Call of Duty Warzone Smashes Fornite Numbers, but That’s No Big Deal
Call of Duty Warzone, the franchise's free-to-play battle royale is gaming's most popular go-to title right now. | Source:
- Call of Duty Warzone has made some pretty incredible gains since it launched.
- Recently Daniel Ahmad compared the stats between Warzone, Fortnite, and Apex Legends.
- As impressive as the Warzone numbers were, they’re mostly thanks to the brand name rather than the game’s quality.
Call of Duty Warzone has been insanely popular since it launched. The battle royal title has brought some much-needed shake-ups to the popular genre. Things like the Gulag have been lauded as great additions to the formula. Of course, Call of Duty’s signature incredible gunplay has helped too.
In some recent figures compiled by industry analyst Daniel Ahmad , Call of Duty appears to be beating the pants off of games like Fortnite. This information probably doesn’t come as a shock to many. After all, Call of Duty is a firmly established franchise. Both Apex Legends and Fortnite should be very proud of what they’ve accomplished.
Warzone Is a Great Game, but Those Numbers Are Partially Thanks to the Brand
Warzone has some pretty great gameplay. Call of Duty has always been famous for top-quality gunplay. Add that level of quality to addition like the Gulag and buying back teammates, and you’ve got an exciting battle royale game.
That being said, it’s almost certainly not the only reason that Warzone has been so popular. No matter what, the Call of Duty name pulls in players like moths to a flame. That isn’t to say that the gameplay isn’t a big draw. But in my opinion, it’s more the thing that keeps people around once the brand name has attracted them.
The figures seem to make that pretty clear. Warzone drew in players much quicker than both Apex and Fortnite did. But that doesn’t mean they’re beating them across the board. While Fortnite just doesn’t have the same player count as Warzone, Apex actually hit the 50 mill mark slightly quicker.
Apex Legends and Fortnite Deserve Props for What They’ve Pulled Off
As much as Warzone has pulled some fantastic numbers, Fortnite and Apex are infinitely more impressive. To be clear, I’m not saying that either of the games is better. They all have different things to offer to players. But, neither Fortnite or Apex Legends had a brand name to fall back on.
Building a new IP is insanely difficult. That’s why sequels and remakes are so common. For many companies, they’re just a safer bet than launching something brand new. We should all celebrate the fact that the battle royale genre seems to be so varied and healthy right now.
Changes are, that won’t always be the case. As these top performers solidify their dominance, the genre will probably be flooded with cheap copycats that fail to match up – basically what happened to FPS during the 7th console generation.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of CCN.com.
