Zelda left off the list
Activision chief marketing officer Tyler Bahl says Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 and Grand Theft Auto VI are “the two biggest games of the year,” not GTA 6 and Nintendo’s Ocarina of Time remake. He said it to The Game Business, as reported by VGC, a week before Modern Warfare 4 launches on October 23.
| Game | Release | US purchase intent (Aug) |
|---|---|---|
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 | October 23 | 15% |
| The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time | 2026 (Switch 2) | 10.4% |
| Grand Theft Auto VI | November 19 | Not given |
What Bahl said
Asked whether GTA 6 and Zelda were pulling attention from Call of Duty, Bahl answered: “Well, no offense to Zelda, but I think, you know, [GTA 6 and Modern Warfare 4] are the two biggest games of the year.” He argued GTA 6 helps Activision, because more people “taking the dust off their Xbox or PlayStation” means “more eyeballs for us, overall.”
Circana’s Mat Piscatella added some context on Bluesky. As of August, Modern Warfare 4’s purchase intent was 15% among US console and PC players, against 10.4% for the Ocarina of Time remake.
But that’s measured across everyone. “You have just shy of 50M PS5/XBS in the US (plus the PC audience) right now compared to fewer than 7M Switch 2’s,” he wrote. “On a per potential player rate, the intent on Ocarina is far higher.”
Circana put Modern Warfare 4’s US purchase intent at 15% in August. Image: Activision, via Steam.
Reading the numbers
Both points can be true. Call of Duty has the bigger addressable audience, and Zelda converts a much larger share of the people who can actually play it. Nintendo Life has the reaction from the Nintendo side. October 23 and November 19 will show whose bet on the holiday was right.
