With Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 and Red Dead Redemption 2 both becoming available this month, it's no wonder why many consider the release schedule for October 2018 to be one of the most jam-packed timetables for highly awaited games in recent memory. While both titles understandably have a lot of gaming fans in an excited frenzy, a recent survey indicates that Activision and Treyarch's first-person shooter is more anticipated than Rockstar Games' open world western release.
As seen in the chart below based on a UBS Survey among more than 5,000 gamers across five key markets, it appears as if Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 not only has a slightly higher percentage of players likely to buy it over Red Dead Redemption 2, but also more have already purchased the former than pre-ordered the latter so far. Interestingly enough, the survey also points to a somewhat increased interest in purchasing Assassin's Creed: Odyssey instead of RDR2.
For those unaware, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 has been out for a little over a week at this point, so there's a chance that certain numbers in the above survey change in favor of Red Dead Redemption 2 once it becomes available to everyone. After all, very little in the way of real-time gameplay has been shown of RDR2, so perhaps Rockstar's forthcoming open world title will manage to turn more heads than Black Ops 4 when the inevitable droves of in-depth gameplay videos make their way online after launch.
All things considered, with positive reviews and generally solid player feedback, the Call of Duty brand has seemingly managed to cinch the majority of the gaming public's attention for yet another year running with Black Ops 4. However, it will be interesting to see if Red Dead Redemption 2 goes on to be viewed in an even more favorable light. Should that occur, then perhaps RDR2 will end up being crowned the king of 2018 in terms of both sales and critical reception when all's said and done.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 is available now for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. Red Dead Redemption 2 is set to release on October 26, 2018 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
Source: Statista