I really like the fact that every year Xbox LIVE’s Major Nelson posts the top activity for the service so we can see which games got the most attention during the year. Call of Duty has held the top spot ever since 2007, but I don’t think the domination by that series has ever been this strong.
Activision’s much maligned but million selling series holds three of the top spots with Black Ops surprisingly taking first place over Modern Warfare 3 which falls in second. Halo: Reach is still holding strong in fourth place and is faring better than two of this year’s big multiplayer releases, Battlefield 3 and Gears of War 3, falling in the fifth and seventh spots, respectively. I’m kind of surprised that Gears of War is so low considering that this is the series that defined multiplayer on the Xbox this generation, but seeing Reach in fourth spot warms my heart, if only out of spite for all the complainers who said Reach would be dead in a year.
Some other surprises from the list would be that GTA IV is still charting as is Gears of War 2. I guess Xbox LIVE gamers know what they like, and that’s re-hashes of a game from 2007 and previous iterations of an improved product. Thoughts on 2011’s Xbox LIVE activity list? Surprised that Black Ops still holds first place? Anything that should be higher in your opinion? Go!
Source – Major Nelson
To be honest, I’m glad to see Black Ops on the top. It was pretty solid compared to MW2, and it’s the only CoD that I’ve been able to get on the multiplayer and play alone, without a friend playing along with.
It’s crazy how far down Gears of War 3 is. People keep ragging on these companies for making these sequel machines, but clearly, LOTS of people are buying and/or playing these things.
It saddens me to see Call of Duty so high on that list all the time, and Gears 3 deserves to be in the top three for sure.