The Call of Duty series is experiencing its most serious crisis in history. Despite громкие promises, Black Ops 7 is showing numbers that seemed impossible for the brand just a few years ago.
Aggressive marketing, free weekends, and discounts of up to 50% have not stopped the outflow of players. The peak online of the Call of Duty launcher (Warzone, Black Ops 6 and 7) on Steam has fallen to 52,632 users, which dropped the series to 44th place in the overall platform ranking.
The decline is especially noticeable in comparison with other games. CoD now lags behind VRChat, Dead by Daylight, the old Team Fortress 2, and new projects like Arc Raiders and Marvel Rivals.
Even the holiday season didn't help: in December, the online presence dropped to 43,569 users. This indicates a record low interest in the series — lower than Battlefield 6, which during the holidays surpassed CoD by more than 50,000 players on Steam.
There are several reasons. Players are tired of the chosen course of development for the series. Treyarch received praise for the Zombies mode, but the cooperative campaign and the use of AI to create cosmetics caused negativity. The return of ярких crossovers, including Fallout, only усилил the irritation of fans expecting a return to the roots.
Now hopes are pinned on Infinity Ward, which in 2026 will try to bring back the audience. The task is complicated by competition with GTA 6. For Xbox, the situation is particularly critical: the company is facing not only a drop in console sales, but also a crisis in Call of Duty — a key asset in the purchase of Activision Blizzard.
