Why does Call of Duty keep selling so well?

[Indignator]

This is not a rhetorical question, I really do want to know, especially as someone who stopped playing those games after Modern Warfare (I'm not that into multiplayer). I recently made my peace with the series after I realized that Activision has been releasing a new Call of Duty game every October/November like clockwork since 2005's Call of Duty 2, with Infinity Ward making games in the odd numbered years and Treyarch making games in the even numbered years. Thus I don't think of the games in terms of their subtitles or even sequential numbers but rather the year in which they were released.

But back to my question - why does the series continue selling so well? Do the new features really warrant such astronomical sales records? At least in games like Madden or FIFA you get an annual roster update (something that EA could do as a DLC but why would they do that when the games continue selling like hotcakes every year). I have come up with some theories:

1) Hype - people buy new games because they are truly excited to play them. This is the weakest of my theories because I don't believe that hype can get to so many people.
2) Quality - the games are just that good. Again, I don't really buy this. While these games certainly are excellent (yeah I said it) are they really that good that Activision can sell the same game over and over again with only minor tweaks and features (and a new campaign) between releases?
3) Player Base - this is the best explanation that I can come up with. Since the majority of people play these games for the multiplayer, once a new version comes out they buy it because they fear that their friends and online buddies will switch and they want to stay current. Of course their friends and online buddies will switch to the new version for the same reason, thus perpetuating a feedback cycle.

Anyway, what do you think? Because the sales figures are so huge I am interested in the overall driving force behind them. So feel free to say why you keep buying new versions, but keep in mind that it might not be the reason why the majority of people do.

One final point. As I was reading this before posting I realized that I made the assumption that the sales are driven by repeat buyers. While each new iteration certainly does bring in new customers, I do think that it is a valid assumption to make.

EDIT: After reading some replies, let me address a common point that is being brought up - it's fun. Sorry, but this just is not a good enough reason. There are lots of games that are fun, but they don't sell nearly as well as Call of Duty does. I don't think people realize how massive the sales are. Here are some rough sales figures:

Black Ops - 24 million
Modern Warfare 2 - 22 million
World at War - 11 million
Modern Warfare - 14 million

For comparison here are the sales figures for some other FPS games:

Bad Company 2 - 6 million
Crysis 2 - 2 million
Halo: Reach - 9 million
Halo: ODST - 6 million
Halo 3 - 12 million

It should be noted that Halo is an XBox exclusive, so that no doubt diminished the sales considerably. Still, it stands that CoD has been selling, year after year, in the tens of millions of copies. This is the main reason why I am asking this question - the sales are ridiculous, and simply saying that the game is fun doesn't account for that.

 

[Geekosaurus]

It's fun. It's a simple as that.

 

[skywolfblue]

1) Hype - people buy new games because they are truly excited to play them. This is the weakest of my theories because I don't believe that hype can get to so many people.
2) Quality - the games are just that good. Again, I don't really buy this. While these games certainly are excellent (yeah I said it) are they really that good that Activision can sell the same game over and over again with only minor tweaks and features (and a new campaign) between releases?
3) Player Base - this is the best explanation that I can come up with. Since the majority of people play these games for the multiplayer, once a new version comes out they buy it because they fear that their friends and online buddies will switch and they want to stay current. Of course their friends and online buddies will switch to the new version for the same reason, thus perpetuating a feedback cycle.

Anyway, what do you think? Because the sales figures are so huge I am interested in the overall driving force behind them.

There is no one single driving force. As with a lot of things, it's an "All of the above combine to create that effect".

Though I'll add another to that list. More of a hybrid of 1 and 3 combined:

4) Momentum. As soon as a whole lot of people start playing a game, others begin to play it too. To test it out and see how good/bad it is, or simply to try it out because all their friends are playing it. So it increases in popularity simply by being popular.

 

[GundamSentinel]

It's fun. It's a simple as that.

Yes. As much as people try to deny it, a lot of people (including me) actually like over-the-top fast paced shooters. It's big dumb fun and that is what a lot of people want to entertain themselves. Call of Duty just happens to be the biggest player, so it's only natural people buy it.

 

[Mr.Petey]

I think this is similar to how a fashion label can sell clothes because of a name itself. Kinda like how much of the Final Fantasy games attract such a large following, because of the name people are assured of a quality well-put-together.

That's my theory anywho

 

[Continuity]

This is not a rhetorical question, I really do want to know,

As I see it its simply that to the average gamer, who is a somewhat casual gamer by the way, blockbuster games like COD with their shiny graphics and cinematic single player are about as far as they care to go down the rabbit hole.

These average gamers that i'm referring to spend maybe 5-10 hours tops a month playing games, when they do play games they want a condensed wow effect, they want eye candy, they want high production values and they want to feel that they are playing the best game... and that is pretty much how COD is sold, its the premium game for casual gamers.

At least thats a big segment of the market, all the mid 20's to mid 30's professional men who have only a small amount of time to game lap this shit up.

Then of course there is the other demographic, the more stereotypical COD player, the screaming 12 year olds etc, well I dont think I really need to explain that... lets just say its a good thing that COD exists because like fly paper it attracts and then fixes all the asshats in one place so they are not causing trouble where the real action is.

 

[Darkong]

It?s become a very reliable brand for people to follow. In a way it?s kind of like the older James Bond movies, you know exactly what you?re getting from it without even having to read a review of it and there?s always a good level of polish applied to it even though there?s nothing new or all that inspiring going on, but you can expect a certain level of quality from the experience.

I think it has got to a point where it?s like a new Andy McNabb book, not related story wise but sort of the next in a theoretical series, it keeps people coming back for more.

