Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2is one of the most anticipated and attention-grabbing releases that the longstanding shooter franchise has put out in some time. With there being a relative lull in the series since the release of 2019’sModern Warfare, it is clear that fans were more than eager to step back into the world of the ambitious new franchise reboot.
However, it remains that a lot of the discourse surroundingCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 2prior to its launch was marred by Microsoft’s massive acquisition of Activision Blizzard, the parent company of the franchise. Most of this negativity came from PlayStation, with the company fearing that it may lose platform access to the mega franchise. With this in mind, the huge level of financial success thatMW2is already enjoying is a surefire indicator that the current business model ofCoDis here to stay.
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The Successful Launch of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2recently launched on October 28, with a massive amount of predictable hype surrounding the long-awaited title. In what was quite a unique launch roadmap for the franchise, pre-ordering players had already experienced a closed beta for the game prior to launch, as well as receivingfull early access toMW2’sexpansive campaign.
This new approach toCall of Dutylaunches is likely here to stay, given how theclosed beta forMW2was the most successful betain the series' history. With fans already getting their campaign experience out of the way before the full launch ofModern Warfare 2’smultiplayer, the level of popularity that the game has already received in its early life cycle is truly unprecedented, even for theCall of Dutyfranchise.
Withsales forModern Warfare 2outpacing its predecessorVanguardby over 40%,Modern Warfare 2has already surpasses the benchmark of $1 billion in sales, the fastest release to do so in the franchise’s long history. Considering this massive level of success, many industry concerns surrounding the future of the franchise have surely been laid to rest, especially from the view of Sony and PlayStation.
PlayStation’s Worries Surrounding Call of Duty
Back in January, Microsoft precipitated a groundbreaking development within the gaming industry when it announced its intentions topurchase massive development studio Activision Blizzardin a record-breaking deal worth up to $68.7 billion. While this deal has still not yet been officially finalized, it is largely expected by many to be fully confirmed at some point in the near future.
With this purchase, Microsoft’s growing collection of IPs was bolstered even further,with the likes ofOverwatch,Diablo, andWarcraftnow falling under the company name. However, the largest acquisition from this deal undoubtedly comes from Activision’sCall of Dutyfranchise, which is one of the largest and most consistent franchise’s in all of gaming.
Perhaps understandably, this large-scale acquisition set ruptures through the industry, with Microsoft’s direct competitors being outraged at the level of spending power that the company was exerting. The most vocal of theseconcerns were voiced by PlayStation executive Jim Ryan, who even spoke to regulators about the potential harm this deal could cause to the standards of industry competition, as well as the possibility of PS being strong-armed out of key console franchises such asCoD.
However, given the record-breaking franchise success of the recentModern Warfare 2, it appears that PlayStation’s prayers may have been answered. With the current formula of multi-console and multi-platform releases forCall of Dutystill proving to be a huge financial success, it would be economically unviable for Microsoft to essentially cut the player base of its largest IP in half, given the huge economic loss that this would surely bring about for the company. While it still remains to be seen how Microsoft will navigate theCall of Dutyfranchise in the near future,Modern Warfare 2’slaunch may be a huge saving grace for Sony and PlayStation.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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