Call of Duty Bets on a Comeback as Modern Warfare 4 Faces GTA 6 Weeks Later

In a corner of Shoreditch, east London, a patch of street has been rebuilt as a South Korean block, complete with noodle bars and convenience stores. It is a promotion for Modern Warfare 4, the new Call of Duty, and it is one piece of a large effort by publisher Activision to win back players after a poor year. A similar installation has been built in downtown Los Angeles.

The scale of the effort reflects how far the series slipped. Since 2009, Call of Duty has finished first or a close second in the US video game sales charts every year. Last year's edition, Black Ops 7, fell to seventh in America, according to analytics firm Circana. In the UK it was the eighth best-selling game.

Several things appear to have contributed. It is thought that putting the game on Xbox's Game Pass subscription service hurt sales; this year's release will not appear there at launch. Rival Battlefield 6 and newcomer Arc Raiders, a surprise success from Swedish studio Embark, also took attention. Fans, meanwhile, complained about novelty skins, which change the look of characters in multiplayer matches, based on cartoons and other pop culture crossovers. The single-player campaign drew poor reviews too, and multiplayer fans drifted to other titles.

Call of Duty's chief marketing officer, Tyler Bahl, told BBC Newsbeat that the series missed expectations with its community last year. He said the team stepped back and listened. Players can now switch off the controversial cosmetic changes, and Bahl describes Modern Warfare 4 as a return to form.

The promotion goes well beyond street replicas. In July, Activision sent Inde Navaratte, the Obsession star who streamed Call of Duty on Twitch before becoming a rising Hollywood name, to promote the game at the Fanatics Fest sports convention. It has signed a sponsorship deal with the six-a-side football championship Baller League, and worked with YouTuber Mr Beast to show off the game's new DMZ multiplayer mode. Bahl says the aim is to show the franchise's stature, swagger and scale, and he admits that does not come cheap.

Then there is the calendar. Modern Warfare 4 lands just weeks before Grand Theft Auto 6, arguably the most anticipated game of the decade. Bahl calls them the two biggest games of the year, but says they are not necessarily in direct competition. His argument is that console prices are rising, yet interest in Rockstar Games' blockbuster could persuade people to buy a console or come back to gaming, and those people could then play both. He also notes that GTA 6 will launch only on PlayStation 5 and Xbox, without multiplayer modes at first, which he says leaves Call of Duty differentiated enough to stand out. The game costs about £70 in the UK, and Bahl says many fans treat it as a year-round hangout, because friends are the main reason people come.

The campaign matters because it was a main criticism last year. Alternating Call of Duty titles follow different storylines, and the Modern Warfare strand has produced some of the series' best-loved characters. Activision calls Modern Warfare 4 the epic conclusion to the story of Capt John Price, played by British actor Barry Sloane, who promises surprises and a culmination of pieces built up over time. He says he feels no intimidation, only excitement, having been met with love from fans.

María Elisa Camargo, returning as cartel leader Valeria Garza, calls the fanbase a tough crowd: smart, story-driven, and not inclined to love just anyone. Mads Mikkelsen plays the mysterious enemy The Archer, and says he knows his son will try to kill him again and again.

Whether Bahl's claim holds, that the two games feed rather than fight each other, will be tested in the sales charts once both are out.