Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 launched last month to become the best-selling game of November in the U.S. by dollar sales. That’s a pretty good showing, right?
If you’re still looking to pick up the new game, it’s down to $35 at Best Buy for one day only, and around $40 at most other retailers right now. That’s up to 50% off the game, only a month after release, on PS5, PS4, and Xbox consoles.
So what’s up, and why is one of the best-selling games of the year already so heavily discounted? Well, it doesn’t take a genius to realise that Black Ops 7 doesn’t seem to be doing as well as last year’s Black Ops 6.
That’s reflected in everything from the critical review scores to fan response to European sales figures, and even Activision’s own admissions.
Normally, the newest Call of Duty topping the yearly charts is basically a given. This year, though, the surprise is that Battlefield 6 looks set to claim the top spot in the US instead.
That is not entirely unprecedented. In 2023, Hogwarts Legacy outsold Modern Warfare 3, and it managed that without MW3 launching into Game Pass.
Still, Call of Duty bounced straight back in 2024, and before that only Rockstar heavyweights like GTA 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2 had managed to knock it off the annual top spot, stretching all the way back to Rock Band in 2008.
Viewed in that context, it is hardly shocking that Activision is reportedly rethinking how it plans and releases Call of Duty year to year, or that it is already leaning on aggressive discounts not long after one of its biggest games hit shelves.
Robert Anderson is Senior Commerce Editor and IGN’s resident deals expert on games, collectibles, trading card games, and more. You can follow him @robertliam21 on Twitter/X or Bluesky.
