By: Bryan Tropeano

Call of Duty is a super popular game franchise, but despite its built-in fanbase, nobody was really sure how it would translate into a mobile experience. The release of Call of Duty: Mobile to an astounding 100 million downloads in one week has put any naysayers to bed.

Sensor Tower, touted as “the leading provider of market intelligence and insights for the global app economy,” is the firm reporting these first-week numbers. If accurate, that means they beat out mobile debuts from the likes of Mario Kart Tour which came in at just over 90 million downloads in its first week.

Fortnite, which is arguably one of the most popular titles right now, saw only 22.5 million downloads. Now, that game was only released in the App Store, but Call of Duty: Mobile saw 56.9 million downloads on iOS.

While the game is free to download and play, there are of course in-app purchases available for anyone willing to cough up some dough to gain an edge over enemies. Sensor Tower reports that the game racked up $17.7 million in its first week.

What’s even more impressive than these record-shattering numbers, is the fact that this was all accomplished without being released in China. When that happens, there’s no doubt we’re going to see another large spike in downloads.

First-Person Shooters (FPS) are notoriously clumsy on mobile devices and while Call of Duty hasn’t ironed out all of the wrinkles, it’s a pretty solid offering from the guys who’ve already conquered the console world.

In the several hours I’ve spent playing the game (or several hundred, but who’s counting?), the gameplay has been remarkably stable with little to no glitches or lags. That’s quite surprising considering the fact that there are millions of mobile players thrown into random matchups over WiFi. I’d argue that I’ve experienced fewer connectivity issues than on my Xbox One.

As long as Activision and Tencent’s Timi Studio regularly update the game with new content, new maps and new multiplayer modes, and maybe even a single-player storyline, I can see the game going the distance, satisfying fans for years to come.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Bryan TropeanoBryan Tropeano is a senior producer and a regular reporter for NewsWatch.  He lives in Washington D.C. and loves all things Tech.