“Overwatch” Is Thriving With 20 Million Players, “Call of Duty” Is Dying; End of Activision’s First-Person Shooter Game Franchise?

Even though "Call of Duty" has become a household name for gamers, and gaming fans alike, the catchphrase "Call of Duty is dying" has spread like wildfire all throughout social media. One reason for "CoD" demise may be its sales, as the numbers have plummeted since the release of its latest installment, and that more and more games are offering diversity and depth into their own gameplay.

 "Call of Duty" sales versus "Overwatch" sales

Despite there being no "official" sales numbers publicly available for both games, according to a previous report from EuroGamer over a month ago, "Call of Duty: Infinity Warfare" only sold 50% compared with that of "COD: Black Ops 3" even though both were released on a similar Friday in November. It is true that "CoD: Infinity Warfare" topped UK charts in its first week, the sales did not surpass the projected value of the game regardless of the massive marketing push.

Meanwhile, "Overwatch," the newly released team-based multiplayer first-person shooter video game from Blizzard Entertainment, garnered well over 20 million players in 5 months upon release, per PCGamesN. This may well be a direct head shot to the already established name of "Call of Duty" as "Overwatch" is reaching "COD" numbers with 20 million registered players to date, despite Blizzard not sharing any official figures but a tweet on their official Twitter page.

Ten million Overwatch agents activated and counting! Thank you for daring to see the world for what it could be. pic.twitter.com/5nCe4e32XT

— Overwatch (@PlayOverwatch) June 14, 2016

"Call of Duty" fans are already bored with the gameplay

With a number of newly released games and updated franchises in the market, gamers surely have a wide array of choices. WhatCulture even noted that gamers are moving away from "COD"-type games. This could mean a massive hit against the already established "Call of Duty."

"Call of Duty" has been described as predictable with short campaigns and typical twists. While new games are offering more depth and diversity in different campaigns. On the other hand, "Overwatch" has received mostly positively strong word of mouth from players and critics.

"Overwatch" offers gamers a mixed of colorful and memorable heroes centered around objective-based gameplay. However, this isn't proof that "Call of Duty" players are shifting focus to a more cartoonish style game.

Game publisher Activision and developer Infinity Ward might want to rethink and refocus code and provide diversity, as more and more players may want to experience another level of gaming experience.