Is Call of Duty Truly on The Decline? Let’s Find Out

There have been very frequent discussions about the supposed decline of gaming’s one of the most popular and at one time, almost universally beloved franchises.

For many years Call of Duty was the golden standard of first-person shooters, helping establish the genre as a powerhouse in the industry.

Yet, after decades of incredible popularity and the success of the franchise, the conversations started to shift in more negative directions, with many of the long-time players having critiques for new releases.

This article aims to go over some of the more popular of these critiques while providing both monetary and the typical, game design evaluation perspective, to try and answer the question of whether or not CoD is on the decline.

The Raw Popularity and the Numbers

Let us first talk numbers. The franchise’s golden age, often considered to be the period from 2007 to 2012, saw the release of iconic titles such as Modern Warfare, World at War, and Black Ops. These set new records for sales and player engagement, being received in an overwhelmingly positive light.

For instance, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, released in 2011, generated $775 million in its first five days, setting a record for, at the time, the biggest entertainment launch of all time. The game went on to gross over $1 billion within 16 days of its release.

These figures only pushed the developers to continue working on new projects, and the financial success has not stopped since.

One of the more recent releases, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019) surpassed $1 billion in revenue within its first two months, while Call of Duty: Vanguard (2021) was the best-selling game of the year in the U.S.

The introduction of the free-to-play battle royale mode, in Warzone, in 2020 further bolstered the franchise’s financial success, attracting over 100 million players and generating substantial revenue through microtransactions.

At the time, the BR genre was trending quite a bit, due to the success of other titles like Apex Legends, and Fortnite. 

However, it’s crucial to note that financial success does not necessarily equate to maintaining the same quality or innovation that once defined the series.

Even as Call of Duty retains its popularity and continues to generate impressive revenues, long-time fans, and critics have raised concerns about the direction of the franchise and the perceived decline in certain aspects of the games.

The quality of Call of Duty as a game cannot be solely measured by its widespread influence, industry partnerships, or the emergence of Call of Duty-style paintball experiences – a trend that incorporates elements from the game series.

Some of these CoD-themed events even attempt to recreate features like killstreaks in a physical setting, demonstrating the franchise’s significant cultural impact and its ability to inspire real-world activities. Nevertheless, this does not necessarily reflect the game’s inherent quality or critical acclaim. 

The Single-Player Problem

One of the most notable areas of criticism is the apparent decline of the single-player campaigns. In the franchise’s earlier years, the campaigns were often praised for their cinematic quality, engaging storytelling, and memorable set pieces.

Games like Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and Call of Duty: Black Ops set new standards for narrative-driven first-person shooters.

However, recent entries have seen a shift in focus away from the single-player experience. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 (2018) notably launched without a traditional campaign, marking the first time in the franchise’s history that a mainline entry lacked this core component.

While subsequent releases have reintroduced campaigns, many fans argue that they lack the depth, innovation, and impact of their predecessors. The campaigns are often criticized for being shorter, less polished, and feeling more like an afterthought compared to the multiplayer modes.

There was even a fun joke made at the expense of Call of Duty’s new campaign, with the actor Christopher Judge, most famous for the role of Kratos, teasing that his award acceptance speech was longer than the new CoD campaign, a comment which the developers did not appreciate all that much.

General Critiques

Beyond the campaign issues, there are several other common criticisms levied against newer Call of Duty games by long-time fans:

A large portion of the fan base is left with the impression that the developers are going with a quantity-over-quality approach, naturally, leading to many criticisms about the lack of meaningful innovation and quality gameplay improvements.

In addition, the annual release cycle has led to franchise fatigue, with some players feeling that there isn’t enough time between games to build anticipation or allow for significant improvements.

As was briefly mentioned, the increased focus on in-game purchases and battle passes has been a point of contention, with some fans feeling that the games have become too geared toward extracting additional money from players.

However, to be fair to the developers, they have removed the lootbox systems from their games after it came under heavy criticism.

Some of the other criticisms are a bit less general, with players sometimes criticizing specific aspects of the game, whether that is level/map design, the balancing of the weapons, technical issues, and whatnot.

Conclusion

To sum up, while Call of Duty remains a financial powerhouse and continues to dominate the FPS market, there are valid concerns about the franchise’s direction and the quality of recent entries.

The series faces the challenge of balancing innovation with the familiar gameplay that fans expect, all while navigating the evolving landscape of the gaming industry.