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[ArtHands]

This year, Call of Duty's secret weapon is Steam

Modern Warfare 2 is selling double what the series used to on PC.

www.pcgamer.com

Modern Warfare 2 is selling double what the series used to on PC.

What changed on PC this year? Surely some of the increase can be attributed to enthusiasm around the Modern Warfare series, but the true culprit is Steam.

Modern Warfare 2 is the first Call of Duty to launch on Steam in five years. Starting with Black Ops 4 in 2018, the last four Calls of Duty (including Warzone) have only existed in the Battle.net client on PC. Thankfully, Modern Warfare 2 isn't one of those "launches another launcher" deals either: hitting play on Steam gets right into the game.

Activision has decided to share the wealth with Valve once again, and it's apparently paying off. Modern Warfare 2 has been at the top of Steam's top seller list since launch, and it's also been a consistent top-fiver of Steam's most-played list with a daily peak of around 200,000 players. That's not a total tally of people logging onto the game, mind you, just a peak concurrent number.

https://investor.activision.com/node/35691/pdf

Since its October 28 launch, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II has set new records for our largest franchise, becoming the fastest premium Call of Duty release to cross $1 billion in sell-through. Sales have been robust across all platforms, including on PC, where unit sell-through to date is approximately twice the level of recent strong titles in the series. Modern Warfare II has set new franchise engagement records for a premium Call of Duty release, with hours played in the first 10 days more than 40% above the prior franchise record.

 

[Gamezone]

So going Steam and not making it Bnet exclusive wasn't such a bad idea?

 

[Kiraly]

The power of GABEN

 

[Assaulty]

I think a lot of the veterans/oldies that started on 360/ps3 as teens, with more disposable income now and with how easy it's become, have migrated over to the PC over the years. I did the same last year and it was the best thing I could've done to recindle my love for gaming.

 

[bender]

It seems like just yesterday...

 

[winjer]

So putting games on Steam sells a lot more, who, who would have guessed.

 

[chromatic9]

Gaben Gravitas

 

[Reizo Ryuu]

This sounds like correlation instead of causation though.

 

[Portugeezer]

MW2 nostalgia is real. Whether we like it or not, the unbalanced mess that was MW2 2009 was very fun.

 

[scarlet0pimp]

Anywhere to get a cheaper copy of this for PC, dont want to pay £60 on Steam?

 

[Pakoe]

Based Gaben strikes again. It's a matter of time before all the suckers will be back.

Anywhere to get a cheaper copy of this for PC, dont want to pay £60 on Steam?

Buy Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 CD Key Compare Prices

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[Sanepar]

They should stop ban people for nothing. Had my accounted shadow banned saturday and I can"t play the game and they don't tell why they did that.
I'm trying a refund by Steam since I can't play the game.

 

[DenchDeckard]

Consoles are getting dropped as more and more people migrate to pc.

It will be interesting to see what the saturation point of consoles is this gen.

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

It also helps to actually make a decent game which this is the best COD in the last couple of years

 

[MikeM]

I bought it on PC over console for the first time ever. Tired of being limited on console.

 

[gothmog]

Consoles are getting dropped as more and more people migrate to pc.

It will be interesting to see what the saturation point of consoles is this gen.

Nonsense. Sony announced that MW2 was their biggest launch ever of a CoD game including preorders and day one sales. MW2 resonated well with consumers and it launching on Steam is attractive to many people. Steam also ha good visibility around concurrent players which helps understand how popular a game is.

 

[HTK]

I think this has less to do with Steam but more to do with them actually having crossplay and competent PC ports.

 

[DenchDeckard]

Nonsense. Sony announced that MW2 was their biggest launch ever of a CoD game including preorders and day one sales. MW2 resonated well with consumers and it launching on Steam is attractive to many people. Steam also ha good visibility around concurrent players which helps understand how popular a game is.

Yeah but loads of those sales will be on ps4. I'm talking that it will be interesting to see if more and more people move to pc over the coming years.

There's going to be enough of a userbase that will pick up the ps5 so we won't see it until the end of the gen. Where we may see a sharper tail on decline of sales. Say once Sony get to 80 or 90 million sales.

