Call of Duty: Black Ops III Sells an Estimated 6.65M First Week

VGChartz' William D'Angelo writes: "Call of Duty: Black Ops III sold 6,654,935 units first week worldwide at retail, according to our estimates, which can be viewed on the VGChartz Global Weekly Chart for the week ending November 7th.

Breaking down the sales by platform, the game comfortably sold best on the PlayStation 4, with 3,750,881 units sold (56%), compared to 2,202,654 units sold on the Xbox One (33%). The PlayStation 3 version sold 351,593 units (6%) and the Xbox 360 version sold 319,942 units (5%)."

[AizenSosuke]

Wow those are some big numbers here.

[ThePope]

It's funny articles by VG charts that say anything negative about Sony get 200 "VG numbers aren't real, no one believes them, why does this site even exist" now here we sit and only 1-2 comment s even come close to a comment like that. Just wanted to point out the hypocrisy of it all. Bring on the down votes.

OT - I want to play this game co op as I've heard it's quite good.

[Relientk77]

The game is really fun, I'm not surprised. Glad to have Treyarch back

[Masterchief_thegoat]

damm this bo3 lowest number compare 1&2

[Thatguy-310]

It's only base off two days though.its actually selling a lot

[Masterchief_thegoat]

halo 5 hit low cause, ms should have put it for sept, for halo 5 not the last week of oct where cod and fallout was coming up. look at my lineup
sept 11 halo 5
oct 6 forza 6
nov third party sells will have been much better for ms first party
@spinalremains138& the infected Im glad bo3 sold low cause well fallout 4 is a better game. but that tells you world wide xbox one is not doing so well if halo did 1million half. least see if halo war 2 does a 1 million if not halo series should take a long break

[SpinalRemains138]

So Halo is so awesome that gamers give it the back seat, in favor of BO3 and Fallout?

That's your excuse? That Halo isn't as good and subsequently should be marketed all by itself during a dry spell?

Lol

[ZeroX9876]

@Masterchief_thegoat

The sales period for black ops 3 was from friday to saturday, since the game came out on a friday instead of the usual tuesday release.

The other titles in the franchises all came out on tuesdays, 5 days of sales VS 2.

[BecauseImBatman]

Firstly this is VGChartz, it's estimates and it doesn't count digital sales (which are more prevalent this generation). I question the accuracy of their numbers considering they don't give any sources...

Secondly I don't think any game (except Fallout 4) was gonna exceed expectations this holiday with so many games releasing at the same time. This is a result of over saturation and competition during the holiday period.

I think it would serve more publishers like MS, Ea and Activision to spread out their releases during the year instead of releasing all at the same time.

I'm happy at least Fallout 4 sold really well but it's unfortunate that Tomb Raider (considering how good it is) is a victim of all these big games releasing around it. Poor decision by MS and Crystal to release it at this time.

[SweatyFlorida]

I remember gamestop saying recently that they kept close contact with publishers/developers and that no recent big/AAA game has sold much more in digital then what they normally sell (15-20%).

I think for games such as Halo, Fallout, CoD, etc majority still buy physical (especially given bundles, which are counted), with the whole digital wave being for smaller or more niche games, which clearly aren't the juggernauts that usually release in Sept-November. Tomb Raider was sent to its death unfortunately.

[BecauseImBatman]

@SweatyFlorida

You say that yet.

http://www.gamespot.com/art...

"[UPDATE] Industry analyst Doug Creutz of Cowen & Company issued a note to investors today after the GameStop call, stating Halo 5's digital sales are likely better than what GameStop claimed.

"We especially have a hard time believing that Halo 5 digital units remain in the 20-25% range, as GameStop management suggested on the call," he said. "GameStop gave some other potential reasons for the disconnect between NPD data and Microsoft's post-launch press release, but we don't believe they are sufficient to explain the size of the gap."

"Industry sources support our belief that Halo 5 digital sales were much closer to half of units than the 20-25% GameStop is suggesting."

Speaking generally about GameStop's announcement that Halo 5,Assassin's Creed Syndicate, and Star Wars Battlefront all performed below expectation, Creutz said, "We suspect that the average underperformance vs. their expectations is really being driven by an acceleration of digital downloads."

