Will Call of Duty ever slow down?

March 23rd, 2011

Earlier this month, Call of Duty: Black Ops was named the best-selling game in American history. After four consecutive months at the top, nearly 14 million copies have been gobbled up, and it's still selling.

That's huge. And yet Black Ops was the seventh instalment in the series. Can anything slow this game down?

Bad Company 2 has held its own. But it's no where near as popular as Call of Duty. In terms of military shooters, the latter is still king -- still breaking records. 

Which makes one wonder: What makes Call of Duty so immensly popular? "It's fun to shoot things," says Ninja Bread Man. And for much of the world (you know, those that don't have second amendment rights), Call of Duty is "the only way they can shoot stuff, short of military service," he says. 

I'll buy that. But I also know war shooters existed long before Call of Duty.

Perhaps the real reason it's gained so much popularity is that it's trusted and reliable. Since at least Call of Duty 4, it's really hard to say there's been a "bad" game in the series.

Couple that with the event-like release (you know, everyone's playing it!), and you have a recipe for success. 

What do you think? What makes Call of Duty one of the most popular series in gaming right now? And will it ever slow down?

Comments

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COD will always break the records anywhere ;)

1
Posted Wednesday, March 23rd, 2011    Quote This Post
Cell_7
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CoD has been a game that anyone can just pick up and play, its really just a point and shoot game.
Can't think of any other game so i'll compare it to the upcoming TESIV: Skyrim, it won't make as much sales because there are does who just are not interested or can't play such RPG games.

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Posted Wednesday, March 23rd, 2011    Quote This Post
dodolidot
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CoD has been a game that anyone can just pick up and play, its really just a point and shoot game.

Can't think of any other game so i'll compare it to the upcoming TESIV: Skyrim, it won't make as much sales because there are does who just are not interested or can't play such RPG games.

3
Posted Wednesday, March 23rd, 2011    Quote This Post
thezombies777
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It is like you said with CoD you know what your paying for and it's easy to get into. I guess thats why it's so popular since it's just the same multiplayer is the same for the last 4 games and the singleplayer is getting steadily worse with each game.

4
Posted Wednesday, March 23rd, 2011    Quote This Post
Balvarine
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next step: body suits that connect to every part of your body and so it'll be like real war and the suits send pain shocks down your body when you get shot.

dont make fun of the wayz i type.

5
Posted Wednesday, March 23rd, 2011    Quote This Post
Zarutsgamae
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Hmm, honestly I see COD sales dropping in the future unless they come up with new innovative gameplay or some fantastic action. I know a lot of people that have increasingly lost interest in the franchise because of the great lack of new content and essentially reiteration of the same concepts that have been used in the last few games. Also when they think they can get away with not polishing maps and playtesting extensively to allow critical placement of spawnpoints, etc then they result in a game that is hard to look forward to.

6
Posted Wednesday, March 23rd, 2011    Quote This Post
Apples_mmmmmmmm
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It doesn't really matter as long as it helps suction noobs out of other fps games. COD isn't even that good. BC2 easily thrashes it. (Not a big COD fan here) It isn't even popular because its good its popular because its part of the non-serious gamer crowd also.

7
Posted Wednesday, March 23rd, 2011    Quote This Post
gneepy
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In my opinion, Call of Duty 4 is one of the best games of all time (FPS, that is). I will continue buying Call of Duty games until I am given a reason otherwise. So far, I have not been really disappointed.

If actions speak louder than words, why is the pen mightier than the sword?

8
Posted Wednesday, March 23rd, 2011    Quote This Post
Kickimanjaro
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In my opinion, Call of Duty blackops is one of the best games of all time (FPS, that is). I will continue buying Call of Duty games until I am given a reason otherwise. So far, I have not been really disappointed.

9
Posted Wednesday, March 23rd, 2011    Quote This Post
thezombies777
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Kickimanjaro said: In my opinion, Call of Duty 4 is one of the best games of all time (FPS, that is). I will continue buying Call of Duty games until I am given a reason otherwise. So far, I have not been really disappointed.


Ok, I was about to post criticizing COD, but then I clicked Heimer Time! and it made me : )

Haven't played Heims yet, though i do have veigs and plan on getting all the yordles.

Anyway, there are certainly better games than COD out there, its not bad, its just nothing special (imo)

10
Posted Thursday, March 24th, 2011    Quote This Post
gneepy
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No it will never slow down and in a few years we will have COD 9.

11
Posted Thursday, March 24th, 2011    Quote This Post
aliencat
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To be Honest since modern warfare 2, ive given up on Cod. Its the same multiplayer over and over just with different perks and with changes in singleplayer. Whats worse is that there making PC players pay for Downloadable content since MW2. That was the final straw and im never buying another cod game again. At most im gonna borrow it, beat the campaign and return it. thats it. For consoles it might be ok. They returned dedicated servers to PC with blackops but not the player limit and thats what i liked about cod. 16vs16 back in MW 1.

12
Posted Thursday, March 24th, 2011    Quote This Post
MajorFoley
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It's fun and simple.

Set your profile picture as a Creepy Clown. Why? Progress is impossible without change.

