Call of Duty had a lot to prove in 2025. Not only was it competing with Battlefield 6 and Arc Raiders, but it also had the unenvious job of recovering from Black Ops 6’s post-launch controversy. Moving away from silly cartoon skins was a step in the right direction, but the outlandish co-op campaign and AI calling cards immediately tanked what little goodwill Treyarch had won back.
And already, we’re back to the crossovers with Fallout.
Even with free weekends, 50 percent discounts, and the best Zombies mode in over a decade, Activision hasn’t been able to salvage last year’s disappointment. The launcher, encompassing Black Ops 7, Warzone, and Black Ops 6, now holds a 24-hour peak of just 52,632 players, which is among the lowest in its history.
To put that figure into perspective, Call of Duty is now 44th in the Steam charts, ranking behind Battlefield 6—which is also haemorrhaging players—VRChat, Dead by Daylight, Rainbow Six Siege X, Team Fortress 2, Elden Ring Nightreign, Marvel Rivals, and, of course, Arc Raiders.
Christmas Did Little To Help Black Ops 7; In Fact, The Game Continued To Lose Players
Typically, during the holiday season, there’s an influx of new players; that’s why Activision asks us to go easy on Christmas noobs. However, the game actually declined in December—just one month after launch—dropping to 43,569 players at its lowest. While today’s peak is marginally higher, it’s part of a much clearer decline, indicating that interest in the series since 2019 is at a record-low.
Future seasons may give Black Ops 7 a new lease on life, but considering that post-launch content is already failing to pull back players, that seems unlikely. Yet again, it’s up to this year’s Call of Duty to win back the community, but this time, Infinity Ward is competing with GTA 6, which is primed to be one of the biggest launches in the medium’s history.
Black Ops 7 already had a lot to prove: Modern Warfare 4 has a bottomless pit to climb out of.
- Released
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November 14, 2025
- ESRB
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Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language, Suggestive Themes, Use of Drugs
