COD Player counts leaked

[J4MES OX4D 10,033]

Activision have supposedly revealed the exact worldwide current player counts for COD at an event in Spain covering all systems. Not sure why they’ve done this as they have done their utmost hardest to censor such information when possible for many years previous but it was captured by a few content creators and it does not look good. 
 

184,000 playing core MP is remarkably low - you’d rarely see MW2 2009 slip below 275,000 even off-peak more than halfway through its existence and that’s just on the PS3 system alone. Xbox 360 would rarely sink below 350,000 at any given time even at the end of the games run. Considering how many copies were sold of MW2022, you’d anticipate at least 1m concurrent players across platforms for multiplayer. 
 

424,000 for Warzone is about right and steady enough but definitely not the growth expected like Fortnite gets every chapter. Between 1 and 3m were playing Verdansk daily with over 100m accounts created. Considering the state of Warzone 2, that’s probably not as disastrous as it could’ve been but I reckon Actvision were likely targeting up to 3m online at peak per day based on hype and other games within the genre. 
 

COD Mobile figures I can’t really determine but looking at other titles, it’s probably less than expected.

 

Although this is just one day at a time when content is dry, the 75% drop of players on PC has likely correlated similarly on consoles too and these figures back that up. I doubt there is a radical difference any other day of the week either. If you split it 70/70/40 between the systems, those numbers are really unsustainable and with two years to run on this game, I can see why there is concern. It’s not quite as tragic as Battlefield 2042 struggling to keep 12,500 players at a time but it’s disappointing all the same

[MrBiron 1,453]

Can't say I'm surprised. There is a decent game underneath but IW made changes that weren't needed that players hate (the perk system for example) and 3 months into the game there is a lack of 6v6 maps still. If were we still on the Map Pack model then we'd have had our fist map pack now and 4/5 new maps.

[J4MES OX4D 10,033]

This was taken on a regular Monday, one month after the First Strike map pack (Berlin Wall, Kowloon, Stadium and Discovery) was released. 2.9m online on just the Xbox 360 alone! 

Map packs really bolstered consistent retention plus with the games being finished, there was no need for them to go back to the drawing board and relentlessly balance or redo the interface. The focus was new content and maintaining the excellent foundation already in place. Although COD games were more fresh and original back in these days, even today, they still sell on the same levels yet every game after BO3 has been teetering on the brink after 3 months rather than holding a steady population or even growing.

[techno 3,510]

1 hour ago, MrBiron said:

Can't say I'm surprised. There is a decent game underneath but IW made changes that weren't needed that players hate (the perk system for example) and 3 months into the game there is a lack of 6v6 maps still. If were we still on the Map Pack model then we'd have had our fist map pack now and 4/5 new maps.

100% agree.

 

Still the Activision social media employees are out defending / debunking this 😉

 

 

[J4MES OX4D 10,033]

1 hour ago, techno said:

100% agree.

 

Still the Activision social media employees are out defending / debunking this 😉

 

 

Well they certainly can’t hide from Steam’s tracked data (showing a decline of over 75%) plus Activision have so many open API’s running, it isn’t too hard to compile such information even if it has to come from a string of data compositions. IW and CI can brand it ‘not official’ but that doesn’t mean it’s not accurate, so at the risk of digging a hole for themselves, this is probably as far as their debunking will go rather than moving towards outright denials.

 

Not the first time they’ve played the ‘this information didn’t come from us so it’s wrong’ card only to get embarrassed when it turns out to be correct😂

[cyberninja2601 1,106]

 

 

How many options did people have in 2011? Now we have COD, Fortnite, Apex, overwatch, PUG, destiny and Grand theftb that I can think of.  All of which compete for the same players/dollars.

 

Look at steam and they are constantly at the top. Battlefield and Halo don't even show up. The first COD game came out 20 years ago. everything considered I would say they are doing pretty well. How many other games from their generation are still around and have players playing them

 

Why do you think that Sony is fighting so hard to prevent MS from purchasing activision. If the player counts were this bad why would the care. 

[J4MES OX4D 10,033]

1 hour ago, cyberninja2601 said:

 

 

How many options did people have in 2011? Now we have COD, Fortnite, Apex, overwatch, PUG, destiny and Grand theftb that I can think of.  All of which compete for the same players/dollars.

 

Look at steam and they are constantly at the top. Battlefield and Halo don't even show up. The first COD game came out 20 years ago. everything considered I would say they are doing pretty well. How many other games from their generation are still around and have players playing them

 

Why do you think that Sony is fighting so hard to prevent MS from purchasing activision. If the player counts were this bad why would the care. 

Well there was Halo, Gears of War, Battlefield etc. Competition may be greater now but these games have a far greater reach globally and are more accessible plus the likes of Warzone can be played for free. Overwatch, PUBG, Halo are all dead in the water now so really COD should be back up there yet it's MP player counts are less than Goose Goose Duck. It's not like people aren't buying COD now - they still mostly achieve the same figures they did back then but when the population nosedives after a month and never recovers then it tells a big story no matter how much you seek answers elsewhere as a factor. Sony are fighting MS because the acquisition could severely damage Sony's system sales going forward especially if Microsoft are to lock all the games to their consoles now and til the end of time which they will.  

 

COD is also never consistently at the top of Steam - it's barely cracked the top 5 once in 7 years and currently sits in 11th based on current but even the peak wont see it get into 5th.   

