Call of Duty: Mobile has absolutely torn apart the competition
More than 100 million people have downloaded Call of Duty: Mobile in its opening week, making it the most successful launch of a mobile game, ever.
According to figures from analyst firm Sensor Tower, the mobile shooter has absolutely torn apart its competition. The closest of those competitors, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG), registered 28 million downloads in its opening week. Runaway success Fortnite also pales in comparison, with 22.5 million downloads in its first week.
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Sensor Tower’s Randy Nelson told Reuters: “This is by far the largest mobile game launch in history in terms of the player base that’s been built in the first week.”
Digging into the figures, Sensor Tower said: “The majority of Call of Duty Mobile’s downloads came from iOS, where it generated 56.9 million downloads, or 55.7 percent of the total, while Android users accounted for 45.3 million unique installs, or 44.3 percent.
“Activision’s shooter was most popular in the United States, where it was downloaded nearly 17.3 million times, or 16.9 percent of the total count. India followed with 13.7 million downloads, or 13.4 percent, with Brazil in third with 7.1 million downloads, or 7 percent.”
Call of Duty: Mobile has also outdone its competitors on player spending. In its first week, players spend $17.7 million on the game, which averages out at $0.17 per user.
The game’s success may be partially due to the injection of some nostalgia rocket fuel. Old maps have been re-introduced, including classics such as Nuke Town, which originally featured in Call of Duty: Black Ops.
So should you join the rush and download the game yourself? Well, it’s free to play, so you’ve little to lose if you do decide to try it. Of course that means micro-transactions but, thankfully, they aren’t the most invasive we’ve seen. There’s no campaign in Call of Duty: Mobile and multiplayer takes centre stage. A battle royale mode is included too, which might win over some PUBG devotees.
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Unfortunately, Call of Duty: Mobile does not support the use of a Bluetooth controller on Android or iOS.
Ultimately the mobile shooter is still evolving as an experience and Call of Duty: Mobile is no different. Its runaway opening week is a shot in the arm for the genre though, and makes a future sequel seem almost certain.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
