Modern Warfare III has had one of the most controversial launches we’ve ever seen in CoD, receiving some of the worst review scores in franchise history. But, at least according to engagement statistics released by the devs on Twitter, MWIII is actually very engaging to those who are playing the game.
In what looks like a direct response to all the low review scores that were recently published, Call of Duty have posted a graphic on their socials that boasts of record high player engagement among those who bought the game. As if to say, “forget the critics and look at what fellow CoD players think”.
So, is the reality of the situation similar to that meme of the person getting angry at a group of people having fun, in this case critics and haters shouting at CoD fans, or is this just pure marketing spin based on an obscure stat Activision were able to pull from their data?
Let’s take a look at the “records” they shared.
Modern Warfare III Breaks “Engagement” Records
Here are three records that they claim MWIII has broken:
- More hours per player overall than MW2019 and MWII.
- MWZ is the most engaging third-mode in MW history.
- Campaign players putting in more time per person than MWII or Vanguard.
The first claim is interesting. The fact that MWIII beat MWII is not surprising, but MW2019 had a large and committed fanbase from launch. It might simply be that only the more hardcore players have bought this CoD, and so they are always naturally going to spend more time in-game than the average player. But we admittedly love the multiplayer, so it’s also believable that this stat is just be an honest reflection on MWIII’s strengths.
The second “record” is nonsense, and I have no idea how this could even be tested for. MWZ is quite fun, but it’s far too premature to claim it’s more engaging than MW2’s Spec-Ops or MW3’s Survival. We will have to see how Modern Warfare Zombies is improved upon and expanded over the coming seasons to say how good it really is.
And the final claim, that “campaign players” (about 20% of those who buy CoD) are putting more time into this mode than they did in MWII or Vanguard, is just strange. Even if those who played found some replayability in Open Combat Missions, it’s not nearly enough to make up for every other abysmal element in the campaign. They should just pretend the MWIII campaign doesn’t exist and move on from that one.
Are you a Warzone player, curious about the MWIII integration? Here’s the new big map:
Taking a closer look at the “engagement records”, the post does feel a little forced, possibly even defensive. It’s somewhat understandable; quite a few reviews weighted the campaign too heavily, but we’re not sure posts like this help. It reads more as an undeserved brag than a “thank you”.