Call of Duty’s Lead Platform Switching to PS4; Digital Game Sales Higher than Xbox One’s - Insider

The Call of Duty franchise has been associated with the Xbox brand for quite a while, but something may be changing, as gathered by industry insider Pete "Famousmortimer" Dodd, that normally has a good track record with what his industry sources share with him. To provide an example, he was the one that first mentioned the difference in resolution of Call of Duty: Ghosts between PS4 and Xbox One. Today he mentioned something quite interesting about Call of Duty's lead platform and PS4/Xbox One digital sales.

[XiSasukeUchiha]

Damn what now there saying COD leading platform is going to be on PS4. What an giant flip-flop!

[Statix]

Looks like that much-ballyhooed Microsoft/EA partnership, essentially supporting ALL of Activision's direct competition (Titanfall, Battlefield, EA, etc.) backfired on them.

All it did was piss Activision off, and now Activision is switching sides because they felt betrayed.

We all kinda saw this coming last year, when Activision demoed Ghosts to IGN on the PS4 than the Xbox One.

[Bigpappy]

Activision isn't buying COD, you guys are. This is after so many in your camp keep slamming the game and insulting those who play it.

You also seem to forget, the number one place COD is sold, is on Xbox 360.

[mcstorm]

I agree with Bigpappy I would not call this a big deal tbh. Most people are now looking at other games over COD. COD is a IP that needs a break and also going up against some new and exciting IP's like Titanfall, Destiney ect. I expect a lot of developers to start using the PS4 as the leaded console for 3rd party games but bragging about COD is not really anything to get excited about.

[Ninver]

Now the interesting question is will Activision release exclusive dlc first on ps4 or will they still sleep with the losing team (Microsoft).

[Charybdis]

Depends if sony wants to pay for it,exclusive content mostly are paid mutual beneficial deals, such as with watchdogs and destiny.

That said with the ps4 as lead platform it would make sense that potential beta programs and updates would launch exclusively and/or first on the ps4.

[MonstaTruk]

If I were SONY, I wouldn't pay Activision sh*t.

SONY's the big boy on the block, now. EARLY established, this gen. If Activision wants to rub the console with the CLEAR install base advantage the wrong way, keep doing the month-exclusive DLC thing with MS. It's already rubbed a lot of PS3 fans the wrong way last gen, start that up the beginning if this gen and see what happens...

[Sci0n]

wow xbox gamers lived off of cod don't get me wrong its always sold well on PS as well but just about all of last gen microsft shelled out the big bucks for timed exclusivityq because the 360 didn't have to many big exclusives that was there main game. Even though everyone always hates on it and claim they are tired of it it keeps selling millions.

[GraveLord]

It just makes sense. PS4 is selling far better and delaying these people DLC for 1 month is a huge amount of lost sales.

[Kidmyst]

A big downside to this is more of the annoying gamers we found more on XBL than PSN will be more now on PSN. But as long as I have the mute button I'm cool!

[diehardmetallicafan]

exactly what i thought... the mute button will save everyones mothers a lot of abuse ;)

[MonsterChef]

Private chat parties are the best. I'm in a clan and everytime we play together we start our private chat no need to here insults just strategy

[adorie]

Maybe now the game will actually look next-gen.

[Matt666]

it just shows that the only things Activison care about is money and sales

[frostypants]

CoD. Meh.

[notyobizhwispndmymny]

I thought you guys were not interested in COD or multiplayer games. Remember you absolutely hate COD LOL..

This is getting too funny. Hate it because it doesn't tow the Sony company line, love it as soon as a rumor states that it will.

[bennissimo]

Who cares what platform COD will be developed around?

It'll still be crap.

TITANFALL!

[otherZinc]

Dualshockers again...
This SONY site is always full of M$ doom, speculation & assumptions, never any facts...just, "this could happen". Whatever.

[CaptainFaisal]

i hope so! :)

[Statix]

Remember how the new Call of Duty by Sledgehammer was unveiled at Destination Playstation earlier this month? That might have been an indicator of this shift.

