Updated: Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare sales nearly 50% down on Black Ops III

This year’s Call of Duty has failed to hit the heights of its predecessor in its first week in the UK.

GfK Chart-Track numbers show that week one sales of COD: Infinite Warfare are down 48.4 per cent compared to 2015’s Black Ops III. Even taking into account the lack of a PS3 or Xbox 360 release, PS4 and Xbox One sales are down 43.6 per cent.

Amazingly, despite the big dip, Infinite Warfare still manages to be the year’s second biggest release behind FIFA 17.

COD’s misfortune comes two weeks after EA’s Battlefield 1 debuted at number with sales that beat the combined week one performance of the last TWO Battlefield games – Battlefield 4 and Battlefield Hardline.

The big caveat, of course, is that these numbers exclude digital. Black Ops III, which was up on its predecessor Ghosts, performed very strongly digitally, so it’s likely that Infinite Warfare has done the same.

Also, the higher-price Legacy Edition that includes Modern Warfare Remastered may well have performed strongly, so still don’t be shocked if Activision announces strong or even record revenues for the game in the coming days.

Should it not, however, then that would be telling.

Elsewhere in the charts, Battlefield 1 drops one place to 2nd, Skyrim Special Edition slips two places to 4th and EA’s Titanfall 2 just one place to 5th. There’s a new entry in 6th in the form of Sega’s Football Manager 2017.

Skylanders Imaginators also has a strong week thanks to retail promotions and a new TV ad push, jumping from 19th to 7th with sales climbing 131 per cent.

Here’s the UK All Formats Top 10:

1. Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare (Activision)
2. Battlefield 1 (EA)
3. FIFA 17 (EA)
4. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition
5. Titanfall 2 (EA)
6. Football Manager 2017 (Sega)
7. Skylanders Imaginators (Activision)
8. Mafia III (2K Games)
9. Grand Theft Auto V (Rockstar)
10. Forza Horizon 3 (Microsoft)

Update:

Since the publication of this story, Activision has been in touch with the following statement about Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare’s Week One sales performance:

"According to GfK, Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare is the No.1 shooter/action game Week One launch of 2016 in the UK. Our fans are loving the great campaign, deep multiplayer and ‘80s inspired zombies, not to mention the incredible bonus content of Modern Warfare Remastered. We look forward to a great holiday season and beyond.”