 

So sales, engagement and popularity isn't the issue but a game losing this much players so soon especially when it was two years to run is a worry. A lack of content and ongoing strategy plus the game releasing in an unrefined state certainly are the biggest factors in these huge declines. The market is there, they have their captive audience yet they persistently blow it. 

[phil bottle 9,754]

On 1/29/2023 at 11:40 AM, J4MES OX4D said:

 Kowloon

 

Ah, I had a feeling something was drawing me to this thread 😍

[GazzaGarratt 11,049]

The sign of gaming times will definitely mean people move on quicker. Its interesting the stats though. What I see on the Steam one above is that it shows a larger than normal playerbase initially and what they did was gorge content extremely quick, which the hours played shows. I'll die on my iceberg hill by admitting that Battle Royale is a great addition to games, but it is just one game mode after all. I think those stats also show that 6v6 multiplayer is either played by ultimate hardcore MLGers (Counter-Strike) or casual core players like all of us.

 

Players are making the BR games the next MLG scene, or at least trying to do that. Warzone imo, wasn't built to be able to compete with them. Not yet anyway. Its like the casual core version of the hardcore games, so you will always get more random from time to time. Its why casuals get drawn to it because higher unpredictability means more chances of winning a BR match.

 

It would be interesting at some point if we found all the 5v5, 6v6 FPS Multiplayer games and stacked their stats alongside each other. I see Overwatch 2 is not on there at all, completely free too. I'm probably concluding I don't think these figures dictate if CoD has landed well or not. I listen and see many of us playing CoD way more than we ever have and that I believe its not just coincidence.

[cyberninja2601 1,106]

 

Well activision reported their earnings a couple of days ago. in it they report Monthly active users. Now there is no way to tell which activision game is being played, but the numbers indicate an increase for the quarter in which MW2 was released (as were many other games)

 

Dec/2021   107M

Mar/2022   100M

Jun2022     94M

Sep/2022   97M

Dec/2022   111M

 

So if I am them, I am not reaching for the panic button yet as number of monthly users has increased 18% from Jun. I guess we'll see when they announce the next quarter if that holds or not. 

 

Additionally they say

 

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II delivered the highest opening-quarter sell-through in franchise history

 

At the end of the fourth quarter, cumulative hours played were the highest in franchise history for a premium title at this stage of its release.

 

They do mention the Warzone has slowed down;  "Year-over-year engagement growth in the free title has moderated following the launch"

 

 

 

 

 

[IRaMPaGe 3,236]

15 minutes ago, cyberninja2601 said:

 

Well activision reported their earnings a couple of days ago. in it they report Monthly active users. Now there is no way to tell which activision game is being played, but the numbers indicate an increase for the quarter in which MW2 was released (as were many other games)

 

Dec/2021   107M

Mar/2022   100M

Jun2022     94M

Sep/2022   97M

Dec/2022   111M

 

So if I am them, I am not reaching for the panic button yet as number of monthly users has increased 18% from Jun. I guess we'll see when they announce the next quarter if that holds or not. 

 

Additionally they say

 

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II delivered the highest opening-quarter sell-through in franchise history

 

At the end of the fourth quarter, cumulative hours played were the highest in franchise history for a premium title at this stage of its release.

 

They do mention the Warzone has slowed down;  "Year-over-year engagement growth in the free title has moderated following the launch"

 

 

 

 

 

 

Interesting to see the figures, I think most of those slumps and drops are because a lot of people didn't enjoy Vanguard. 

A new title is always going to bring another surge of players. 

A lot of people were hyped for MW2, also the beta for MW2 played really well imo. 

Thanks for sharing tho, is facisinating to see. 🙂

[J4MES OX4D 10,033]

2 hours ago, cyberninja2601 said:

 

Well activision reported their earnings a couple of days ago. in it they report Monthly active users. Now there is no way to tell which activision game is being played, but the numbers indicate an increase for the quarter in which MW2 was released (as were many other games)

 

Dec/2021   107M

Mar/2022   100M

Jun2022     94M

Sep/2022   97M

Dec/2022   111M

 

So if I am them, I am not reaching for the panic button yet as number of monthly users has increased 18% from Jun. I guess we'll see when they announce the next quarter if that holds or not. 

 

Additionally they say

 

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II delivered the highest opening-quarter sell-through in franchise history

 

At the end of the fourth quarter, cumulative hours played were the highest in franchise history for a premium title at this stage of its release.

 

They do mention the Warzone has slowed down;  "Year-over-year engagement growth in the free title has moderated following the launch"

 

Great news for the shareholders but that means nothing to the gamers. We hear it every year - ''X game has broken X records and exceeded expectations blah blah and continues to be enjoyed daily by X amount of players blah blah blah with a total of 358728953247592758 bullets being fired waffle waffle waffle we made more than last quarter blady blady blah''

 

Also of course there is an increase this quarter just gone - the last two were at the tail end of Vanguard on its last legs and when Warzone was fizzling out. The release quarter is always going to bring a huge spike and even corporates surely can work that basic trend out. 

 

The fact they've stopped releasing the concurrent active users per game is the most telling part. There probably is considerable panic behind the scenes with MW2 and its ongoing reception but the only way they are going to assure gamers of its true sustainability is by providing content and a clear forwarding roadmap. They can reassure the money men every 3 months that things are going well and will get even better but it's us gamers that deserve to know where the game stands. 

 

If games were measured on quarterly success then Diablo Immortal would've been the 3rd best game of 2022.