If COD leads on PS4, then we don't have to worry about a crappy port-job that caters to the weakest common denominator that is the Xbox One.

[DawnOfDon]

The Xbox One version runs smoother though, I own it on both

[filipakos]

If it didnt run smoothly then you should feel bad for buying it.Thats the whole reason of why they made it 720p on xbox

[lawgone]

So immature that people are disagreeing with dawnofdon. I also own both and it DOES run smoother on the XB1. It's pretty annoying actually.

[extermin8or]

You realise I think ot was digital foundry showed that most of the frame rate hiccups on cod werent the frame rate dropping... but exceeding 60fps in places. So when that occurred amd ot returns to 60 your eyes percieve it as a drop. Bit it isn't. ... so not running as smoothly maybe but only because the fps wasnt capped properly clearly.

[fOrlOnhOpe57]

Interesting. Especially Sony's higher digital sales.Maybe as a result of Vita and remote play perhaps?

[shivvy24]

Maybe its ps+ , I love having physical copies but when I got ps+ it just felt so simple switching games without having to change disks

[skydragoonity]

Ps4 is the lead console this gen, no surprises here.

[Eonjay]

Exactly. I think Dodd is given too much credit for telling us things we already know. Every multiplat is leading on PS4 hardware (mostly because the PS4 is the leading platform in sales).

[Magicite]

Indeed.

[candy_mafia]

Lead platform huh? ...I'll wager Xbone still gets the DLC first though.

[Lou-Cipher]

That deal with Microsoft will probably end fairly soonish.

Activision could get away with that when Cod was selling more on the Xbox brand, but with an estimated significantly higher sells on the Playstation brand, it will take alot more money from Ms to make that deal worth it for Activision. (or any other developer)

All of the advantages Microsoft had last Gen have evaporated.

[jackanderson1985]

didn't they just re-sign the contract in august? 4 or 5 years minimum i'd say

[sic_chops]

Who cares.... @candy

[donman1]

Its called Microsoft paying for it. So yes they might just well still do.

[DanielGearSolid]

Activision cant be happy about the MS EA partnership

[zeuanimals]

EA probably isn't even happy about the MS/EA partnership.

[Crystallis]

LOL!

[HugoDrax]

Why wouldn't they be happy? Fanboys on this site I tell you hahaha...N4G fanboy wars are so silly sometimes. Thinking that Microsoft and Sony are actually at war over videogames lol. The world is much bigger than Playstation and Xbox

Here's a fact

MS = $234.83 Billion
http://www.forbes.com/compa...

Sony = $17.6 Billion
http://www.forbes.com/compa...

Now explain to me why EA would be mad at partnering with Microsoft? Money talks, and Microsoft has a lot of it. Let alone EA and Microsoft are American companies. I'm sure they would rather play for their home team than play for the away team. The xbox will never make an impact on Japanese soil because they're not the home team, this is why Playstation will always sell better in Japan. Except Americans would rather hate on their home team and root for the away team. I just don't get it hahaha..

[ThatOneGuyThere]

hugo, nobody here is talking about their entire corporate structures. MS cannot be happy with the sales performance of the Xbox's devision's latest device in comparison to what sony's device is doing. thats all.

[MonsterChef]

Hugo you must not know how public business work, just because Microsoft has all that money does not necessarily mean that all that can flow in the Xbox division especially when that division hasn't yielded the profit that is normal for a company like Microsoft, if I were an investor I wouldn't want my money to go to a bleeding division it just wouldn't make sense or money. trust me when I say this Sony has more of its resources flowing to its PlayStation division since its actually profitable

[MegaRay]

Nobody is happy about the MS/EA partnership except xboners only

[MasterCornholio]

OMG!!!!!

[Fishy Fingers]

Makes some sense I guess, PS4 is the stronger platform, leads the X1 in install base and I believe they sold more copies of COD on the PS4. Throw in that CODs new, number one competitor is exclusive to the Xbox, its in their interest to buddy up with PS.

