Scump Describes Current Call of Duty Situation as the “Worst State” in Franchise History

Call of Duty icon Scump has a passion for hosting watch parties and streaming Ranked Play, yet recent concerns about cheating and performance issues have even challenged the dedication of this franchise advocate.

Content creators within the Call of Duty community are increasingly shifting their focus away from the franchise, exploring alternative gaming options. Notably, on December 17, Nadeshot announced his decision to step back from streaming Black Ops 6, citing frustrating network performance and rampant cheating as his primary reasons.

Similarly, professional Warzone player Swagg has opted to stream Marvel Rivals instead of continuing with Call of Duty, highlighting the matchmaking problems that have plagued his gaming experience.

Player engagement has also taken a hit; while the Steam player count can fluctuate, the numbers are telling. Black Ops 6 experienced a dramatic drop, shedding 145,000 concurrent players in December alone, after a peak increase of 148,000 players from October to November. Furthermore, Warzone witnessed a staggering loss of over 102,000 players, representing a decline of approximately 32.6% of its Steam player base during the same month.

Despite these setbacks, Scump continues to hold onto hope, though his optimism is waning.

Scump’s Perspective on the Current State of Call of Duty

Scump on the state of Call of Duty: “I don’t think Call of Duty has ever been in a worse spot than it is right now. It’s kind of depressing, to be honest.”pic.twitter.com/udXXiCeJsL

— CharlieIntel (@charlieINTEL) January 8, 2025

Scump expressed his dissatisfaction, stating, “Call of Duty is just in such a bad spot right now. I don’t think Call of Duty has ever been in a worse spot than it is right now. It’s kind of depressing, to be honest.” He attributes many of the game’s current issues to the premature launch of Ranked Play. Historically, Treyarch has waited several months post-release to debut this mode in order to build anticipation and refine the map and weapon pool, but this year it was introduced under a month after launch.

“They dropped it (Ranked Play) so early, and it was so bad because of all the hackers,” Scump elaborated. “Ranked Play itself isn’t bad… I think the system could be better, but it’s fine. The problem is the cheaters.”

While Scump is expected to continue hosting watch parties during the upcoming CDL season and will be actively supporting OpTic scrims, he plans to diversify his streaming content. “I’m not going to be not playing CoD at all, we are just going to be switching things up a little bit more and be a little more free with what I want to do on stream,” he noted.

If you’re interested in further commentary on Call of Duty’s prevailing challenges, be sure to check out xQc’s insights on the game’s current situation.

Source & Images