Call of Duty: Vanguard was the best-selling new video game release of 2021, but even so, its sales were still below expectations. Call of Duty: Vanguard has sold worse than Black Ops Cold War and Modern Warfare, and is in fact one of the worst-selling Call of Duty games in years. In a message to its stockholders, Activision has offered its own theory on why Call of Duty: Vanguard has struggled to meet sales expectations.
Activision said that it blames its "own execution" for Call of Duty: Vanguard's disappointing sales, believing that it failed to "deliver as much innovation" as it needed to make sure the game was a success. Beyond that, Activision also pointed to Call of Duty: Vanguard's World War 2 setting as another reason why the game's sales were not up to expectations.
While it's possible the World War 2 setting could have contributed to Call of Duty: Vanguard's underwhelming sales performance, the game's critical reception and word of mouth from the community likely played a bigger role. Call of Duty: Vanguard's campaign is incredibly short and doesn't do much to shake things up from previous games in the series, and its Zombies mode was universally panned by fans and critics alike.
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Call of Duty players who normally pick up the new game every year may have been turned off by Vanguard's disappointing Zombies mode and underwhelming new features. These downsides contributed to Call of Duty: Vanguard's poor review scores, making it the lowest-rated main series Call of Duty game released to date.
While Call of Duty: Vanguard fell short of expectations in more ways than one, it seems likely that the 2022 Call of Duty game will go a long way in getting the franchise back on track. 2022's Call of Duty is being developed by Infinity Ward, the studio behind the record-breaking Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, and the new game is in fact a direct sequel to the hit 2019 game. Not only that, but Activision has started marketing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 months earlier than it did Black Ops Cold War and Vanguard, so it's definitely coming out swinging.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is being built alongside a Warzone sequel, which could also help sales. A proper reveal for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is expected to come at some point in the near future, so fans should stay tuned for more information.
Call of Duty: Vanguard is out now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
Source: Kotaku