Call of Duty “Ecosystem” Profits Greatly After Including F2P Elements

From Activision’s latest investor report, its been found that the Call of Duty “ecosystem” experienced rapid growth following the inclusion of Free to Play elements in the franchise. This is very likely referring to the overwhelming success of modes like Warzone(which is confirmed to be getting a huge update called Warzone: Pacific) as well as smartphone entries like Call of Duty Mobile. The report states that, “The Call of Duty® ecosystem sustained reach, engagement, and player investment well above levels seen prior to the
introduction of free-to-play experiences across console, PC, and mobile” 

When bringing up the profits afforded from Call of Duty Mobile, the report states, “For Call of Duty Mobile, net bookings grew over 40% year-over-year in the third quarter, driven by double digit growth in the
West and a continued contribution from the game in China” Its no surprise to anyone that introducing free to play experiences into Call of Duty has been greatly beneficial to the company. Widespread appeal of massive games like Warzone and Call of Duty Mobile cannot be understated, to the point where CoD’s own competitors are following suit. 

The report further mentions profit generated from the launch of Warzone, mentioning that, “In-game player investment on console and PC remained well above the level seen prior to the Warzone launch, at
approximately three times the level of Q3 2019”

More and more companies are slowly opting into investment in the mobile market, with EA putting its Battlefield series on smartphones as well as Blizzard working on an unannounced project for mobile alongside the mobile-exclusive Diablo Immortal, its a wonder what major IP is going to follow suit in the near future. I’m no analyst nor am I well-versed in economics, but from a financial standpoint its an understandable move that major game companies are slowly beginning to cater to the mobile market as well now that they have realized its money-making potential especially when seeing games like Genshin Impact gain staggering success on the platform. I think that, in due time, many more publishers are going to make their move into the market in a more substantial manner, whether its going to be for better or worse remains to be seen..