Still from Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
Activision’s Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, the latest instalment of the publisher’s popular first-person shoot ’em up series, was the top selling video game of 2014.
It’s a return to the top for Call of Duty. The 2013 edition, Call of Duty: Ghosts, was comfortably outsold by Take-Two Interactive’s open-world crime epic Grand Theft Auto V, but prior to that, a version of the game has topped the year-end sales charts each year since 2008.
Video game sales actually fell by 13pc this year but, as reported by Variety, hardware sales jumped by 20pc as Microsoft’s Xbox One and Sony’s PlayStation 4 began to gather pace.
The Xbox One was the best-selling console in the US over the vital Christmas period, outstripping its fierce rival after it ended the PS4’s streak as best-selling console in the US and UK by overtaking the console in November. On the back of that success, its been revealed that the consumer tech giant will shave US$50 off the cost of the Xbox One, bringing the price down to US$349 from US$399.
“Building off a record-setting holiday, we are excited to announce a new promotion in which fans in the US can buy an Xbox One at a special price of US$349,” said Mike Nichols, corporate vice-president of marketing for Xbox.
“We are thankful for all the excitement for Xbox One this holiday and proud to offer more fans the amazing games lineup, Xbox Live gaming community, and continual innovation that Xbox One fans have come to enjoy.”
