Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Sets New Franchise Sales Record

How big of a hit is Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War? According to Activision, the game set a franchise record for the highest number of first-day digital sales.

Fortunately for gamers, it doesn’t sound like Activision will be resting on their laurels anytime soon. In the same statement announcing the record sales, Activision Blizzard’s EMEA managing director Anna Malmhake promised that gamers could look forward to “an incredible amount of free post launch content, events and support for the entire community as Black Ops Cold War evolves just as we did last year with the release of Modern Warfare.”

NEW: Activision says Black Ops Cold War Day 1 digital sales were the highest in franchise history.

“Friday’s release of Black Ops Cold War set a new record as the highest first day digital sales worldwide in franchise history.” pic.twitter.com/ecHtbkNfmN
— Call of Duty News (@charlieINTEL) November 15, 2020

While digital sales are booming, signs point to physical sales declining, at least in the UK. Games Industry reported that physical sales of the title were down 64% compared to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare in the UK last year. But this decline is almost certainly an effect of COVID-19 (many UK stores have been closed due to the coronavirus) rather than flagging gamer enthusiasm.