One month before the release of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is CoD the most played game on consoles, surpassing Fortnite and Roblox. On Steam, it’s a different story.
On October 25, 2024, Black Ops 6 will be released, the new installment of Call of Duty. And over a month earlier, in the first week of September, CoD was, according to an analyst, the most played game on PS5 and Xbox. It surpassed popular titles like Fortnite, Roblox, and GTA 5.
What is the analyst referring to? In a screenshot on Threads, the Executive Director of the market research institute Circana and analyst of the video game industry Mat Piscatella presents the player numbers for the first week of September in the USA.
He shows the ten most played games in the USA for the week ending September 7, 2024, based on the number of active players throughout the week.
Call of Duty occupies the first place on both PS5 and Xbox. It is named “Call of Duty HQ,” the app where you can start various CoD titles:
- Modern Warfare 2
- Modern Warfare 3
- Warzone
- Black Ops 6 or the Beta
During this time, the Beta for Black Ops 6 took place, and the two beta weekends led to a surge in players. CoD was able to celebrate new records in various categories – but players believe this was not due to the quality of BO6.
How does it look on PC? On Steam, Call of Duty ranks 4th during this period. The top spots are held by Deadlock, Counter-Strike 2, and Space Marine 2. The latter was released on September 9, but players could start playing from September 5 if they purchased the Gold or Ultra Edition.
However, not all PC players are included in the screenshot from Mat Piscatella. It can be assumed that several players join via Battle.net. However, we do not have official figures on that.
A graphic from SteamDB shows a rise in player numbers for Call of Duty on Steam:
- on August 30 with over 154,000 players – an increase of 48% compared to the previous month
- on September 7 with over 157,000 players
At that time, the beta weekends took place, and a “Free Weekend” started on September 6 (indicated by the I symbol):
Are there global figures on this? There are no official numbers from Playstation or Xbox. A graph on ps-timetracker.com shows that there was an increase in player numbers for Call of Duty during the specified periods.
And according to newzoo, Call of Duty (considering MW2, MW3, and Warzone) was still in 2nd place among the most played games on Playstation in August. The site refers to 37 different markets, not just the US.
The increase in player numbers in early September shows that the Beta obviously attracted many people. In general, the Beta of Black Ops 6 was well received but also faced criticism. Players praised especially the new omni-movement. Others are happy about small details like classic prestige, great music, and the victory circle.
Technical issues were criticized, as well as the visibility of enemies, especially when they are lying on the ground. Some criticized the new movement, claiming it is simply too movement-intensive for them.
Black Ops 6 is the new installment in the shooter series and will be released on October 25 on all platforms. What the player numbers for CoD will look like then will be revealed at release. BO6 brings the round-based zombie mode and a new movement into the game; the campaign takes place after the events of Cold War. Here you can find out everything you need to know about Black Ops 6.
