CoD: Ghosts retail spend down on Black Ops 2 due to console transition

Call of Duty: Ghosts launch-day shipments were down on last year's game, Black Ops 2, and the console transition is to blame, Activision has said.
The publisher confirmed earlier today that retailers has spent $1 billion on Call of Duty: Ghosts stock for last week's launch - as oppose to using actual sales figures as it has done in previous years. Even this figure, however, is down on last year, and the publisher is blaming the volatility of the console transition.
http://cdn.medialib.computerandvideo...311283_460.jpg"As we have said for more than a year now, console transition years a volatile and hard to predict and this year's proving no different," said CFO Dennis Durkin during a financials call Wednesday.
"Today we announced that we have shipped into retail more than $1 billion of Call of Duty: Ghosts globally on day-one, based on an average wholesale price. As expected, due to the console transition and digital distribution, this number is down versus last year," he added.
Durkin went on to predict, "This year, the sell-through curve will be different than in past years, due to the multiple launches of new hardware later in the month, and more days between our launch, and the high volume Black Friday at the end of the month."
Speaking earlier today, Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick said it was "too early to assess" sell-through to consumers, but suggested the game's release on Tuesday came at a time "when the franchise has never been more popular".
In CVG's Call of Duty Ghosts review critic Nick Cowen calls Activision's latest series instalment "fun and familiar". We collated current-gen and PS4 verdicts from across the games press in our Call of Duty Ghosts review round-up.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com...le-transition/