 

[gothmog]

Yeah but loads of those sales will be on ps4. I'm talking that it will be interesting to see if more and more people move to pc over the coming years.

There's going to be enough of a userbase that will pick up the ps5 so we won't see it until the end of the gen. Where we may see a sharper tail on decline of sales. Say once Sony get to 80 or 90 million sales.

Who knows how long they will keep it crossgen? Given that CoD runs on everything from a toaster up in the PC world they could just keep releasing for PS4/Xbox One until a real financial reason to stop supporting it comes up.

I would guess we will see more consoles sold this generation than ever, but I think it will be more spread out over different devices. I could be wrong but it seems like gaming is only becoming bigger rather than smaller. I would guess that all boats rise here because of demand.

I would also say this is why Sony is so defensive on this. There's a lot of money related to CoD.

 

[SmokedMeat]

Do Diablo 4 as well please.

 

[Celcius]

Nice, will probably buy once it goes on sale

 

[Kacho]

Imagine the boost World of Warcraft would get if they put it on Steam.

Ubisoft must be counting down the days until their EGS exclusivity deal expires.

 

[Slicker than your average]

Still no dedicated servers?

 

[j0hnnix]

 

[elladarapanta]

Well, every COD outsells the previous one, so I do not get why this is newsworthy. For real, do we have to compare the MW series to the Vanguard? Rofl.

 

[clarky]

I think this has less to do with Steam but more to do with them actually having crossplay and competent PC ports.

Had that since they went Bnet exclusive.

 

[clarky]

Well, every COD outsells the previous one, so I do not get why this is newsworthy. For real, do we have to compare the MW series to the Vanguard? Rofl.

Complete nonsense.

 

[64bitmodels]

Consoles are getting dropped as more and more people migrate to pc.

in your (and my) dreams.

 

[BennyBlanco]

First COD I’ve bought since Blops 3. It’s really fun.

 

[ArtHands]

Well, every COD outsells the previous one, so I do not get why this is newsworthy. For real, do we have to compare the MW series to the Vanguard? Rofl.

Its not just merely outsell. Its double than before.

 

[Hooks]

They should stop ban people for nothing. Had my accounted shadow banned saturday and I can"t play the game and they don't tell why they did that.
I'm trying a refund by Steam since I can't play the game.

You can't get vacced and get a refund lmao

 

[elladarapanta]

Its not just merely outsell. Its double than before.

Sorry, I am not a Steam fanboy. I like the facts. Comparing modern warfare series to Vanguard is funny.

 

[ArtHands]

Sorry, I am not a Steam fanboy. I like the facts. Comparing modern warfare series to Vanguard is funny.

Activision Blizzard is the one who’s comparing and highlighting it.

 

[Represent.]

Game is great. Gunplay is unmatched

 

[AJUMP23]

I will probably buy digital xbox when they have a Thanksgiving sale.

 

[elladarapanta]

Activision Blizzard is the one who’s comparing and highlighting it.

of course a company would point out growth in sales (which is true, it sold more).
What is not true though, is the steam fanboys' claim that the growth is due to the steam release. No, it is due to being modern warfare.

 

[Celcius]

With COD now selling so well on Steam, if they make another Battlefield, do you think they'll put it on Steam without requiring a separate launcher as well?

 

[ArtHands]

of course a company would point out growth in sales (which is true, it sold more).
What is not true though, is the steam fanboys' claim that the growth is due to the steam release. No, it is due to being modern warfare.

Twice the sales is not something you can just handwave as “due to being modern warfare”, considering they went out of their way to namedrop PC and not stop at “Sales have been robust across all platforms”.

 

[KingT731]

of course a company would point out growth in sales (which is true, it sold more).
What is not true though, is the steam fanboys' claim that the growth is due to the steam release. No, it is due to being modern warfare.

Thing is Vanguard sold poorly for CoD. For example MW2 had already outsold Vanguard's sales for the last year in Europe after like 2 weeks.

 

[Rendered Tangent]

I have experienced Warzone and Vanguard via the Blizzard launcher and it is definitely a more streamlined experience playing MW2 via Steam.

Obviously, one or two mouse clicks less isn't exactly life changing - but it's quicker getting into the game as well...at least in my experience.