After a notable stumble last year, Call of Duty seems to be on more solid ground in 2017.
In its first three days of availability, Call of Duty: WWII recorded sales of over $500 million, according to Activision. The game also set a record for day one digital sales on the PlayStation 4 console, though Activision didn’t give specific numbers for that.
The fast start is a big improvement from last year’s Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, which was largely considered a disappointment for the franchise. Michael Pachter of Wedbush Securities notes that the three-day sales of WWII are twice that of Infinite Warfare.
The sales boost is good news, but the biggest question is whether COD: WWII will have the same long legs as earlier installments in the series. The game has received good, but not overwhelming reviews and currently has an average of 80 (out of 100) on Metacritic.
Polygon said the game is “in an enjoyable but unremarkable rut. We’ve been here. We’ve done all of this. Changing the time period so dramatically only helps to highlight how little has changed since the franchise’s total reimagining with Call of Duty 4. For those who enjoy the series, it’s nice to have a predictable source of entertainment each year. But for people looking for the next generation of shooters, Call of Duty simply isn’t offering it anymore.”
For those looking for a more historical perspective, WWII might have beat the sales of Infinite Warfare, but it still fell short of 2015’s Call of Duty: Black Ops III. That game boasted sales of $550 million in three days.