13
Posted Thursday, March 24th, 2011    Quote This Post
Znuf
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MajorFoley said: To be Honest since modern warfare 2, ive given up on Cod. Its the same multiplayer over and over just with different perks and with changes in singleplayer. Whats worse is that there making PC players pay for Downloadable content since MW2. That was the final straw and im never buying another cod game again. At most im gonna borrow it, beat the campaign and return it. thats it. For consoles it might be ok. They returned dedicated servers to PC with blackops but not the player limit and thats what i liked about cod. 16vs16 back in MW 1.


MajorFoley I totally agree. I also don't understand how Black Op's passed MW2. I've been playing Bad Company 2 and the entire game is so much better. Its much more realistic and uses actual physics in the game. I cannot wait for Battlefield 3, the trailer looks impressive.

14
Posted Thursday, March 24th, 2011    Quote This Post
dp04952
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i think that CoD is popular because its soooo playable, anyone can play it, and even people who are not good at the game can be happy because they scored a couple of good kills, and the gameplay is very customizable. there is quite a lot weapons to choose from so everybody should find a weapon that suits themselves.

15
Posted Thursday, March 24th, 2011    Quote This Post
qzak1
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It's because it was the only solid FPS launch title for the 360, so it got all the Halo fans due to the fact tthat Halo 3 wasn't ready until at least a year later. The titles recognition certainly didn't carry over en mass from the PC. PC gamers really don't play into the numbers that generate the scores and records regarding game sales. PS3 exclusive games can't compete with those available on all platforms, numbers wise. Sales doesn't exactly mean it's the best game. I believe Garth Brooks had some pretty amazing album sales in the 90's, but many of those reading here may say "who?".

16
Posted Thursday, March 24th, 2011    Quote This Post
alainreid
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With Cod its always the same deal , the concept of Cod is great no thinking just bloody good looking shooter , short games , allot of fun. But because has been dominating for so long it starts to get the same deal over and over again. Its like watching a movie twice. What I do love about BO is the story line It really falls great with WaW. Multi-player is why I bought it TBH but was a bit disappointed.Would have like a bit more armor customization instead of only the perks. But u get worth for your money, I think that with BO it reached what It could offer and now BF3 will take over with over the top large maps , demolition , tactical game play and full customization.

17
Posted Thursday, March 24th, 2011    Quote This Post
mark2107
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i stopped playing black ops when it said id have to pay for downloadable content thts what threw me off of mw2 so i play cod4 they should never have run it thru steam in the first place just a horrible idea

18
Posted Friday, March 25th, 2011    Quote This Post
joeyz97
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i think people play cod more then other shooters cuz of the unlockable stuff. Such as achievements, killstreaks, deathstreaks, perks, titles and emblems which no one REALLY cares about except for the person using the emblem. Also the leaderboard is pretty good at showing what needs to be shown. No K/D being in domination as an example. when compared to a game like killzone 3 (awesome gameplay) which has misrepresentations in the leaderboards, nothing to gain except unlocks which are easy to get, and some medals that have no creativity at all. Also Cod has a solid amount of game modes. Maybe it's not the best shooter of all time but it has things that make people come back. Just simple run and gun. no planes, tanks, or light vehicles. But that's what battlefield is for.

19
Posted Friday, March 25th, 2011    Quote This Post
loIoloI
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I've never played Call of Duty maybe I should try it out

20
Posted Friday, March 25th, 2011    Quote This Post
Berserkers-Trance
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I don't know about you guys but i loved the mw and mw2 story. In my opinion there aren't to many games that make this kind of story, andgameplay.

21
Posted Saturday, March 26th, 2011    Quote This Post
Rat2000
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CoD is an example of everything wrong in gaming today. Its a money hungry developer who puts the same game out 10+ times and people are falling for it.

People need to wake up and put CoD out of its misery.

We shall show mercy, but we shall not ask for it.

22
Posted Sunday, March 27th, 2011    Quote This Post
Mercarcher
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Lol @ Thezombies777 whos copying those posts.

Cake.

23
Posted Sunday, March 27th, 2011    Quote This Post
UnderCoverPanda
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It's a great party game. Games that people can play with their friends will always be terrific sellers (SSB:Brawl, Halo, Rock Band, WoW, etc.) Call of Duty has a pretty polished formula, so people know what to expect, and they can play with their friends.

Even though single player games are extremely important, we're in an online era of gaming. It's hard for most gamers to come back and play a single player game for well over 200+ hours.

Also, Call of Duty can appeal to casuals and hardcore players alike.

24
Posted Sunday, March 27th, 2011    Quote This Post
Nsterner
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I hate to be on the "hate activision" band wagon, but considering what they did with the "hero" franchise, Call of Duty will get killed off eventually, Look at Medal of Honor of old. I bet activision will run it into the ground first tho.
To be honest the multiplayers a bit too frantic for my tastes, but neverless still great, but the single player wasn't that special, i have better memories of the first COD game (granted that could be because the took alot of it from movies...)

25
Posted Monday, March 28th, 2011    Quote This Post
HellinPelican
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