It was recently discovered that Call of Duty: Vanguard, widely considered one of the worst COD games ever, sold more than 30 million copies. That makes Vanguard one of the best-selling Call of Duty games ever, despite the woeful reviews the game got when it was released. It failed to meet Activision’s expectations when it was released in 2021, emerging as the first core World War II-themed experience since 2017’s Call of Duty: WWII.
Vanguard looked brilliant on the surface, but clean graphics weren’t enough to mask the game’s instabilities and pitfalls. It had a fire-and-forget story that was dramatically short, and the multiplayer offering felt unbalanced and weak from the outset. Regardless, Call of Duty: Vanguard reportedly went on to sell a whopping 30 million copies, which ranks it high in the list of Call of Duty games where overall sales numbers are concerned.
Call of Duty: Vanguard was a game that’s tough to remember – it didn’t offer much to change the paradigm whatsoever. With 30 million copies sold, Vanguard did something right – but even now, the reviews are mostly negative for this game. On Metacritic, the highest score Vanguard has is 74/100. It’s not the worst Call of Duty game ever, though. That title is bestowed upon a 2012 game released exclusively for the PS Vita, ‘Black Ops Declassified’, which boasts a Metacritic rating of just 33/100.
In a statement released months after the launch of Vanguard, Activision’s spokespeople confirmed that Vanguard failed to meet internal expectations. It was said that the World War II theme didn’t resonate with fans and the game failed to innovate. One year later, Activision would release Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, which would go on to become the fastest-selling Call of Duty game ever, so the fan fervour was still there, just not for Vanguard.
Vanguard is one of those Call of Duty games that died off very quickly, with player numbers dwindling before the title’s ‘lifecycle’ had ended. The World War II setting also gave rise to a new Warzone map, Caldera, which many still say is what killed the popular battle royale title for a time.
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