 

[Jim 028]

It's fun. It's a simple as that.

This! People wouldn't buy sequels if they didn't enjoy the original. Ok it's not everyone's cup of tea, but fact is a lot of people get a lot of enjoyment out of the Call of Duty series so they buy it when a new version comes out because they want to play the new story, the new maps and any of the other changes that happen between versions.

 

[Chappy]

I have two ideas about it.

CoD is like the 'WoW' of the FPS world at the moment in that everyone and their dog will try to make a MMO to be a 'WoW killer' but they don't succeed because WoW is where everyone's friends are so they keep going back to it, same with CoD it's where everyone's friends are having their FPS fun so they buy the game every year to play with their friends still.

That and or also there is the fact that it is easily accessible to new players and anyone can be decent at it.

 

[Lenin211]

I have come up with some theories

Please stop calling wild guesses without factual support theories, I have been bothered by this ever since Christians started calling their beliefs "Creationism Theory". It weakens the credibility of actual science.

OT: Because people find it fun. Also because of perceived obsolescence. People think that because the new game has come out all of the previous games are not worth playing. This is also found in sports games.

 

[weker]

"it's fun" is part of it, but it's also just the way it's built.
There are many many many layers in COD that help it to become excessively addictive.

Please stop calling wild guesses without factual support theories, I have been bothered by this ever since Christians started calling their beliefs "Creationism Theory". It weakens the credibility of actual science.

OT: Because people find it fun. Also because of perceived obsolescence. People think that because the new game has come out all of the previous games are not worth playing. This is also found in sports games.

He is on about a basic theory, evolution is a scientific theory.

 

[tippy2k2]

CoD is like the 'WoW' of the FPS world at the moment in that everyone and their dog will try to make a MMO to be a 'WoW killer' but they don't succeed because WoW is where everyone's friends are so they keep going back to it, same with CoD it's where everyone's friends are having their FPS fun so they buy the game every year to play with their friends still.

That's the reason I play the new one each year. I'm not exactly blindly following my friends around but we decide as a group which game we want to get and the CoD games are what always have won out. They tried BF3 and didn't like it, which meant I could either

A. Get BF3 and play alone : (
B. Get MW3 and play with my friends : )

I doubt I would get any multi-player FPS that they didn't get. I don't like playing with strangers...

 

[Indignator]

It's fun. It's a simple as that.

Yes. As much as people try to deny it, a lot of people (including me) actually like over-the-top fast paced shooters. It's big dumb fun and that is what a lot of people want to entertain themselves. Call of Duty just happens to be the biggest player, so it's only natural people buy it.

As I acknowledged in my point #2, I agree that they are good games. But there are lots of excellent games out there, of which single versions don't break 1 million copies sold. Why does CoD keep selling at such enormous rates (10 million copies or more) for several years in a row? This is what interests me, the continued sales in the tens of millions of copies, even though the versions are not all that different from each other.

I have come up with some theories

Please stop calling wild guesses without factual support theories, I have been bothered by this ever since Christians started calling their beliefs "Creationism Theory". It weakens the credibility of actual science.

I'm sorry, are we talking about science? No, this is a casual conversation, and in casual language "theory" means "speculative idea". Just because some idiots can't distinguish between a proper scientific theory and the every-day meaning of the word, doesn't mean that I have to stop using it in the every-day sense.

 

[octafish]

CoD is like the 'WoW' of the FPS world at the moment in that everyone and their dog will try to make a MMO to be a 'WoW killer' but they don't succeed because WoW is where everyone's friends are so they keep going back to it, same with CoD it's where everyone's friends are having their FPS fun so they buy the game every year to play with their friends still.

That's the reason I play the new one each year. I'm not exactly blindly following my friends around but we decide as a group which game we want to get and the CoD games are what always have won out. They tried BF3 and didn't like it, which meant I could either

A. Get BF3 and play alone : (
B. Get MW3 and play with my friends : )

I doubt I would get any multi-player FPS that they didn't get. I don't like playing with strangers...

C. Get BF3 and some new friends. Don't bother on console though it is a PC game.

I think it is the FIFA thing, you may not get a new game but you get a new single player couple of hours, some small tweaks, and it is a familiar thing. If you liked the last one, you'll probably like the new one. I think Activision want to be careful about their IP, they are in danger of destroying it like they did with Guitar Hero.

 

[Jakub324]

Because it's good. I like it - and feel free to call me insane - for the single player.

 

[neonsword13-ops]

People like familiarity.

It's been the same game for 3 years now.

That's why it sells.

 

[Et3rnalLegend64]

I never actually bought it myself.

MW1 was on a long term borrow and I fully enjoyed it.
W@W was a short term borrow (I didn't enjoy it that much anyway)
MW2 was borrowed from my cousin till he wanted it back (I liked having the Javelin Missile and Riot Shield). My brother fully abused witchblading when I told him about it. I don't think it's as overpowered as everyone made it out to be (I've been on the attacking and receiving side)
Black Ops was a Christmas gift. I enjoyed it, but eventually phased it out for BlazBlue and (much later) Assassin's Creed.
MW3 was a Christmas gift. I completely didn't plan on getting it since I'm so into Assassin's Creed right now. Brother is currently complaining about less than stellar spawn points (regularly dying 3 seconds or less after spawn)

 

[krazykidd]

Because it's good. I like it - and feel free to call me insane - for the single player.

You sir are INSANE! ( hey you told me to do it )

I really think it is option 3. Everyone buys the new game , so to stay with the trend people buy the new game creatong a cycle .