Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 was released last month and became November’s best-selling game in the US in terms of dollar sales. Quite a show, right?
If you still want to pick up a up-to-date game, there’s nothing you can do but do it $35 at Best Buy for one day onlyand around It’s currently $40 at most other stores. That’s up to 50% off the game just a month after its release on PS5, PS4 and Xbox consoles.
So what’s going on and why is one of the best-selling games of the year already so heavily discounted? Well, it doesn’t take a genius to realize that Black Ops 7 doesn’t perform as well as last year’s Black Ops 6.
This is reflected in everything from critical ratings to fan reactions to European sales figures and even Activision statements.
Typically, the latest Call of Duty at the top of the annual charts is basically a given. However, the surprise this year is that Battlefield 6 will likely take the number one spot in the US.
This is not entirely unprecedented. In 2023, Hogwarts Legacy outsold Modern Warfare 3, and it did so without launching MW3 on Game Pass.
Still, Call of Duty has made a forceful comeback in 2024, and before that only Rockstar heavyweights like GTA 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2 managed to knock it off its annual top spot, going all the way back to Rock Band in 2008.
Viewed in this context, it’s hardly surprising that Activision is reportedly changing the way it plans and releases Call of Duty from year to year, or that it’s already relying on aggressive discounts not long after one of its biggest games hit shelves.
Robert Anderson is IGN’s senior trade editor and trading expert for games, collectibles, collectible card games and more. You can follow him @robertliam21 on Twitter/X or Blue.
