As numbers on the most recent Call of Duty fall steadily, an older game in the series has made a sudden and dramatic comeback.
While the Call of Duty series tends to be more popular on console rather than PC, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare appears to have made a huge comeback on Steam, with player numbers hitting an all-time peak of over 50,000.
Originally released on Battle.net in 2019, the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare reboot didn’t launch on Steam until 2023, hence why public player numbers often skewed on the lower side.
Prior to this, the previous all-time player count peak on Steam was 3,581 players, a tiny splash compared to what it’s getting now.
The reason for this explosion in players appears to be thanks to the Steam Spring Sale, where Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is available for 90% off, costing only £4.99.
It’s unknown why this game in particular has received such a huge discount, when other Call of Duty games only seem to be on sale for around 50% off. Even Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, the original game the reboot is based on, costs £9.99 on sale right now.
Lobbies Are Filling Up A Lot Faster Since Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare’s Player Resurgence
With the game peaking at over 50,000 concurrent players, lobbies are filling up a lot faster than they used to, and all game modes seem to be populated again.
This includes modes that were previously believed to be “dead”, such as Ground War and Special Ops. However, players have reportedly been able to join full lobbies of these modes once again.
Over on Reddit, players have been celebrating the fact that the game has seen a new lease of life.
“Just jumped on today after hearing its back,” reads one comment. “Genuinely made me realize just how bad the new era of call of duty has become. We MUST keep this alive.”
“Reinstalled the game after the spike in player count. ahh yes, we back online boys,” reads another comment.
“My first day on this game and ive had about 9 hours of gameplay, we are so back,” reads a third comment.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is the first game in the Modern Warfare reboot trilogy, based on the popular trilogy of the same name that Activision launched between 2007 and 2011. It was followed up with Modern Warfare II in 2022, and Modern Warfare III in 2023.
