Report: Average CoD World at War player has spent $9 on DLC [update]

by Ben Gilbert on Oct 21st 2009 3:43PM

If there were any doubt left in your mind that Call of Duty is a popular franchise, a recent report from Gamasutra should firmly cement the fact in your mind. According to the piece, Call of Duty: World at War's three DLC packs digitally pushed 6.5 million units between March and mid-August of 2009 across the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles.

As you might imagine, those kind of numbers add up to a lot of extra revenue for the mega-publisher – the piece approximates a cool $45 million. Taking that one step further, the average cost of each box of CoD: WaW sold at retail becomes $65. We're not sure if that number accounts for the chunk taken out by Microsoft and Sony respectively for distribution, but even cut in half that's still a nice chunk of change.

So today, we'd like to officially announce that we're changing the site's name to Call of Duty: Joystiq. Call it a strategic business move – it's all about brand recognition, people!

Update: To be clear, the $45 million number is an approximation by Gamasutra, put together with information from NPD, EEDAR, and Activision PR. It was apparently calculated by taking 65% of 7 million units at $10 a piece, without accounting for giveaways or bundles.

Source

Tags: activision, business, call-of-duty, call-of-duty-world-at-war, digital-distribution, dlc, gamasutra, Microsoft, nazi-zombies, npd, treyarch, world-at-war, world-at-war-dlc, Xbox-360

Reader Comments (52)

My friend bought all three DLC packs and has never even used them other than Nazi Zombies. He just says "I don't care, not my money, I'm using my mom's credit card"

He pisses me off.

i hate spoiled brats

Thing is, he's 18

I don't care if the motherfucker's 35, he should get a goddamned job.

That being said, I bought all 3 packs and have played the shit out of the Nazi Zombie maps, while the MP stuff doesn't get too much playtime. Difference is, it's MY money.

"Ahh, an elitist PC gamer. Yeah, have fun with your COD, Halo, and uhh... Starcraft. "

*_* Who the fuck wants halo 3 on pc? That games a piece of shit. Fuck, i had more fun online on Halo1 than that crap. Not that you would know since it was only LAN on xbox...

I'm with GeneralDeath, i bought all the maps just for Nazi Zombies, i dont even know if Ive been on them in standard MP. But like he said, it's my money, and ill be damned if nazi zombies wasnt worth it.

Treyarch should really stop kidding themselves with making more Call of Duty games and just make fully-fledged Nazi Zombies games instead.

I told myself I wasnt gonna waste money on that pointless crap.
I actually stuck to it and didnt buy a single map pack.
Sold the game as pretty much right when the third pack came out because it started choosing downloaded maps way too often.

@exemplar I would absolutely buy that. Tank, Dr. Richtofethen, Nikolai and Takeo are way more entertaining than Roebuck and Reznov ever where. Also i mean, come on, WunderWaffen! How Activision didn't give Wolfenstein to Treyarch is beyond me

Let's see how paid DLC will go for the PC version of Modern Warfare 2, the console gamers will of course lap it up.

Ahh, an elitist PC gamer. Yeah, have fun with your COD, Halo, and uhh... Starcraft.

Oh, I forgot Halo 3 isn't even on PC, scratch that.

Now, now. Be nice to the PC gamer.

You'd be upset too, if you were on the decline, despite your best, most desperate struggles to stay relevant in today's gaming world.

He's not really being elitist, just highlighting the greed of the big devs as they can get away with charging for DLC as there is no way to implement your own content. He's probably a little pissed at Activision atm though, an explanation why is hopefully not required.

Funny how PS3 and 360 gamers decry PC gamers for being elitist pricks and then many of them are elitist pricks towards the Wii.

Oh and on my PC, I'm enjoying a mix of the old and new, from Arkham Asylum to Jagged Alliance 2, from Mass Effect to Fallout 1/2, thank you very much. You can keep your Halo.

funny how THAT'S NOT EVEN SLIGHTLY COMICAL

@Street Justice: No, he directly aimed that at the gamers, not the devs.

Maybe I should have said ironic? Sorry bats!

The PC is the one platform where all the console fanboys, 360 to PS3 to Wii can unite in bashing against, same goes for many of the publishers and developers.
: )

I don't like having the option of mods being taken away in favor of ONLY paid DLC. I'd like the chance to have both and Modern Warfare 2 for the PC sets a crappy precedent. How'd you like to pay for all the custom levels in LittleBigPlanet and not be able to play any free ones from the community?

I wasn't even being elitist from the very beginning, your being way too sensitive. You and I both know console gamers will lap up any paid DLC from Modern Warfare 2, they will make a fucking killing on it. They put it out, its going to be downloaded to hell hours later, its a fact, your offended by it? Come on now.

