Despite Black Ops 6 launching as probably the most profitable Call of Duty sport ever, it’s seen a speedy player count drop, having the lowest the franchise has seen in years.
In keeping with a report from The Recreation Enterprise utilizing knowledge from Ampere, Black Ops 6 has a decrease total player count than it did in each March 2023 and 2024.
When Black Ops 6 launched on Recreation Cross, Activision introduced it was their most profitable launch ever, attracting 33.7 million gamers. Their earlier greatest was 2022’s Trendy Warfare 2, which had 31.4 million gamers in its launch month.
Nonetheless, Black Ops 6’s player count has been declining, dropping extra sharply than every other yr. Despite having probably the most gamers at launch, it had the lowest numbers but in March 2025.
Black Ops 6 player count lowest in latest years
In March 2025, Call of Duty had 20.6 million gamers, which is decrease than each March 2024 (20.8M) and March 2023 (22.4M). So, despite having extra gamers at launch, it had fewer gamers 5 months later.
We’ve all the time been capable of see the player count steadily drop on Steam. Nonetheless, it’s the smallest proportion of the Call of Duty player base, so whereas it confirmed a development, it wasn’t indicative of the franchise as an entire.
Nonetheless, Ampere’s numbers present the whole player count, and it traces up with what we’ve been seeing on Steam. March 2025 had the lowest quantity of common gamers we’ve seen because it got here to Steam in 2022, averaging solely 44,613 gamers a day.
Xbox has additionally seen a big drop, going from the preferred place to play Call of Duty to the second, with PlayStation regaining the lead.
Why the drop?
Why has the player count dropped so quickly? It’s extra possible tons of little issues, somewhat than one massive downside.
After accounting for tons of Xbox gamers attempting it out with their Xbox Recreation Cross subscription, maybe taking part in the marketing campaign or dipping their toes into multiplayer earlier than transferring on, (*6*)dishonest has been a giant subject throughout all multiplayer modes.
Additionally, these numbers embody Warzone, the place the player base was upset to not get a brand new predominant map with Black Ops 6’s launch. No matter’s occurred, it’s clear Call of Duty hasn’t been as profitable in retaining its gamers engaged because it usually is.
Warzone’s first-ever battle royale map, Verdansk, arrived in the much-celebrated Season 3 replace, which noticed an uplift in Steam gamers. Nonetheless, server disconnects have been inflicting main points in Season 3, a lot in order that Ranked Play has been quickly disabled, so time will inform how a lot this impacts the player count going ahead.
