More than 500 million hours across nearly 300 million multiplayer matches have been placed since the release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. We might complain about the game, but we aren’t putting it down.
Today, Activision announced Modern Warfare is the #1 most played Call of Duty multiplayer this generation. That stretches back to Call of Duty: Ghosts in 2013. The news isn’t all that surprising when you think about it. The number of consoles across the world only increases, and you can’t discount the growth on the PC side of things too.
What’s even more impressive is when you take a look at the most played games on Xbox One. Microsoft gives us a glimpse of the top 50 games on their platform so we can see how Modern Warfare stacks up against the biggest games. And today, Modern Warfare stands atop them all. Even Fortnite.
I assumed the gap between Fortnite and Modern Warfare was larger than it is. The most played chart from Xbox does lag a few days, so we don’t see the impact of the Star Wars event. That should help Fortnite reclaim the top spot.
Still, the gap between the two is much closer than I realized. At least, on Xbox.
Execs from Activision are understandably pumped by how well Modern Warfare is doing.
“The momentum for Modern Warfare from day one has been incredible. Players are having a great time and are continuing to engage across the multiplayer experience at the highest level in years. We’re also seeing new franchise highs for this console generation in hours played, hours per player and average daily players,” said Byron Beede, executive vice president and general manager for Call of Duty, Activision. “It’s great to see the fan response to the hard work from our development teams led by Infinity Ward. Players are having a great time, and there’s much more to come as we continue to deliver new content.”
And Modern Warfare is doing this without a Battle Royale mode.
I know Modern Warfare is my most played Call of Duty game this generation. Parts of the game are frustrating as hell (claymores and the spawn system), but I still fire it up most nights. Plus, it’s brought together friends I haven’t played with in years.
Modern Warfare’s “momentum” continues today with the release of more Season 1 content. Vacant, Shipment, new multiplayer modes, and more cosmetics go live later today.