Vanguard: CoD Vanguard reportedly sold 30 million copies despite underperforming for Activision

Despite being widely considered as one of the most hated Call of Duty games, CoD Vanguard reportedly sold 30 million copies worldwide following its release. This claim has been made by a former social media strategist for Activision who worked on Vanguard installment from Sledgehammer Games.

The news itself is undoubtedly surprising given the fact that the publisher had considered CoD Vanguard an underperforming game in the FPS franchise just a few months after the launch.

CoD Vanguard sold 30 million copies after release, as claimed

Call of Duty Vanguard (Image via Activision)

Brian Hong, a former social media strategist for Activision on CoD Vanguard, has claimed that the game succeeded in selling 30 million copies. The information is mentioned on his LinkedIn profile. Here's exactly what the description on Brian's work experience for Activision states in connection to Vanguard:

"Acted as Social Media Strategist for Activision helping to co-develop strategy designed to acquire new players for FPS game Call of Duty Vanguard, selling 30 million copies."

What's interesting to note is that despite CoD Vanguard doing so well in sales, it didn't meet expectations according to Activision in its 2021 Annual Report published in May 2022. Here's what the publisher stated while mentioning Vanguard as an underperforming Call of Duty premium release:

"While Call of Duty remains one of the most successful entertainment franchises of all time, our 2021 premium release didn’t meet our expectations, we believe primarily due to our own execution."

A still from Vanguard (Image via Activision)

Giving the reason for its failure in attracting a larger player base, Activision mentioned that the World War II setting didn't resonate with the community. There was also a lack of innovation compared to other premium installments released prior to Vanguard.

Upon its launch, CoD Vanguard did manage to grab some notable nominations for various awards, including "Best Score Soundtrack for Video Games and Other Interactive Media" at the 2023 Grammy Awards.

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