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Despite the controversy that accompanied the launch of Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 and its mixed reception compared to previous parts of the series, Xbox Studios president Matt Botti confirmed that the game still achieves a strong presence on the Xbox platform where it is ranked among the most played games currently.
Potey’s statements came during an interview with Variety, where he was asked about the performance of Black Ops 7 and the challenges faced by the series, especially in light of the annual release system that it has adhered to for many years, and Potey explained that he is proud of what Treyarch and Activision developers have done, noting that developing a new game in a huge series every year is a very difficult task.
“Black Ops 7 was a huge success in terms of player numbers,” he said, adding that the team clearly made an effort to introduce new ideas and push the series forward despite the huge pressures of audience expectations and brand size.
He also expressed optimism about the future of the game, explaining that it is still well positioned as an ongoing service game with clear plans to support it with new content via post-launch updates and noted that the strength of Call of Duty as a brand lies not only in the moment of release, but in its ability to keep players engaged through the seasonal system and provide renewed content throughout the year.
On the other hand, some analysts believe that the relatively weaker reception of the game is due to several factors, most notably the intense competition in shooter games, especially with the great successes of titles such as ARC Raiders and Battlefield 6, as well as Fortnite continuing to top the charts.
Rhys Elliott of Alinea Analytics spoke of grumbling among a segment of Call of Duty players, noting that the introduction of cosmetic elements such as non-military uniforms has angered players who prefer a more realistic military feel, and that co-op content has been criticized for balance issues, requiring constant internet connectivity, and controversy over the use of AI-generated content within the game.
Earlier this year, Activision announced a change in its strategy, deciding to stop releasing consecutive parts of the same sub-series in consecutive years, and instead the company will rely on alternating between series such as Black Ops and Modern Warfare while maintaining the general annual release pattern in order to give development teams more time and improve the quality of future releases.