[Agent_hitman]

So now we can expect that the future COD will be PS4 and no longer Xbox timed exclusive?.

[shivvy24]

Well if Microsoft keeps throwing money then no, I still think exclusive dlc is a waste of money

[Fishy Fingers]

Doubtful. Unless Sony decide they want to pay for the timed content. If MS arent willing to maintain their deal with Activision I expect all DLC would release at the same time.

[LexHazard79]

As well it should! Sucks people gotta wait!

[Crystallis]

and i hope they don't...at least for COD. Destiny I'm ok with.

[Fz6soldier]

I think by lead platform they mean for development persposes. X1 version will probably be ported from Ps4.

[DanielGearSolid]

The exclusive doesn't seem like it has a legitimate affect on sales

But idk

I just hope Sony doesn't waste money on something stupid like that

[sic_chops]

Good... No more being held back by Xbox consoles

[urwifeminder]

Oh snap COD is cool again.

[ZombieDust]

Yeah now thay sony fanboys hear it's using ps4 as lead console they all of a sudden love CoD or at least think its relevant now.

[zeuanimals]

Not sure about fanboys but as a PS4 owner... Still irrelevant, as it is with most of my friends. COD's dying so this isn't a win for Sony. It's a win in the larger scheme of things since the PS4 is gonna be the lead console for multiplats.

[Ricegum]

Question. How is Cod dying? Why do people keep saying this? Just because people want it to go away so bad doesn't suddenly make it die, it's still selling amazingly, don't be in denial. Cod will be around for a very long time, whether you like it or not.

[MysticStrummer]

"Oh snap COD is cool again."

Oh snap another comment that ignores the actual story in favor of an attempted joke/attack toward PS gamers. CoD is one of the biggest selling franchises on PS so your comment doesn't make much sense, not that you probably care.

OT - PS4 is easier to work with and has a bigger install base, so this makes sense. I still won't be interested in CoD but depending on the result it could make multi plat owners buy PS4's version.

[urwifeminder]

You are spot on my friend love your online work keep it up.

[GraveLord]

It's always been cool. Top-selling game on all platforms last year. Get with the times brah.

[cfc78]

With all the xbox fans that jumped ship over to ps this is no surprise i expect most multiplats to do the same as ps4 continues to do well.

[TheRedButterfly]

Must be a reaction to Titanfall. Gotta distance themselves from that rival. XD

[chaosx]

i called this a long time ago and got flamed on this site for it. Activision where the architect behind the 1080p resolution gate difference with PS$ and xb1. They have backed Sony because MS backed respawn.

Activison are running scared because CoD is stale and failing…… enjoy any exclusive PS4.

Bare in mind from a business stand point the next 1 maybe 2 CoD games will be shipped to last gen platforms so any next gen agreements won't filter through for a while.

[ThatOneGuyThere]

cod ran at a lower resolution because the xbox one has half of the gpu to work with. anything else is a wild conspiracy theory.

[chaosx]

Other games run and higher res than 720p yet they didn't even try to up the resolution at all on xb1 but just happened to have a PS4 update handy at launch. I doubt some guy just threw it together over a weekend.
Activision needs CoD to work with 3 studios churning a title out every year.
Titanfall has the potential to really hurt CoD, from a business stand point Activison had to make a strategic decision and sided with Sony.

Both titles that released updates for resolution were Ubisoft and Activision.
Both are now showing that the have content exclusivity agreements of sorts with Sony for content.
Activison wanted the PS4 to seem more attractive to gamers so they could have more control over the its base platform for it core games.

Not a conspiracy theory , common sense.

