Activision’s Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, the latest release for the first-person shooter series Call of Duty, came out on November 14th. Despite the popularity of the series, a recent report has revealed that the game has massively underperformed compared to its competition. Aside from the game’s sales, Black Ops 7 has also faced a whirlwind of controversy and negative reviews. 

A report from The Game Business describes Black Ops 7’s European launch in detail. The report affirms that Black Ops 7 had 63% lower sales in the region than Battlefield 6, a competitive first-person shooter game. Globally, Battlefield 6 saw similar success, with the game having the biggest launch in the Battlefield series after selling 7 million copies in 3 days. 

Unlike Battlefield 6, Black Ops 7 has not outperformed previous entries in its own series either. Based on The Game Business’ estimations, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 had a nearly 50% better launch than its successor. 

In addition to subpar sales numbers, Black Ops 7 has also been suffering from controversy and fan critique. One such controversy was the implementation of AI generated artwork within the game. Due to the popularity of the series, many found the inclusion of AI assets as proof of Activision’s laziness or greed. Despite the fan critiques, Activision has been vocal in their desire to continue using AI. 

Since its release, Black Ops 7 has also faced negative reviews. On Steam, the game currently sits at a “Mostly Negative” rating. Aside from AI-related critiques, many fans critiqued the storyline of the campaign mode, referring to the story as confusing and the villain as predictable. Even those who left positive reviews praised Black Ops 7’s gameplay, but still regarded the story as comedically bad. Black Ops 7’s Metacritic scores fare no better, as the game currently sits at a mediocre Metascore of 69 (out of 100) and an overwhelmingly negative user score of 1.6 (out of 10).

The reasons behind Black Ops 7’s subpar launch is currently unclear, although the overwhelming success of Battlefield 6, the game’s inclusion of AI, and the game’s lackluster storyline are potential factors.