Call of Duty's 2025 Slump: Practical Lessons For Creatives Building Big IP
An analyst at Alinea Analytics says Call of Duty is underperforming in 2025. The cause isn't one thing. It's a pile-up: community burnout, questionable creative and business calls, and tougher competition than usual.
"Xbox dropped the ball on the wrong year," the analyst said of a release window crowded by attention-grabbing shooters. Attention is scarce, and the audience is voting with time, not loyalty.
Competition Is Peaking
Battlefield 6 and Arc Raiders are pulling focus, while Fortnite keeps reinventing itself with cultural crossovers like a Simpsons season and a well-received Chapter 7. If you don't surprise players, someone else will. This year, others did.
Innovation Fatigue Meets Autopilot Buying
The core complaint: a lack of innovation. Even so, a chunk of the audience usually buys yearly on autopilot. Before launch, there was a prediction that Black Ops 7 would outsell Battlefield 6, but that call came before either game shipped. The market doesn't care about forecasts-only the experience in-hand.
Identity Drift: The Cosmetic Problem
Call of Duty's turn to more Fortnite-like cosmetics-non-military skins like Beavis and Butthead and Nicki Minaj-reportedly alienated players who prefer a grounded military vibe. Black Ops 7 dialed that back after feedback, while Warzone still leans into the wild skins. The signal: brand consistency matters, even in a live-service economy.
Product Friction: Co-op, "AI Slop," And Trust
Black Ops 7's co-op campaign drew heavy criticism. The use of "AI slop" became a flashpoint, and Steam sentiment skewed negative amid review-bombing. Long-running pain points-like the feeling that skill-based matchmaking dominates the experience, and a heavy focus on skins and bundles over core gameplay-keep eroding goodwill.
Distribution Has Tradeoffs
Launching Black Ops 7 into Game Pass likely cannibalized full-price sales on Xbox and PC. Prior reporting suggested Black Ops 6 left an estimated $300 million on the table by hitting Game Pass. Subscription can boost reach, but it can also blur your revenue story-and confuse comparisons.
Marketing Missed The Moment
Marketing for Black Ops 7 was called underwhelming, and the big reveal at Call of Duty Next didn't rally the community. Meanwhile, Battlefield and Arc Raiders leaned hard into community-led development and hype. When your players help shape the story, they're more likely to show up for it.
The Scoreboard, With Context
Battlefield 6 has reportedly sold over 10 million copies. There's no public sales data yet for Black Ops 7, and Game Pass muddies any direct comparison. Historically, no shooter has topped Call of Duty in full-year U.S. sales since 2006-but this year, Battlefield 6 has already eclipsed the first-month sales of Black Ops 6 and Modern Warfare 3.
What Creatives Can Steal From This
- Protect the core fantasy. Experiment, but keep a tight filter so cosmetics and tone don't break the brand.
- Ship one unmistakable novelty. Players forgive rough edges if the idea is fresh and bold.
- Design your economy around trust. If monetization feels louder than gameplay, sentiment collapses.
- Make AI invisible to the player. Use it to speed up workflow, not to ship content that looks generic or sloppy.
- Own your distribution math. Subscriptions can juice engagement but shave premium revenue-plan the tradeoff, don't hope it nets out.
- Market with your community, not at them. Put creators, modders, and comp players at the center. Show proof, not sizzle.
- Talk about SBMM clearly. Even if you won't change it, explain it. Silence gets spun as indifference.
- Measure beyond launch week. Retention, sentiment, and creator output are leading indicators. Treat day-one sales as lagging data.
If You're Using AI In Your Pipeline
Keep a human in the loop, set style guides, and audit outputs. Avoid the "AI slop" trap by training prompts on your brand voice and building a red-team review step before anything ships.
If you want practical systems for prompt quality and creative QA, see our prompt engineering resources at Complete AI Training.
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