[ThatOneGuyThere]

unless there's any evidence to the contrary, its the definition of a conspiracy theory. we KNOW the xb1 has 50% less gpu cores as the ps4. we know this. it isnt speculation. we know ghosts is running on a game engine from last generation that wasnt designed for the current systems. we know that without optimization, there has to be sacrifices. look, im not saying that the next iteration of COD wont run at 1080 and 60fps solid on xb1, in fact i almost can guarantee it will. its in activision's best interest to sell as many copies of their game as possible, across all platforms. COD on xb1 isnt competing with cod on ps4. its competing with bf4, halo, titanfall, etc on xb1.

[No_Limit]

Pointless article. PS4 is sold in over 50 countires vs XB1 in only 13 thus far. And the source is from a random user at Neogaf without any concrete sources. Dualshockers always get news from random posters from Neograf for some reason. Take it with a grain of slat, I say.

[Kayant]

Yh the same user with a 85% or more track record of being right so far.

Truly random indeed... /s

[Sevir]

A grain of "Slat"...? Whatever that may be.

[Drekken]

You're right... the XBO will definitely sell more software once it is released in Japan and the Czech Republic. lol.

[Crystallis]

LOL!!

[tiremfej]

FamousMortimore? Now rumors are being posted as news? It would make sense actually develop for the lowest common denominator, that way the PS4 might be able have 1080 with effects...like shadows on characters, or no fog in the distance...

[Wingsfan24]

Jeez. First comments are like, "Yea bro, cod sucks I hate it I don't want it anymore", Dualshockers posts another rumor, "PS4 is lead development, now I want it" Make up your minds already.

[Hicken]

If only you were right...

Unfortunately, if you were paying ANY attention to comments, you'd see virtually nobody saying they love the game, or that they're more willing to buy it.

Literally nothing had changed about how people feel about the game; what's changed is the potential importance of the franchise in the gaming landscape as it pertains to the behind the scenes politics.

Please, don't be like the ignorant trolls who essentially make up the content of comments they complain about.

[PhilJowns]

Surely Pete Dodd has been discredited by now? He just pushes out hundreds of vague rumours then claims victory if one turns out true!

Who cares which is lead platform on a multiplatform game anyway? I would have thought with how close new consoles are to PC architecture they'd make PC lead then just scaledown for console versions.

As for the digital sales the PS4 currently has lots more indie games available which are only digital so they would be doing better in digital sales. Unless he was specifically saying COD sold better digitally on PS4? Which as they pushed out a crap low resolution version on Xbox isn't much of an achievement.

Again Dodds is always vague and never has real details. He knows his history is patchy as he is using Dodds now and dropping the famousmortimor moniker.

[Wingsfan24]

Doesn't matter to Abriael. If an insider says a word, he reports on it. Usually spreading false information around, but he doesn't care obviously.

[Akuma07]

More often then not his rumors become truth.

[ARESWARLORD]

I have Ghosts on PS4 and it is garbage. Huge waste of my hard earned money. Wish I never bought the Seasons Pass. Garbage. Titanfall on the other hand is the best shooter I have played in years. Rot in hell Duty

[Ricegum]

I have Ghosts on PS4, and I believe it is the best Call of Duty game since Modern Warfare 2. It is far from garbage, great game to pick up and play when you're bored.

[ARESWARLORD]

better then black ops 2 eh. right

[ThatOneGuyThere]

he wanted something different from COD, apparently. ghosts is slow and open compared to blops2. maybe thats what he was looking for. so to him, better.

[marlinfan10]

lol all I've heard for the last few years is that only xbox players like fps and the "dudebro games" or w.e the ps guys used to call it. now this comes out and all of the sudden call of dutys the best game ever made lmao.

[CPTN MITCHELL]

you sound like you are :-(

[CorndogBurglar]

I haven't seen anyone here really praising CoD as a game.

Its good for the PS4 because of its popularity, but I don't really see anyone saying that CoD is a great game.

Are you reading the same comments I am, because it really doesn't look like it. MOST people are just mentioning how this could be good or bad for Xbox.

[ThatOneGuyThere]

hella dude bros are switching sides. derp.

