Consumer hesitation is 'as one would expect' during console transition, says Activision boss

Pre-orders for Call of Duty: Ghosts are "well below" that of last year's Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 owing to 'hesitation' caused by the looming console transition.

Activision Publishing president Epic Hirshberg said in an earnings call today, "As one might expect in this console transition year, pre-orders for Call of Duty: Ghosts are well below the record-setting pace set by Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 last year."

While no figures were disclosed, Hirshberg went on to say the company's "quantitative consumer research" indicates that "hesitation amongst past CoD pre-orderers is primarily due to not knowing which platform they'll be playing on, which is natural at this time in the console transition."

It is unclear whether any other factors, such as generally softening interest, have contributed to the pre-order slump.

On the positive side, Hirshberg noted, "Ghosts pre-orders are over double those of Call of Duty: Black Ops, which is the last time we launched a new sub-brand for the franchise."

He went on to assure that the company has in place "the most aggressive marketing, retail, and digital programs in the history of the franchise" for this year's entry, which is set to arrive on Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS3, PS4, PC and Wii U.

Despite the dip in pre-orders for the next CoD, Hirshberg cl;aimed that Call of Duty's digital sales in Q2 2013 (ended June 30) broke records, growing "over 100 per cent year-on-year".

Black ops 2 sales during the quarter also exceeded Modern Warfare 3 sales during the same period the year prior.

Activision has confirmed a Call of Duty: Ghosts release date of November 5 on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. The game will be a launch title for Xbox One and PS4.

Posted: Aug 02, 2013 6:22 am
Related Forum: Call of Duty Forum

Source: http://www.computerandvideogames.com/422178/cod-ghosts-pre-orders-well-below-black-ops-2-due-to-platform-uncertainty/