Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 May Have Performed Even Worse Than We Thought

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 may have performed even worse than expected if a new claim from former Activision boss Bobby Kotick is to be believed. Upon its arrival back in November, Black Ops 7 was quickly met with quite a bit of backlash from critics and players alike. Across its campaign, multiplayer, and Zombies game modes, Black Ops 7 was seen as a big step backwards from 2024’s Black Ops 6. This negativity went on to impact the sales of the game, which were reportedly the worst the Call of Duty series has seen in 17 years. And while this might sound bad enough already, it seems like Black Ops 7 could have done some real damage to the property.

In a new statement released by Kotick (via Game File), the former Activision executive claimed that Black Ops 7 is down 60% when compared to sales for Black Ops 6. Kotick, who released this message as part of a rebuttal to an ongoing lawsuit, used this information to justify the sale price that Activision was sold for to Microsoft. Kotick asserts that selling Activision at the time and at the price it was sold for was the right decision, as the company’s current value might now be down as a result of Call of Duty struggling.

“Today, given that console sales are at an all-time low and Call of Duty sales are off over 60% from the prior year, Plaintiff should be expressing extreme gratitude for the foresight Activision leadership demonstrated in consummating this transaction,” Kotick said.

Kotick doesn’t say where he got this information from regarding Call of Duty’s sales, but it’s safe to assume that this is probably legitimate information given his connections to Activision. If true, this would mean that the Call of Duty series is in some serious trouble for the first time in years. While the franchise would be in no danger of going away given how hugely popular it still is, these poor sales would make it much more important for Activision to find big success when its next installment.

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As for what’s next, a new Call of Duty game is currently planned to release in 2026, as it does every year. Current reports claim that this entry will end up being Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, but Activision has yet to confirm this itself.

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[Thanks, Push Square]