In just one month, Call of Duty has lost over 145,000 players on Steam. That’s almost as many as the launch of Black Ops 6 has gained since its release in October 2024.
How many players does Call of Duty currently have? Call of Duty reached a peak of 192,000 simultaneous active players in December 2024. This includes the combined players from Modern Warfare 3, Warzone, and the new Black Ops 6.
The numbers come from the online database SteamDB, which shows the player counts of all games on Steam. Thus, players who are playing Call of Duty on console or through the Xbox Game Pass are not included.
In October 2024, when Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 was released, the player count on Steam increased by about 94% – nearly 149,000 additional players joined. However, in December, the shooter lost nearly 123,000 players, which is almost half of the active player base on Steam.
After record release, frustration grows among many players
What is the situation with the game? According to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Black Ops 6 was the most successful CoD release of all time and received mostly positive feedback upon release. However, many players are currently frustrated, and there are several reasons for this:
- Players say, Black Ops 6 is more fun when they leave certain matches and search for a new one, as matchmaking tends to impose a loss on everyone eventually.
- Despite the new anti-cheat system, cheaters remain the biggest problem of the game.
- A new event pass outraged many players as it was designed to encourage players to spend even more money.
Now, many players seem to be turning their backs on the shooter on Steam for the time being. Under the post by CharlieIntel, players are discussing what the declining numbers mean and how to reverse the trend.
- KLG Subonekd: “Warzone’s failure is complete. In a month, it has destroyed everything BO6 brought to the game. It’s time for Warzone to stand on its own and not be tied to main games anymore. It needs its own dedicated dev team, dev cycle, and support.”
- ihatethecap: “Remove crossplay with PC, and the numbers for consoles will go up. Get either an anti-cheat, or do something. The content year after year cannot just be camo grind.”
- LunchTime: “One would think that many new players would join in December/Christmas. This drop-off should worry CoD, hopefully enough to support their game.”
Lastly, a world champion in Call of Duty wanted to prove that aim assist on controllers is not as powerful as many players think. However, this attempt backfired – how exactly you’ll find out in this article: Call of Duty: World Champion wants to prove that aim assist is not a huge advantage – Completely backfires
