Black Ops 6 Player Count Could Be Lower Than Expected

It’s increasingly apparent that both Black Ops 6 (BO6) and Warzone are facing a significant drop in player engagement, revealing a crisis that is more severe than initially assessed.

Upon its release, BO6 achieved remarkable success, earning the title of the “biggest Call of Duty ever,”outpacing every previous installment in terms of total players, hours engaged, and matches played within its first 30 days. However, by December, Warzone witnessed a staggering decline, losing over 102,000 players, amounting to a 32.6% drop from its Steam player base.

The situation with BO6 is equally alarming, as concurrent player numbers plummeted from a peak of 315,000 at launch to just above 100,000 by late December. Renowned content creators like Nadeshot have attributed this decline to rampant cheating alongside performance issues. This has led to widespread concern from former Call of Duty professional players like Scump, who fear for the future of the franchise in the current environment.

Understanding Player Count Discrepancies

Despite ongoing struggles within the player community, it may not be immediately obvious from overall player count statistics. Recent data reveals a more complex narrative.

According to a report from CharlieIntel, “Call of Duty was the most played game on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S in the US for the week ending December 21.”

Call of Duty was the most played game on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S in the US for the week ending December 21, during the Black Ops 6 free trial. It was #6 on Steam in the same period. pic.twitter.com/ZkrXQmXLIL

— CharlieIntel (@charlieINTEL) December 30, 2024

In the same timeframe, Call of Duty also ranked as the sixth most-played title on Steam. This inconsistency puzzled various content creators, including JGOD, who questioned the validity of these player count figures amidst the observed drop in Steam users.

HunterTV, another prominent YouTuber, provided insight into the situation by explaining, “The COD HQ is lowkey a big brain move cause if people are on MW2, MW3, BO6, or Warzone it counts.” This suggests that the high player count is misleading, stemming from the total engagement across multiple Call of Duty titles rather than a singular game.

A perspective shared by a third player indicated, “And this is why Warzone will never improve,” arguing that the perceived high player base might disincentivize the developers from implementing necessary changes as it falsely suggests satisfactory performance levels for both games.

On a hopeful note, Raven Software has pledged to unveil significant Warzone updates in the coming year, which could potentially revitalize player trust among the disillusioned community.

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