Despite a Rocky Phase, Call of Duty Takes the Crown of Best-Selling Franchise 15th Year in a Row

Call of Duty keeps proving its impact time and again. Following the release of MW3, many started to doubt the brand power of Activision’s long-running FPS series. Many players took issue due to bugs and the length of the campaign being very short. Yet, the game’s sales have painted a different picture. It looks like Modern Warfare 3 has helped the franchise to stay on top, again.

Call of Duty has become the best-selling gaming franchise for the 15th year in a row (USD). That’s an amazing accomplishment, given the games it competed against. Additionally, the latest installment Modern Warfare 3 has also emerged as the #2 best-selling game of last year, according to a newly revealed report.

Modern Warfare 3 topped December sales and 2nd in 2023

Mat Piscatella, an Executive Director and Industry analyst at Circana (NPD), recently shared some interesting numbers detailing video game sales from 2023. According to his report for Circana, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 was the best-selling game of December (U.S). Further, it was the best-selling Xbox game in 2023 and second best-selling title of 2023. Only Hogwarts Legacy was ahead of Activision’s AAA first-person shooter.

Speaking of the detailed list of top selling games in December 2023, below are all the titles that players purchased the most last year. One can have a look at all 20 best-selling releases from their respective publishers (physical and digital sales included):

1. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3  – Activision Blizzard (Corp)
2. Super Mario Bros. Wonder – Nintendo
3. Madden NFL24 – Electronic Arts
4. Hogwarts Legacy – Warner Bros. Games
5. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 – Sony (Corp)
6. Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora – Ubisoft
7. EA Sports FC 24 – Electronic Arts
8. Mortal Kombat 1 – Warner Bros. Games
9. NBA 2K24 – Take 2 Interactive (Corp)
10. Mario Kart 8 – Nintendo
11. Super Mario RPG (2023) – Nintendo
12. Sonic Superstars – Sega
13. Minecraft – Multiple Video Game Manufacturers
14. God of War: Ragnarok – Sony (Corp)
15. Star Wars: Jedi Survivor – Electronic Arts
16. Elden Ring – Bandai Namco Entertainment
17. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom – Nintendo
18. Just Dance 2024 Edition – Ubisoft
19. Assassin’s Creed: Mirage – Ubisoft
20. UFC 5 – Electronic Arts

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When it comes to platform-specific best-sellers, Warner Bros Games’ Hogwarts Legacy took the first position for PlayStation. As mentioned already, Modern Warfare 3 secured the second spot. Other popular titles included are Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Diablo IV, and Madden NFL24.

Coming to best-selling Xbox games of 2023, Modern Warfare 3 was the crown winner. Apart from the FPS title, the list also featured Hogwarts Legacy on the second spot. Other fan-favorites included the likes of Star Wars: Jedi Survivor, Madden NFL24, Starfield, and Mortal Kombat 1.

In a nutshell, the latest sales report regarding Modern Warfare 3 will definitely boost the confidence of the Call of Duty team. It has managed to attract the players despite inevitable obstacles lately. It will be interesting to see whether the franchise will continue to dominate the market in 2024. Activision is yet to officially announce its next FPS premium for this year.

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