The FTC has high praise for the Call of Duty franchise, calling it one of the most successful entertainment franchises of all time.
Of course, the FTC did not make such a statement because their staff is full of gamers. This is, surprisingly, relevant in the case of Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard King, affecting the question of if the franchise is so important to the industry that it cannot fall under one platform company’s hands.
This is what the FTC said in its administrative complaint:
“Even among AAA games, Activision’s most well-known franchise, Call of Duty, is particularly strong. First released nearly twenty years ago in 2003, Call of Duty is, in Activision’s own words, “one of the most successful entertainment franchises of all time.” In 2021, Call of Duty: Vanguard topped the revenue charts as the best-selling game in the United States, with Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War coming in second. And in 2022, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II took in $1 billion globally in the first ten days following its launch. By comparison, the highest grossing film of the year so far, Top Gun: Maverick, took one month to reach the $1 billion threshold.”
Of course, these statements also do not exist in a vacuum. It was literally only last week when we reported that Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 made $ 1 billion in sales, in only its first ten days of release, the same fact that the FTC cites. Subsequently, the free to play Call of Duty Warzone 2 amassed 25 million players in less than a week.
Call of Duty is not just a historically significant franchise in the world of video games and entertainment; it is significant today, breaking records in the current day.
As the FTC had argued in their documents, this franchise is a case for the acquisition to not be allowed to push through. It is just too big a franchise to be entrusted to one platform holder.
Now, Microsoft could always drop the game from their acquisitions, allowing Call of Duty to spinoff with whichever combination of developers would want to keep working on it. But they also want this franchise, if they are to be believed, primarily for mobile gaming.
Microsoft tried to make the case that Call of Duty has no “significant market power” to affect the industry between acquisitions. In fact, there is no one video game franchise that is that big. Activision Blizzard King, as gigantic a conglomerate as it is, only has 10 % of the video game market. It’s a large amount of money and market share, but not enough to destroy the video game industry if it was locked away, or alternately, gone from the industry.
And we can verify that ourselves as well. Call of Duty itself became a video game franchise, because it was following a trend started by a different video game franchise, owned by a different company altogether. Medal of Honor, a realistic military shooter franchise that put you in the shoes of American soldiers, moved veterans to playing video games. It had released 12 games in a span of 13 years, including spinoffs, but its inactivity for nearly a decade after that did not really harm the industry as a whole. And that’s because Call of Duty came in to outdo it, gain a bigger following, and eventually replace it.
And if it ever became necessary, Battlefield, or possibly even a newer military franchise would eventually take Call of Duty’s spot. And arguably, that might not even be necessary, as the big money in shooters has already shifted, from military themed shooters, to live service games, many of which are free to play, like Overwatch 2, Destiny 2, and Fortnite.
With all that said, we cannot deny the success and popularity of Call of Duty now. It’s certainly one of the most prized jewels in Activision Blizzard King’s warchest.
Source: FTC
