Call Of Duty: Mobile Downloads Are Obliterating Console And PC
To quote Doctor Otto Octavius, "The power of the Sun in the palm of my hand." While shrinking a fan-favourite franchise like Call of Duty into a palm-sized port is no easy feat, Call of Duty: Mobile is proving to be a lucrative endeavour from Activision HQ.
Since 2003, Call of Duty has dominated the first-person shooter scene, and even though last year's Vanguard will likely be forgotten to the ages, it still helped CoD become the best-selling franchise in the US for the 14th year in the row. While these figures alone are baffling enough, Call of Duty: Mobile is here to show where the future of the franchise is heading.
Why Is Call Of Duty: Mobile Doing So Well?
Since its release in October 2019, Call of Duty: Mobile has quietly chipped away in the background. Despite its popularity in territories like China, it's yet to make much of an impact in the West. Still, in its first year, it had one of the biggest mobile launches of all time - generating 270 million downloads in just 12 months.
That's tame by today's standards, with the latest figures saying Call of Duty: Mobile is sitting pretty. According to Activision's yearly numbers (via VGC), Call of Duty: Mobile is climbing that slippery pole to the top of the CoDverse with over 650 million downloads. To put this into context, the report explains, "The number of people experiencing Call of Duty on mobile each month almost matched those playing on console and PC in 2021."
We know Call of Duty has lost 50 million players, but CoD: Mobile seems to be making up for lost ground. In May 2021, Activision said it had topped over 500 million downloads, so to leap another 150 million in a year is pretty impressive. If this wasn't enough, Call of Duty: Mobile has also had a lucrative year in spending, with "well above" $1 billion being earned. Much like Warzone's free-to-play model, microtransactions still mean big business here.
Is Call Of Duty: Mobile The Future Of The Franchise?
Click to enlargeWe know Dr Disrespect hates mobile gaming, but it's a trend on the rise. Just look at what Epic Games lost when Apple stripped Fortnite from the app store. Even though things are going great for Call of Duty: Mobile, don't expect Activision to ditch traditional releases in favour of a wholly mobile experience. As we said, it's China that's really holding up the port right now. Part of the success has been its integration with its bigger brothers thanks to classic maps like Satellite and various crossovers with the likes of Snoop Dogg.
Still, those at the top have promised a different future for the franchise. After World War II being blamed for Vanguard's middling sales, there's renewed hope that 2022's release of Modern Warfare 2 and Warzone 2 will breathe new life into the shooter series. With a mobile version of Warzone also on the way, the smaller size of mobile compared to consoles clearly isn't putting us off playing. So there you go, playing Call of Duty on the morning commute is more popular than we thought.
