Oh, we knew that Call of Duty was a rich franchise, but now we know it’s richy-rich. There’s one thing that’s pouring out of the FTC v. Microsoft hearing right now, and that’s a wave of poor redaction on official documents and depositions. In recent hours, several key pieces of information that these titans of industry would have preferred remain hidden have slipped through the net – mostly because someone at the FTC isn’t too sharp with a Sharpie.
In one of these happy accidents, it was revealed that Call of Duty as a franchise has raked in more than $27 billion during its 20-year-and-then-some lifetime. That’s a figure taken from 2020 – so it’s almost certainly way above the $30 billion mark now, given how much of a boom the series experienced with Warzone and Modern Warfare II, the latter of which made $1 billion within just ten days.
Can They Redact The Redaction? Is That a Thing?
Call of Duty is a monumental series, captivating the hearts and minds of tens of millions of gamers with each passing iteration. It has been around for more than two decades and despite some saying it should die a fiery death, it remains one of the most consistently popular franchises in modern gaming.
In a post shared on Resetera, it was revealed that poor redaction during the ongoing legal debate between the FTC and Microsoft had uncovered Call of Duty’s lifetime earnings – as of 2020. With $27 billion being the number back then, we can safely assume that the figure has swollen further since then.
It’s hard to lock down exact figures, but according to some sources, that could make Call of Duty the second-highest-grossing game series of all time, behind Pokémon. It depends where you look, though – these numbers are hard to validate.
That’s why this poor redaction is such an impactful thing.
Further to that figure, another eagle-eyed user noted that it had been referenced that Call of Duty enjoys anything from 7 – 10 million daily active users across the board. That’s an incredible figure, and it likely decimates everything else imaginable.
Is the $70 billion that Microsoft wants to pay for Activision Blizzard an absolute steal considering these latest figures?
For more Insider Gaming news, check out our coverage of the other poor redactions that are revealing costs across the board.
