The latest
Call of Duty may have had a
$500 million day one, but according to at least one analyst, its sales may represent a continuing decline for the series.
Arvind Bhatia of Sterne Agee estimates that
Call of Duty: Black Ops II's sales may end up 10 to 15 percent lower than last year's
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, saying that the group's checks at retailers during its opening weeks saw sales down as much as 20 percent.
If Bhatia's correct, that would make this game the second in a row to show decline:
Modern Warfare 3 sold an estimated 5 percent fewer copies than 2010's
Black Ops.
Bhatia notes that slightly lower critical ratings, launching only a week after
Halo 4, and launching too soon to Thanksgiving (consumers may have waited for a holiday discount), may have contributed to initially sluggish sales.