[CPTN MITCHELL]

what they need to do is stop trying to be like bf4 and make the game like modern warfare with simple killstreaks and perks and stop this 20+perk crap like the garbage that it is on ghost and fix the spawn system!! activision create your on path and stop following

[Ko_Uraki]

Please...not another insider "story"

[Akuma07]

I can see Microsoft really trying to marry up Titanfall to their platform asap.

Also I think the guys at Activision who fired the Infinity Ward guys must be reeeeaalllly pissed haha. Well the IW guys left because Activision wouldn't let them do something other than COD, then they go on to make the game they wanted to make, and smash COD lol.

[ltachiUchiha]

"smash COD"

I agree with u maybe in the area that TF is something refreshing & fun factor but too bad sales wise it won't dent COD or Destiny sales. If anything MS loses one of their key 3rd party players for the 360's success not because those games wont be on an xb1 but because u can almost guarantee that Activision will offer up Sony sweet deals that will benefit the ps4 & Activision games. Doesnt sound like much but for MS is sake, they need every advantage they can get if they want to stay close to Sony in sales of each platform.

[hankmoody]

So then according to N4G logic, this should be very, very bad for the PS4, seeing as everyone hates CoD. Amirite? Hilarious.

[GW212]

It's not "bad" for PS4. I'm a PS guy and I'm pretty indifferent to this. I don't like COD that much and don't care what the preferred platform is for this series.

[Outside_ofthe_Box]

This is N4G, the logic is everyone shares the same opinion. So you are wrong. You do care what the preferred platform for CoD is and this is very very bad for the PS4. AmIDoinItRite? Hilarious.

[Ko_Uraki]

PS4 is a fantastic console. Xbox One is agreat hardware too. PS4 is selling better ww, One is selling more than decently and it can still improve in some markets. There are great games on both. I can not understand the logic behind these unconfirmed rumors if not spreading hate among fanboys.

[DeadManMMX]

Anyone can see that most of the core COD audience is still on 360. Until more people make the leap to next gen and choose their console this is a bit of early speculation.

[urwifeminder]

Pc will be the main platform then everything is down graded from there , plus they are still catering to last gen consoles so it will be the same thing anyway.

[bleedsoe9mm]

guessing sony counts ps+ games as digital sales

[chobit_A5HL3Y]

seeing as how ms has about zero good deals at any given time, while ps+ has them every week, it's not really surprising at all really~

[The_devils_chum]

If i was sony i would put an end to all this early DLC stuff its what started alot of this fanboyism. Ps and xbox fans could never really celebrate the release of the game and dlc because xbox would always say but we get the map packs 1st.
Sony would be making the right kind of statement by doing so.

[PizzImperfect]

Hoodebooga!

[chobit_A5HL3Y]

LOL

[Devin942]

I see no problem with that if it's true. Xbox still has Titan fall.

[hello12]

X BOX 1 has the best shooters on the market currently Gears of war, Halo, Titanfall .

COD i never understood the popularity of this game, so simple to play and requires no thinking. Gamers are just lazy if they love COD

[Zancruz]

Gears of War was the only good game, Every game after that was and is subpar... First Cliffy B and now Epic Games is not even going to be producing it and you still have faith? Lmao

Halo is just rehash... Just like Call of Duty, Both need to be laid to rest, They're the highlights of last gen time for something new.

Titanfall is the ONLY game that's worth getting you've mentioned and it will get old quickly after a few games, Just like everything else does. But I'm curious to see how Respawn is going to keep the series fresh.

All online first person shooters are easy, requiring fast reflexes, good internet and very little brain power... (Granite every game has a learning curve on do's and don'ts, But it's not rocket science)

[Zancruz]

And so does PC and maybe Playstation with the next game... So what then? That's the problem with a game not being totally exclusive, A person doesn't have to buy your product if they can play it somewhere else....

[DawnOfDon]

Isn't it a little early to tell? I bet if you add up all Cod Ghosts sales Xbox overall would be in the lead with both of the Xbox 360 and the X1

[2cents]

This is great news, now hopefully MS can stop throwing money at a dead dog.

