Why does Call of Duty keep selling so well?

[Glademaster_v1legacy]

You answered your own question in the second paragraph so just so not to get a low content post I am going to extend my post with some meaningless words that add little to no discussion.

 

[DracoSuave]

From my observations of these "Call of Duty gamers" it appears to be a desire to fit in with the rest of the tribe.

Of the four test subjects this study used, not a single one claimed to want to purchase the newest Call of Duty because they enjoyed it, but rather because their friends would purchase it.

Attempts to pull these deluded individuals away from Call of Duty and expose them to vastly superior games all met with identical results. The subjects admitted the superiority of the replacement games, but ultimately return to Call of Duty because they miss the social interaction.

Therefore, I can conclude from my studies that Call of Duty is basically facebook with guns.

In other news, you interviewed four friends, said 'why do you keep playing this vastly superior game' and being the guy who discredits their taste they, at best, humored you to shut you up, and went on doing what they enjoy with their friends.

Always comes back to the 'it's fun' argument. People play it because it's what they frigging want to play.

If you spend your time holding your nose up with an unwarranted smug sense of superiority over the question, you'll never be able to find an answer because your confirmation bias won't let you objectively look at what the game offers and how people positively interact with it.

People you talk to will know you're not asking them because you're honestly curious, you're asking them to judge them, and people for some reason react poorly to that. Some people call that 'being a judgemental prick.'

I don't like CoD games, but I know why. But I can also see why people DO find them fun, and I don't fault the game design for what is, in the end, personal taste. Most of the complaints against it are logically equivalent to bitching that Pac-Man doesn't have enough exploration, even tho it takes place in a maze. Well, of course it doesn't, because that's not what kind of game it's trying to be.

Is the CoD series good at what it is trying to do? That's the question you SHOULD ask. Not is it good at being some other shooter you'd rather play. That's dumb.

 

[kuzaro]

It's fun and addictive.

 

[shadow_Fox81]

because punk is dead.

 

[Woodsey]

Brand recognition, and the domino effect of friends playing what their friends play.

 

[AndyFromMonday]

Call of Duty is like Twilight for gamers. Seriously.

 

[Frostbite3789]

lasting appeal

If the appeal is only a year, before everyone absolutely needs the new shiny super ultra fun one, then they clearly aren't all that lasting.

 

[Geekosaurus]

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

So glad to see people who know everything there is to know about the games industry! Individual factors in marketing, fanbase, demographics, and brand recognition be damned!

All hail the holy word of Geekosaurus! From now on, by His holy word, let it be said that to have a commercially successful game, all you need to do is make it fun!
-snip-

I sense a tiny bit of irony in this post.

But seriously? What else do you want from a game? Sure, you want an intelligent plot, smooth game-play, fantastic visuals, great voice acting, originality etc, etc, but I've played some crappy games that didn't have any of these attributes. If a game is fun the rest doesn't matter.

 

[Handbag1992]

Snip

I'm glad that the obvious sarcastic humour in my post hasn't been lost to anyone, who then took it upon themselves to try and knock me down a peg for a joke, that would be dumb.

(That was sarcasm, please do not reply seriously to it, that would be dumb)

 

[JochemDude]

They have a beastly marketing team...
That's about it.

 

[Sixties Spidey]

It's a well designed and fun game that combines parts of Battlefield 3 and parts of Halo to make something accessible and enjoyable for just about anyone to play.

And yes, I bought MW3 day one, but I also bought Revelations and Battlefield 3 on day one. I just like video games.

 

[Something Amyss]

Most gamers really want more of the same. Something safe and familiar.

COD is well-marketed sameness.

 

[satanslawer123]

the shooter has dominated for so long now that people would pick it up because its all they know and they are to attached to it to spead there wings and play other great games out there

 

[Batou667]

Why does Call of Duty keep selling so well?

Because people buy it. Because they enjoy it.

I think CoD is mainstream enough to appeal to a wide player base.
Kids - lets them play out power fantasies. Also the "forbidden fruit" of playing something that they shouldn't be allowed until they're 18.
Adults - it's "realistic" enough for them to not be embarrased by playing it (as opposed to Halo, for example)
Casual gamers - it's a familiar setting, plenty of bang for their buck.
Gun nuts - there's enough depth and a big enough selection of real-world guns for them to get a boner over.
Hardcore "E-athlete" douches - thriving online component, plenty of 12-year old noobs to squash.

Now what this doesn't explain is the preference for CoD over other present-day shooters (like Battlefield 3, for example). Perhaps it's a case of two competing brands, both offering similar experiences/products, but one of which is vastly more popular due to having secured better market penetration and recognition. Think Coke vs Pepsi or McDonalds vs Burger King, for example.

 

[Rasmus Emilsson]

Actually, i don't hate the game, I love frantic gunplay, but holy mother of god, not if it's gonna be realistic with scopes all the way up in your cortex. I like Quake-frantic where skill is a main focus.

What i do hate though is Activision, the company and the director Bobby go-die-in-a-fire Kotick. This company is the embodiment of everything that is wrong with the game industry today.

 

[Brian Hendershot]

Because you touch yourself at night.

And I thought I was going to be the smart ass of this thread...

Anyhow, the more important question is, why do these threads keep popping up? I mean does not one use the search bar?

To answer your questions, I assume it sales well because lots of people bought it. I assume they bought it because they think its fun or their friends bought it and they want to play with their friends.

If another one of these threads pops up again, I am going to hit a baby with stick. A very large stick.

See dude, if we would all just reply with "Because you touch yourself at night" or "Why is a banana curved" or something like that, these threads would disappear faster than you can say why do people keep opening these stupid threads.

Instead, you keep giving elaborate answers and thus encourage the repetition and dumbassery on these forums.

Well, im not gonna stand for it, damn it!

If my answer is considered elaborate by the general public then I have lost all hope in humanity.

I'm gonna remember the banana curved thing though...that seems useful...

 

[CardinalPiggles]

Have you ever considered the fact that it might be a mixture of all those things you listed? and then some?

If your looking the major point to why, then I would say you probably hit the nail on the head.

Everybody I know plays CoD, and they all play different games. I highly doubt that there is a large majority of people out there that only own Call of Duty games.

A new guy started in my work place recently, we said 'Do you play games', he said yeah sometimes, we said 'What games do play' he said CoD and Fifa, then we said 'Are you getting Skyrim?' he said, what's Skyrim.

Long story short, that's bullshit.

 

[Porecomesis]

3) To the moronic masses who have never actually seen a soldier or a military base in real life, 'Call of Duty' is a juvenile war fantasy. It's not a matter of realism; it's a matter of being a soldier of war with a gun and being incredibly- I use the following word insincerely due to it conflicting with my actual definition of the word- badass and killing everyone. For any of you, even I will pray for your health if you actually hold such views in front of your superior officer, and I will pray doubly so if you voice those views.

Right, these people are so naive.

If I hadn't actually seen a soldier or a military base in real life, I would totally believe that this is exactly how real soldiers defend American suburbs from Russian invasion. And thank goodness I know a few people in the military to let me know that you don't get special equipment for getting several kills in a row without respawning.

I woke up less than half an hour ago. What's your contention? I'm getting the impression that you're trying to say "No duh" but I just want to make sure.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

Most gamers have the intellectual equivalent of peanuts (as in the snack, not the comic strip)?