Highlights

  • Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3's UK sales were disappointing, 37% lower than Modern Warfare 2.
  • Initial negative reviews were due to its lackluster single-player campaign and recycled multiplayer maps.
  • Despite poor sales, the game still topped physical and digital sales charts, showing the brand's selling power.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3's UK sales have struggled compared to last year's Modern Warfare 2. While the game still has the Winter holidays to look forward to, its first three weeks of sales proved to be disappointing in one of Call of Duty's biggest regions.

Although some fans enjoy its throwback maps and fluid movement system, Modern Warfare 3 opened as the worst-rated game in Call of Duty history. The initial negative reviews were largely due to its disappointing single-player campaign mode, which departed from Call of Duty's tradition of linear, highly detailed missions and replaced them with open-world levels that felt empty to many users. Modern Warfare 3's publisher, Activision, also caught flak for charging $70 for a game that exclusively featured recycled multiplayer maps at launch. While some thought that the star power of Call of Duty's Modern Warfare series would be enough to overcome these hurdles, it seems that did not take place.

Swarm and Recon Juggernaut
Related
6 Best Killstreaks In Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

All kill streaks in Modern Warfare 3 have their pros and cons, but these ones stand out for being the most effective overall.

GamesIndustry.biz reported that the first three weeks of Modern Warfare 3's UK sales were 37% lower than Modern Warfare 2's numbers. This is a significant drop, and it's unclear if Activision will be able to rebound as the Winter holidays approach. Modern Warfare 3 was reportedly rushed through development. Its lackluster campaign along with its unoriginal multiplayer may have been a significant blow to its UK sales, as the game suffered some serious damage to its image during Modern Warfare 3's launch period.

modern-warfare-3-character

Despite its poor sales in the UK, Activision claimed that Modern Warfare 3 saw record levels of player engagement in its opening weeks, with average playtime per user being the highest ever for a Call of Duty game. It seems that despite Modern Warfare 3's lackluster sales, the game is highly enjoyable for most users, at least relative to previous Call of Duty titles.

Also, Modern Warfare 3 still managed to top the UK's physical sales charts and Steam's best-selling charts during its opening week. This shows the brand's massive selling power regardless of its significant dropoff in sales from the previous Modern Warfare 2.

Although Modern Warfare 3 failed to match the launch of last year's Call of Duty, fans can be happy to know that the game will likely only improve as the year goes on, as Modern Warfare 3 is slated to see plenty of content updates. Modern Warfare 3 just received its first major update, titled Season 1. This update brought new maps, weapons, gameplay features, bug fixes, and more to the popular first-person shooter game.