Image: Activision via AFP Relaxnews
“Call of Duty: WWII” went up against “PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds” on PC in a face-off that left both with something to take away.
Flourishing on a sensational word of mouth buzz, “PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds” has been an enormous success story in 2017, the round-based battle royale having released in March and rocketing to nearly 20 million paying owners in the eight months since.
Building on a last-person-standing multiplayer formula found in predecessors like “H1Z1”, “ARK: Survival Evolved” and fan-made modifications for “Minecraft” and “Arma 2”, “PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds” is due to cap the year with a Dec. 12 console debut on Xbox One.
How much of a challenge it presents to established franchises remains to be seen, though we get a glimpse of that tussle for player attention as “Call of Duty: WWII” enters the fray.
On Steam, PC gaming’s dominant online store, “PUBG” retained the number one spot that it’s held since March, even when faced with the might of “CoD: WWII”, latest in a hugely well established action franchise and the first to take place within a World War II setting since 2008.
Steam’s picture of commercial performance is murky if only because a single PC edition of “PUBG” is available for purchase (at $29.99), while three versions of “CoD: WWII” were put up for sale through Steam, a pre-order edition, a deluxe edition, and the standard release day edition.
Those three account for three different entries to the Steam top five, where the previous week’s big budget action adventure “Assassin’s Creed Origins” moved down one place to third in consequence.
Steam’s own player statistics suggests that “PUBG” is still the bigger draw. It presses onward towards a daily peak of 2.5 million concurrent players, while the multiplayer mode for “CoD: WWII” topped out at 56,000 on Nov. 5, 2017 and its singleplayer mode at 19,500 the day before.
However, on the Humble Store, a popular and authorized Steam code re-seller, it’s the standard edition of “Destiny 2” which keeps our “CoD: WWII” equivalent from being overall bestseller, while “PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds” is found further down in eighth, suggesting that appetites for “PUBG” are not completely unsatiable.
Steam*
1. PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds
2. Call of Duty: WWII
3. Assassin’s Creed Origins
4. Call of Duty: WWII
5. Call of Duty: WWII
*Steam chart based on revenue rather than units.
GameStop US
1. Call of Duty: WWII
2. Wizard 101 Spooky Carnival eCard
3. Destiny 2
4. Roblox $10 code
5. Call of Duty WWII Digital Deluxe Edition
Humble Store
1. Destiny 2
2. Call of Duty: WWII
3. Stellaris
4. Hearts of Iron IV: Cadet Edition
5. Stellaris: Utopia expansion
GamersGate EU
1. Assassin’s Creed Origins
2. Human Fall Flat
3. Conan Exiles
4. Arizona Sunshine
5. Torchlight II
Fanatical (previously known as BundleStars)
1. Lords of the Fallen – Game of the Year Edition
2. Wolfenstein: The New Order
3. Wolfenstein: The Old Blood
4. Homefront: The Revolution – Freedom Fighter Bundle
5. The Jackbox Party Pack 4
GOG
1. Divinity: Original Sin 2
2. Elex
3. Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners
4. Cuphead
5. Heroes of Might and Magic 3: Complete
Itchio
1. Love on the Peacock Express
2. Rise of Industry
3. FPV Freerider
4. Doki Doki Literature Club!
5. Wolf Quest
JB
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