The muted response to Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 from critics and fans appears to have translated into lower sales for the futuristic first-person shooter, with the game reportedly falling behind competitors in a few regions. The Game Business described Black Ops 7's European launch as "disappointing," citing GSD, which tracks physical and digital sales data.
Sales numbers for Black Ops 7's opening week are 63% below those of Battlefield 6, and The Game Business also estimates that sales are over 50% down compared to last year's Black Ops 6. Even still, the GSD numbers indicate that Black Ops 7 was still the top-selling game in Europe during its opening week.
Despite Japan not being a key market for the Call of Duty franchise, sales numbers there show a similar trend, with Insider Gaming reporting that Black Ops 7 had the worst Japanese launch in the franchise's history.
This doesn't paint a complete picture of how Black Ops 7 is performing--the game is included with an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription, so there is certainly a good chunk of the playerbase not reflected in these early reported numbers.
Even still, Activision--which is usually quick to publicly brag about record-breaking sales or player counts after launching a Call of Duty game--was uncharacteristically quiet about numbers after Black Ops 7 shipped.
Reception to Black Ops 7, which starts its first season in December, was relatively lukewarm, with criticisms levied toward in-game assets allegedly generated by AI and its always-online story campaign.
Call of Duty also arguably has tougher competition this year, with Battlefield 6 skyrocketing in best-seller lists and extraction shooter Arc Raiders lapping Black Ops 7 in Steam player counts.
Source
Sales numbers for Black Ops 7's opening week are 63% below those of Battlefield 6, and The Game Business also estimates that sales are over 50% down compared to last year's Black Ops 6. Even still, the GSD numbers indicate that Black Ops 7 was still the top-selling game in Europe during its opening week.
Despite Japan not being a key market for the Call of Duty franchise, sales numbers there show a similar trend, with Insider Gaming reporting that Black Ops 7 had the worst Japanese launch in the franchise's history.
This doesn't paint a complete picture of how Black Ops 7 is performing--the game is included with an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription, so there is certainly a good chunk of the playerbase not reflected in these early reported numbers.
Even still, Activision--which is usually quick to publicly brag about record-breaking sales or player counts after launching a Call of Duty game--was uncharacteristically quiet about numbers after Black Ops 7 shipped.
Reception to Black Ops 7, which starts its first season in December, was relatively lukewarm, with criticisms levied toward in-game assets allegedly generated by AI and its always-online story campaign.
Call of Duty also arguably has tougher competition this year, with Battlefield 6 skyrocketing in best-seller lists and extraction shooter Arc Raiders lapping Black Ops 7 in Steam player counts.
Source