The Call of Duty (COD) IP is known for its strong influence with its back-to-back hits and a loyal fanbase. COD Warzone, the popular Battle Royale title on PC and Console is unable to carry the success on Mobile. Warzone Mobile generated only $19.29 million in gross revenue in 2024 since its launch in March 2024. This falls significantly short of expectations for a title leveraging such a globally recognized IP.
What went wrong for Warzone Mobile
Warzone Mobile was one of the most anticipated mobile titles of 2024. The game was in development for a long period and even it spent more than a year in the soft launch phase. Even after the long testing phase, the game failed miserably to deliver a decent experience to the fans at launch.
At launch, the game was a hot mess with heating, bugs, lags, and was at the centre of criticism in the mobile games community. I tried the game myself at launch but soon realised my phone could be used as a heater if I played the game for an hour. While Call of Duty: Mobile is still doing fine, Warzone Mobile is significantly struggling to make a mark even after almost one year.
As seen in the picture above, the game peaked its revenue in April with only $5.33 million revenue. And since then it is going downwards. Not a single month did better than the previous one, at least that is what the 2024 data says.
The majority of the revenue came from the United States (55%), followed by Mexico (6%) and Japan (4%).
On another note, Warzone Mobile’s Hideo Hikida left Activision. Mr Hikida was part of the Production team and has been working on this game for the past three years. In the X Wazrone Mobile community, he was well-known for his regular updates about the game and content roadmap. His departure has already put a question mark about the future of this game among the fans.
On his LinkedIn post, Mr Hikida wrote “After 3 years at Activision, it’s time for a new adventure. The experience of the last 3 years has taught me a lot about myself, production and companies in general. Excited to take these memories and to bring it to the next stop.”
Successful IPs may struggle in new formats
This luckluster revenue figure from Warzone Mobile is a stark reminder that even the most successful IPs can struggle to find traction in new formats or markets. For Activision, this could serve as a learning opportunity to refine its mobile strategy, focusing on delivering a more polished product and improving user engagement.
Despite this setback, Activision still has reasons to be optimistic. The mobile gaming market continues to grow, and Call of Duty: Mobile remains a significant player in the space. With updates, community feedback, and perhaps a re-evaluation of its monetization model, Warzone Mobile could still turn its fortunes around.