I'd rather see those millions be pumped into something more deserving. (Not Titanfall)

[quenomamen]

This is good news ? Why am I not jumping for joy ?

[Devin942]

I love how people believe everything that comes from gaf members ...lol if they are supposed to know insiders why didn't they know anything about xb1 being dx12 capable.

[Saithraphim]

Very symbolic move!

[Thunderhawkxbox]

Since when Sony fan boys cares about cod lol I tho it was crap btw that's the same person which said EA were sorry to make tittanfall xbox exclusive lol

[mochachino]

I hope all devs lead on PS4.

People say sales don't matter but they do. The more sales, the more dev support.

[iBigdog500]

Call of Duty is on the road to dying anyway.

[chobit_A5HL3Y]

too bad digital sales and next gen isn't!!!

[iBigdog500]

O

[ThePope]

Haha, they can have it!

[UNIFIEDONE]

EHH COD sucks who cares....

[Gamer666]

That's interesting. devts typically choose the most difficult machine to work with for the lead platform.

That way they know that their features will work on all other platforms they want to port it to.

From the track record this is simply not a logical choice.

[hello12]

Activision most be jealous Microsoft cares more for Titanfall. Cod who cares truly casual shooter that should have been buried a long time ago.

[KontryBoy706]

Microsoft knows better than anyone it's all about the money. Now they know by being on the opposing end. This is like history in the making right here. It's going to seem so odd to see call of duty commercials with the PlayStation logo at the end. Lol. I can't wait.

[meday354]

Business as usual the better install base console will always get a pass go collect $200 for free card cause thats how business is. Publishers and dev's are in the gaming industry to make money and not friends.

[S2Killinit]

There will be more of these in the future as the PS4 pulls ahead of xbone in sales

[Flames76]

Haha titanfall done scared call of duty away damn.Anyway millions could care less its COD no body gives a damn but kiddies with modded controllers.

[Iamnemesis4880]

720p 1080p who cares you can not polish a turd and call of duty ghosts is the king turd quit playing that crap game one day after release the multiplayer sucks to a whole new hight

[MajorGecko]

everyone hates on activision granted i dont play COD but at least they dont make people who dont have premium wait 2 weeks to play the new DLC, EA chooses to penilized battlefield 3/bf4 owners who never bought premium and now Battlefield is hated n glitchy haha karma.

[GentlemenRUs]

Urgh no thanks.

[LambOfLucifer79]

I'm still amazed as to why you guys bash one console or the other. We all know that gamers benefit the greatest when both consoles succeed. Unless you're getting a check from MS or Sony...STFU

[Zancruz]

Ah No, Just NO!

[Father__Merrin]

all of you are wrong

call of duty is the #1 gaming franchise, call of duty next will obliterate titanfall this year

[imuze]

We don't want you COD get new original refreshing innovative ideas to join our ship!!

[jspillen]

I got my Titanfall on my PC so I could run it at the Maximum Settings. But I'm still just not blown away. There is just enough quirkiness to the controls that both MW1 and MW2 feel more accurate to me. I'm disappointed it didn't live up to the hype.

[lifeordeath617]

lolol this is awesome

[SynestheticRoar]

W@W. The X1 is almost done, stick a fork in them. COD used to be their bread, and butter. How the times have change.

[Azzanation]

COD doesn't matter because it will be available on both consoles. No one is missing out so this doesn't change gaming or system choices one bit. Ill be buying COD on PC like I also have, regardless of its system choice.

[Buzz7S]

"COD is so overrated and full of kids. Can't wait for it to go away!"

*rumour says COD developer prefers PS4*

"OMG this is awesome news!"

[TheKingWilliamV]

Sony is better than Microsoft. As they stated they dont buy franchise exclusivetivity they simply allow the developer to chose. Now with the beast that is the ps4 they chosing wisely.

[sgtGanGreen]

Because ps4 players dont have anything else to play. Only codG and bf4