@RKN
you can shut up now.

I can, but will I?

Nobody wins. Typical system fanboy debate.

I know, I could be playing on my PC instead, but I'm at school anyways so it doesn't matter.

Anyhoo, I become a fanboy based on what system I own. I have had a PS1, PS2, PS3, 360 as my consoles and currently a PC, so I'm currently a PC fanboy whereas I'd been a fanboy of those other systems I owned.

PC gaming shouldn't die, I'd hate to be stuck with consoles or PCs as my only gaming choice.

Hence the removal of dedi. Servers in MW2 - activision realised they could milk the pc users as well.

Burn in hell kotick1!!!1one1!

I think the zombies picture and DLC purchasers mentality go together quite effectively.

Nice one joystiq!

@Shadsy:

Correction, they're paying for content they should've got when they paid $60 in the first place.

And this is why Team Fortress 2 is STILL fucking awesome of online-multiplayer. I swear, the fifty I spent for it keeps going, and going.
BONK!

And this is why Team Fortress 2 is STILL fucking awesome. I swear, the fifty I spent for it keeps going, and going.
BONK!

jesus dude, the last map pack came out in mid August this year. Remember when CoD 5 came out? NOVEMBER 2008. Why the fuck should a map pack that comes out a year later have been included on the disc?

That photochop is hilarious.

Makes me want to be a zombie...

I have to go to the dentist because my damn wisdom tooth that I never got pulled cracked one of my other back teeth.

Try getting a root canal with little anesthesia. Thankfully my wisdom teeth removal was painless, but the latter was done here in the U.S and the former in India.

BF 1943 DOWNLOADABLE CONTENT

MISSED OPPORTUNITY

yes, i agree. They could've earned so much extra.

Prolly wanted to focus resources on BC2.

tru dat

They said I should just get the cracked one pulled and let my wisdom tooth replace it, cheaper and more effective. Cause I don't have dental insurance...

I bought all the maps. But it wasn't because they were great, or even that good, but because there wasn't much else going on. Bored and stupid. I sold WaW this week.

Goddamn, with all this bitching about DLC, you'd think that games themselves were free. You pay for a game. You pay more money to get more content.
You don't go to a restaurant, pay for the main course, and expect to get dessert for free do you?

u can say is ur birthday :)

they make you pay for that extra cake too

Well, we all know the cake is a lie

You don't buy a book and expect get half the chapters do you?

Hey, I'll admit it, I only bought the map packs for the Nazi Zombie maps. Heck, without Nazi Zombies, I probably wouldn't have bought the game period.

If CoD 7 contains more Nazi Zombies (or Vietcong Zombies or Confederate Zombies - whenever it's going to be set), that'll be a day one purchase for me!

Why change them, even if the main game is in Vietnam? They're still Nazi Zombies, and therefore doubly acceptable targets.

But really, the MP maps are pretty good, give them a try. Revolution and Corrosion are pretty awesome.

Actually, I have played all the maps at one time or another - when hanging out with my friends, we almost always end up back at my place, so we need something more than two people can play. They're enjoyable, but still not as awesome as Nazi Zombies.

However, I still think the maps in CoD4 are better for just straight multiplayer.

I'm hoping with that FEAR 2 DLC which added a short single-player campaign, that more of the sort can come to more games like Call of Duty, but that's probably very, very wishful thinking. MP maps are far easier to create than scripted SP levels and way more popular, I'm in the very small minority.

I did hear MW2 will have more of the sorts of levels like the last level in MW1, so that's good.

I wish more games would do that too, but I guess it's just not as profitable. Pity.

I will gladly pay money for more Modern Warfare SP levels, I have so much fun in them in arcade mode!

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Report: Average CoD World at War player has spent $9 on DLC [update]

Reader Comments (52)

Posted: Oct 21st 2009 3:46PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Oct 21st 2009 3:58PM Jjjjames said

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Posted: Oct 21st 2009 4:03PM xGeneral DEATHxDEETH82 said

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Posted: Oct 21st 2009 4:06PM TheDarkWayne said

Posted: Oct 21st 2009 4:17PM Xemplar said

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Posted: Oct 21st 2009 4:09PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Oct 21st 2009 4:10PM RKN said

Posted: Oct 21st 2009 4:11PM RKN said

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Posted: Oct 21st 2009 4:20PM JXCGunrunna said

Posted: Oct 21st 2009 4:21PM RKN said

Posted: Oct 21st 2009 4:41PM darkinchworm said

Posted: Oct 21st 2009 4:44PM RKN said

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Posted: Oct 21st 2009 4:02PM Dr Acula said

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Posted: Oct 21st 2009 4:34PM kentuckyfried said

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