Talking about Battlefront specifically, Creutz said the game remains on track to hit or surpass EA's 13 million unit shipment projection. "We have always maintained that upside from that level is likely to be modest, but we see no real risk to EA's numbers," he said."

Halo 5 sales are led to be half of the units sold and Star Wars Battlefront are set to hit projections. Gamestop is the only one saying they fell short of expectations... the only logical explanation is an increase in digital sales.

And with EA Access on Xbox One, Star Wars Battlefront digital sales will be higher than ever for Xbox One.

EA reported that they made 77% of its revenue from digital sales...

http://venturebeat.com/2015...

Fallout 4 with 1.8m digital copies in it's first three days...

http://www.gamespot.com/art...

Digital Sales matter this generation... on both PS4 and Xbox One.

@nix

probably... and that's why EA like digital sales cause it's another potential customer to buy their overpriced dlc.

[nix]

77 percent for EA was probably all the dlc they nickeled n dimed the gamers.

[jb227]

@becauseimbatman

Those quotes are from an analyst at Cowen & Company, a company that just so happens to count MS among their clientele list. Considering they aren't giving hard numbers & are just throwing around a nebulous 50% number, which is twice what projections for digital typically are, and the analyst in question is actually paid by MS & not an unbiased third party, those stats are pretty questionable.

I honestly think that if the digital sales are that high, they most likely are also including retail sales that came w/ a boxed code downloaded digitally, which would account for every CE & Bundle...add those "sales" in and maybe the 50% is more realistic, but that would essentially mean they are being counted twice.

[BecauseImBatman]

@jb227
So I can't take a company who so happens to have MS as a client at face value but it's somehow okay for everyone to take VGChartz at face value despite their numbers being estimates, they don't count digital at all and they don't give any source for how they come to their numbers.

"Considering they aren't giving hard numbers & are just throwing around a nebulous 50% number"

VgChartz don't have hard numbers. MS themselves said Halo 5 was there best selling digital title and it was being advertised all over the Xbox One interface so is it really that hard to believe that it could be as high as 50%...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wi...

"Halo 5 made the biggest sales record in Xbox history, and was the best-selling digital title."

"would account for every CE & Bundle...add those "sales" in and maybe the 50% is more realistic, but that would essentially mean they are being counted twice."

I don't know about that, that is not a practice MS would like to get caught at. WOuld be a PR nightmare, anyway besides the only people who should really care about these number are investors. The fact is Halo 5 made a lot of money for MS and will continue to through the holidays.

Anyway I'm not saying any of this is fact, my only point was digital game sales matter a lot more this generation. Even if it's 25% or 50%.

[badboyz09]

More than 70% of my friends including myself purchased blackops 3 Digital on PS4. Also Sony had a major $15 nous on PSN if you buy the hardened bundle Digital version. ALso it had competition like Starwars,

[Halo2ODST2]

Halo's went downhill ever since 343 took charge, While I do like Halo 5's Multiplayer, that is the only thing good they've done game-wise. (Halo Legends is great).

[MasterCornholio]

Those are really big numbers.

Did CODBO3 outsell all other FPSs on their respective platforms?

[UserNameIsNotTaken]

Battlefront is the only one that could outsell it but i think BO3 sold more.

[Rookie_Monster]

Yup, it handily outsold Killzone Shadow Fall on PS4.

[MasterCornholio]

That game was a launch title. I was talking about FPSs that came out this year.

Why did you bring that up?

Did I offend you in some way?

[Skankinruby]

Some crazy numbers there, ps4 version outsold the other 3 combined. It puzzles me how this franchise stays so red hot when feedback for almost every entry is negative.

[BlackPanther]

That's the vocal minority that hates others that don't enjoy the same games.

[Pintheshadows]

Not so much in this case though. This seems to be the most positively received game in the series since the first Black Ops.

I have to say, I don't mind it at all. The multiplayer is fun, although after years off, I am agonisingly slow at it. The campaign is rather insane but definitely enjoyable, and zombies is as addictive as always.

It is a really solid package.

