Call of Duty has had a turbulent few years. Coming off the release of Modern Warfare (2019) and Warzone, the series managed to re-ignite significant interest.
Naturally, with the lifting of lockdowns, people have been able to go outside again. Gone are the days of friend groups having Warzone as their only form of social interaction.
That’s resulted in less people playing Call of Duty overall. And lacklustre offerings in the form of Black Ops Cold War and last year’s Vanguard haven’t helped lure players back.
Now Activision is reporting a notable decline in the company’s total player base. The number has dropped under 100 million for the first time since 2019.
Activision has also suffered a year-over-year decline in revenue and operating income. It blames “lower engagement for the Call of Duty franchise” for the drop.
Call of Duty Loses Total Players For Activision
The disappointing player and financial numbers were revealed in a recent Activision Blizzard Q2 2022 results press release.
Data shared in the press release shows Activision had 94 millions MAUs (Monthly Active Users) during Q2 2022 (ending June 30th). This is down from 100 million MAUs during Q1 2022.
By comparison, Activision had 127 million MAUs in Q2 2021. The huge dip below 100 million is a three-year low for the Call of Duty publisher.
Of course, there’s every chance Activision will bounce back later this year. That’s because it plans to release two new Call of Duty games in the form of Modern Warfare II and Warzone 2.0.
Modern Warfare is arguably Call of Duty‘s most popular sub-series. And fans will no doubt be keen to see what improvements have been made in the new battle royale experience, especially after countless complaints levelled against the current Warzone.
Why do you think less people are playing Activision games? Is Call of Duty to blame? Let us know in the comment section below and don’t forget to check out our other gaming articles…
