Summary
Debuting all the way back in 2003, theCall of Dutyfranchise has only continued to grow more popular with each new entry, and while its recent sales may have dipped slightly due to very valid criticisms, those sales are still monumentally high when compared to the vast majority of other modern-day releases. That being said, while hundreds of thousands of players are still logging intoCall of Duty: Warzoneand the most recentModern Warfaregames, many fans long for a return tothe golden age ofCall of Duty, which often sees them boot up some classic entries.
Though its first few entries were well-received at the time, it wasCall of Duty 4: Modern Warfarethat really cementedCall of Dutyas a household name, something that the next five years or so would only reinforce. Between 2007 and 2012,Call of Dutyexperienced a golden age where it could seemingly do no wrong. Though the franchise has come a long way since, many nostalgic fans still look back on those days fondly, leading to some rather interesting results when it comes to assessing eachCall of Dutygame’s player count in 2024.
A Breakdown of Every Mainline Call of Duty’s 2024 Player Count
The following data has been pulled from SteamDB, and thus only shows the player counts forCall of Dutygames available on the Steam platform.
138
207
Call of Duty 2
373
822
674
1,796
599
4,825
585
22,614
813
63,343
481
6,504
332
18,277
126
13,831
100
12,675
9,553
63,681
356
15,417
544
19,406
173
1,409
1,846
3,581
1,908
3,693
351
636
112,006
491,670
It’s important to note that somemainlineCall of Dutyentriesare missing from this list. This is because games likeCall of Duty 3andCall of Duty: Black Ops 4aren’t currently available on Steam, with the former having never received a PC port, and the latter only being available via Battle.net. It’s also important to note that this set of data doesn’t take console statistics into account, as active player counts for Xbox and PlayStation aren’t nearly as readily available. However, it feels safe to say that some of these games would receive a healthy boost from the Xbox demographic, with the vast majority of these games being available via backwards compatibility.
What Steam’s Player Counts Say About Call of Duty’s Current Popularity
Unsurprisingly,Call of Duty’s most popular entryon Steam is its most recent one, which technically combinesCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 2,Modern Warfare 3, andCall of Duty: Warzoneinto one package. As such, this data is a little skewed, as it’s unclear just how many players are actively engaging in each entry, though withCall of Duty: Warzonebeing free to download, it seems likely that a good portion of that active player count belongs to the battle royale.
A far more interesting assessment is thatCall of Duty: Black Ops 3has the second-highest active player count on Steam right now, at least according to SteamDB. Released all the way back in 2015,Black Ops 3is almost a decade oldat this point, but still, almost 10,000 players are online right now, which acts as a testament to just how much of a complete packageBlack Ops 3was, offering a decent campaign, excellent multiplayer, and a thorough Zombies mode.
Another interesting point of data is thatCall of Duty: Black Ops Cold WarandCall of Duty: Modern Warfare2019still have a solid playerbase, while the much more recent entry,Call of Duty: Vanguard, struggles with well under 500 players.Vanguard’s active player count is even being beaten by the originalModern Warfareseries,Black Ops, and even Sledgehammer’s ownCall of Duty: WW2.
Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2023)
WHERE TO PLAY
The war has changed. Call of Duty returns with an all-new campaign, modernized versions of classic Multiplayer maps and an open-world PvE Zombies experience. The campaign, a direct sequel to the record-breaking Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, sees Captain Price and Task Force 141 face off against ultranationalist war criminal Vladimir Makarov as he extends his grasp across the world. In Multiplayer, the 16 maps that launched with Modern Warfare 2 in 2009 return with upgraded graphics, new modes and innovative gameplay features. In Modern Warfare Zombies, team up with other squads for the first time ever as you work together to survive in the largest Zombies map yet