Add to that Ben Browder, Katee Sackhoff, and Robert Picardo. Three science fiction heroes.

[LetoAtreides82]

And an awesome soundtrack from Jack Wall, who also made soundtracks for the Mass Effect series.

[Skankinruby]

I'm not big on shooters but I don't own a game that doesn't require some commitment. Last COD I played was modern warfare 3, might pick this or advanced warfare up as a time killer

[Loadedklip]

As others said ... very vocal minority.

[InactiveUser]

Or very vocal majority..

"Mommy, mommy! Calla dudie. Mommy! I want the Calla Doodie!"

[SweatyFlorida]

Feedback for BO3 has been nothing but positive actually, very solid game even if you hate cod's guts for some unknown salty reason. Perfect storm of balance and good plentiful content for hours (upon hours) of enjoyment, even if you don't like the multiplayer.

After BO3 I don't see how anyone can hate CoD but still rave about Battlefield/Dice when their past 3-4 games have been shit->decent.

[Protagonist]

That´s some serious numbers.

[TheColbertinator]

COD is far from dead it seems. Congrats to Treyarch.

[OC_MurphysLaw]

big numbers but not sure those are big by COD standards.

[Sparta07]

Same can be said about halo 5 numbers when you compare them to other halos. I bet you didn't complain about that. ;)

[OC_MurphysLaw]

Sorry did I miss something in my comment that references Halo 5?

[Tobsesan]

You.know how much halo sold? Numbers? Or are you reffering to NPD only 3 days in october physical only in one country Numbers?

[sullynathan]

I wonder why vg chartz estimates are also much lower than when the developers tell how many copies the game sold.

For example, CDProjektRED said TW3 sold six million copies but onvg charts, it's a bit over 3 million

[ZeroX9876]

probably CDProjektRED numbers are Retail + digital and VGcharts retail only.

[jc12]

unreal...wow. This guarantees we will continue to receive the same old COD game for the next 5+ years. Why change the same old formula if sheep are going to continue to buy it. I just don't get people.

This generation has been one big boring rehash of old ideas, sprinkled in with remasters.

[Ricegum]

Lol, just ignore it and don't buy it then, and move on. No one really cares about your opinion.

[jc12]

Ironic coming from someone with one bubble...

Anyway, this is a video game forum, if I want to point out the fact that COD is a repetitive annual release, well, then, I'm going to point it out, whether it hurts your feelings or not. Simple fact is, Activision feeds us the same shooter every year. In fact, we've become so complacent as a gaming community, Activision now has three companies making the same game over and over and over, and we still buy it! Its gross, but who can blame them I guess.

Not really sure how anyone can think this is good for the industry. Down vote away, I don't give a F.

[trywizardo]

and here we see a proof that 90% of gamers now days are idiots and think COD will actually become better

[Errefus]

Sucks for the people that bought it on 360 and ps3 not getting the full game

[Father Murder X]

How do these guys come up with these numbers? Do the companies report their numbers to vgachartz. I am curious???

[FallenAngel1984]

Call of Duty carries on the tradition of selling better on PlayStation consoles since 2012.

[Smokingunz]

Great numbers for such a terribly game(multiplayer wise at least) this shows that cod is bere to stay which means they'll keep giving us bad multiolayer with small levels,bad hit detection,decade same old graphics,terrible lag and no dedicated servers thank you treyarch

[Back-to-Back]

Great numbers for such a terribly game(multiplayer wise at least.

AKA I'm bad at multiplayer. If you want big levels go play that mediocre Battlefront game.

[Flames76]

That's not good since its the lowest selling COD game in the past 7 years.Which is good news for the gaming industry since the COD franchise needs to die they are still using the Quake 2 engine i believe from back in like 2003 lol.Horrible game, horrible publisher, and horrible developer.I rented the game to try it out it's not just the worst COD game it's the worst game this gen so far glitch fest city.It's sad to see such a terrible franchise stay around like this gamer's deserves better for thier money

[SuperbVillain]

for Multiplayer- I wish they had male & female versions of each specialist,it kinda sucks that they don't

[NotAFanboyyy]

VGChartz? Really? This outlet isn't even close to being an accurate source.