Call of Duty franchise loses over 50 million players in a year

Call of Duty has had record player count losses, losing over 50 million since last year. The Activision Blizzard franchise is set to pause development on a 2023 CoD after the release of Modern Warfare II and Warzone 2.

The Call of Duty series has hit a three-year low in player engagement this quarter, with the Activision financials revealing that CoD has sunk to below 100 million players over the last year and has lost 50 million players in the process.

Call of Duty struggles before Modern Warfare II and Warzone 2 launch

Call of Duty has struggled with Vanguard and Cold War numbers

Call of Duty Modern Warfare II (2) and Warzone 2 might be on the horizon, but for this quarter Activision has reported a huge downturn in players (thanks, VGC). The monthly active users — or MAUs if you like lingo — has come down below 100 million to 94 million as of June 30th. This is the lowest the franchise has seen for nearly three years and is much lower than the first quarter 2021 peak of 150 million that coincided with the Call of Duy Mobile release.

Activision is recorded as saying that year-over-year operating income is down for this second quarter, thus “reflecting lower engagement for the Call of Duty franchise, but grew versus the first quarter.” This should be resolved with the highly-anticipated Modern Warfare II release alongside Warzone 2 later this year on October 28, 2022. “Across the Call of Duty ecosystem, the teams are well positioned to support these launches with substantial live operations while also continuing development of new premium content planned for 2023 and beyond,” Activision stated.

Fara had better come back for CoD Modern Warfare II...

We know that Call of Duty Vanguard didn't hit the highs of the franchise with a rather mediocre entry last year and that Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War, while solid, didn't quite have the hype of the 2019 Call of Duty Modern Warfare reboot. What do you think of this news? Is it surprising? Does it make you reflect on the Sony/Call of Duty/Microsoft news differently? Let us know in the comments!

Industry News

Written by Kes Eylers-Stephenson

Editor Kes is our resident expert in PlayStation and other gaming news. He writes about PS5 exclusives like The Last of Us and Horizon, PS Plus news, and his favorite games — The Witcher, Assassin’s Creed, and God of War — before an evening swim.