community burnout, questionable creative and business decisions by Activision/Microsoft, and strong competition."
In terms of the competition, Elliott called out Battlefield 6 and Arc Raiders, along with Fortnite, which recently had a popular Simpsons season and launched its positively received Chapter 7.
"Xbox dropped the ball on the wrong year, as this year saw some of the most exciting shooter releases in years," Elliott told Eurogamer. "Attention is scarce."
Elliott went on to say that players are becoming increasingly dissatisfied with Call of Duty's "lack of innovation." Prior to Black Ops 7's release, Elliott said people would buy Black Ops 7 even if they complained about a lack of innovation because many people buy new Call of Duty games yearly as part of "autopilot" purchasing. Elliott also predicted that Black Ops 7 would outsell Battlefield 6, but he made this prediction prior to the release of both games.
Elliott also pointed out that Call of Duty's turn toward more "Fortnite-like cosmetics" and "non-military character skins" like Beavis and Butthead and Nicki Minaj has "alienated a significant portion of the fanbase who prefer a more grounded military aesthetic."
For what it's worth, Black Ops 7 does not feature the same kind of wacky and over-the-top skins that Black Ops 6 had, in part because Activision said it heard the concerns that Call of Duty had strayed from its identity. Warzone, however, still has all of those kinds of skins.
For Black Ops 7 specifically, Elliott said the game's co-op campaign was a "major point of criticism," while the game's use of "AI slop" was a sore spot for some.
"Player reception was [also] largely negative, with a mostly negative Steam user score and review bombing galore. Long-standing player frustrations, like the perceived impact of skill-based matchmaking--and the focus on heavy microtransactions (skins and bundles) over core gameplay quality, continue to drive players away from the franchise," he added.
Additionally, Elliott said Black Ops 7 launching into Game Pass "cannibalized traditional full-price game sales" for Xbox and PC. He pointed to the reporting that said Black Ops 6 missed out on $300 million in potential sales due to the game being on Game Pass.
"Our estimates have signaled time and time again that Game Pass cannibalizes game revenues--and Call of Duty is no different," he said.
Beyond all of this, Elliott said the marketing for Black Ops 7 was "pretty abysmal and underwhelming," while the game's formal reveal event at Call of Duty Next was "messy and did little to excite the community."
"This is again in stark contrast to the community-driven, focused marketing of Battlefield and Arc, whose development and marketing has been incredibly community-driven," he said.
Battlefield 6 has sold more than 10 million copies, reportedly, but there is no sales data available yet for Black Ops 7. Any comparison would be incomplete and unfair, as Black Ops 7 is on Game Pass and is available on more platforms than Battlefield 6. No shooter has outsold Call of Duty in terms of full-year in the US since 2006, though Battlefield 6 has already eclipsed the first-month sales of Black Ops 6 and Modern Warfare 3.
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In terms of the competition, Elliott called out Battlefield 6 and Arc Raiders, along with Fortnite, which recently had a popular Simpsons season and launched its positively received Chapter 7.
"Xbox dropped the ball on the wrong year, as this year saw some of the most exciting shooter releases in years," Elliott told Eurogamer. "Attention is scarce."
Elliott went on to say that players are becoming increasingly dissatisfied with Call of Duty's "lack of innovation." Prior to Black Ops 7's release, Elliott said people would buy Black Ops 7 even if they complained about a lack of innovation because many people buy new Call of Duty games yearly as part of "autopilot" purchasing. Elliott also predicted that Black Ops 7 would outsell Battlefield 6, but he made this prediction prior to the release of both games.
Elliott also pointed out that Call of Duty's turn toward more "Fortnite-like cosmetics" and "non-military character skins" like Beavis and Butthead and Nicki Minaj has "alienated a significant portion of the fanbase who prefer a more grounded military aesthetic."
For what it's worth, Black Ops 7 does not feature the same kind of wacky and over-the-top skins that Black Ops 6 had, in part because Activision said it heard the concerns that Call of Duty had strayed from its identity. Warzone, however, still has all of those kinds of skins.
For Black Ops 7 specifically, Elliott said the game's co-op campaign was a "major point of criticism," while the game's use of "AI slop" was a sore spot for some.
"Player reception was [also] largely negative, with a mostly negative Steam user score and review bombing galore. Long-standing player frustrations, like the perceived impact of skill-based matchmaking--and the focus on heavy microtransactions (skins and bundles) over core gameplay quality, continue to drive players away from the franchise," he added.
Additionally, Elliott said Black Ops 7 launching into Game Pass "cannibalized traditional full-price game sales" for Xbox and PC. He pointed to the reporting that said Black Ops 6 missed out on $300 million in potential sales due to the game being on Game Pass.
"Our estimates have signaled time and time again that Game Pass cannibalizes game revenues--and Call of Duty is no different," he said.
Beyond all of this, Elliott said the marketing for Black Ops 7 was "pretty abysmal and underwhelming," while the game's formal reveal event at Call of Duty Next was "messy and did little to excite the community."
"This is again in stark contrast to the community-driven, focused marketing of Battlefield and Arc, whose development and marketing has been incredibly community-driven," he said.
Battlefield 6 has sold more than 10 million copies, reportedly, but there is no sales data available yet for Black Ops 7. Any comparison would be incomplete and unfair, as Black Ops 7 is on Game Pass and is available on more platforms than Battlefield 6. No shooter has outsold Call of Duty in terms of full-year in the US since 2006, though Battlefield 6 has already eclipsed the first-month sales of Black Ops 6 and Modern Warfare 3.
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