Call of Duty Mobile has only been playable on iOS and Android for a few days and has already achieved 35 million downloads worldwide. User reviews are enthusiastic. This seems like exactly the hit that Activision Blizzard needed. Especially since the presentation of Diablo Immortal received such negative feedback.
What do the numbers say? Call of Duty Mobile was released on Tuesday, October 1.
The day after, there were only speculations: As Sensor Tower reported on October 2, Call of Duty Mobile had already reached 20 million installations, according to their estimates.
It is said to have already earned $2 million. 9% comes from the USA – 14% from India.
These estimates were surpassed again.
Strong Download Numbers – Strong Reviews
As Activision Blizzard announced (via activision), Call of Duty Mobile had already achieved 35 million downloads by October 4. This comes from a statement to investors. In addition, it reached the number 1 spot in over 100 countries and regions in the iOS store.
The game broke the 35 million download mark faster than any other mobile shooter in the App Store or Google Play.
On Google Play, Call of Duty Mobile currently has 1,875,474 ratings and an average score of 4.7.
However, Activision Blizzard does not disclose how the revenues are distributed across individual countries. It can be assumed that the success is particularly strong in Asia.
The Big Goal: Open the Mobile Market in the West
Why this is important: Activision Blizzard wants to tap into new markets. In Asia, “mobile core gaming” is already a huge billion-dollar market – here in the West, however, games are struggling.
Especially in the booming country of India, there has been a hysteria around “PUBG Mobile”. The game is being blamed for all sorts of deaths because it captivates players so much that they reportedly sometimes drink acid instead of water.
Call of Duty Mobile is considered a “PUBG Mobile” killer and has been discussed as such by the press.
Activision Blizzard has been planning for many years to develop mobile spin-offs of its core brands like Call of Duty. With this, they want to:
- Break into the Asian market, where other mobile brands are already big and making a lot of money
- Also catch up in the West for the mobile market for core gamers
The last major attempt in this direction came with the announcement for “Diablo Immortal” at BlizzCon 2018. However, it was far from well-received, leading to a lot of negative press for Activision Blizzard.
The attendees of BlizzCon, mostly PC fans, wanted an announcement for Diablo 4, not a mobile version of Diablo.
Since then, Diablo Immortal has been missing. There has been no word about the game, even though it is allegedly already finished. It seems to be under a bad star.
Activision has been in a tough situation a few months ago: The pipeline of new AAA titles for PS4, Xbox One and PC was already thin last year and remains quite empty in 2019. Besides Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, nothing major is planned.
Activision Blizzard now needs such hits out of “nowhere” like Call of Duty Mobile. Recently, the mood with “WoW Classic” has been significantly better.
The success of Call of Duty Mobile continues to provide momentum.
