Each Call of Duty game broke the sales records of the previous game fot the last years. Analysts are not sure if Black Ops 2 breaks the franchises' record again this year.
EEDAR’s Jesse Divnich told GamesIndustry said. “The entire HD market is very soft at the moment, and it is understandable that retailers, publishers, and analysts are likely to be conservative on any Black Ops II forecast,” he said. “Every year we question whether the Call of Duty franchises can set new records, and for the last four years they have proven us wrong. Personally, I wouldn’t under-estimate Activision, even against the odds of a more torpid HD market this holiday season.”
M2′s Billy Pidgeon explained: “Call of Duty should continue to do very well and is likely to continue to break records as it will sell into a larger installed base of consoles.”
RW Baird’s Colin Sebastian does not agree: “We are forecasting Black Ops 2 to sell roughly the same number of copies as Modern Warfare 2 in 2011.”
Michael Pachter of Wedbush Morgan also doubts the chances for Black Ops 2. “I don’t think Modern Warfare 3 is going to sell more than the last Black Ops, so I doubt that this one will break a record. I think that Call of Duty is a phenomenon, selling way more than 20 million units annually, and it’s unrealistic to think that number can grow meaningfully with each annual release.”
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