According to Steam data, theCall of Duty: Warzone 2player count has been dropping since the battle royale’s launch in November. Anticipation was high leading up toCall of Duty: Warzone 2’s release, as manyCall of Dutyfans felt burned by the removal of Verdansk and the introduction of the divisive Caldera map in the original game. The reaction toCall of Duty: Warzone 2was mostly positive at first, and while the game is still generally regarded in a better light than Caldera, it does seem to be struggling to maintain its massive player base.
It’s normal for video games to shed players over time, but while it’s not as big of a deal for single-player games or more traditional multiplayer games, it’s a huge problem for live service games. Live service games are designed to keep players engaged for the long-term, and this requires developers to regularly invest resources into producing fresh content for the games.Call of Duty: Warzone 2is a live service, and despite new content coming out for the game on a consistent basis, it is still losing the interest of some players.
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As pointed out in a report by Gfinity Esports, theSteam version ofCall of Duty: Warzone 2has been steadily losing players. In November,Call of Duty: Warzone 2averaged 223,000 players on Steam at any given time, but that dropped 20% in December. TheCall of Duty: Warzone 2player count has since dropped another 16% in the last 30 days. With no major new games released that would be in direct competition withWarzone 2, that’s not a great sign for the battle royale moving forward.
The good thing about a live service game, though, is thatCall of Duty: Warzone 2could very well bounce back with quality updates. As it stands, the next majorupdate forCall of Duty: Warzone 2is expected to drop in February, ushering in the game’s Season 2 content. Whether this will be substantial enough to bring back lapsed players or convince newcomers to give the game a try remains to be seen, but more information should come to light soon.
It should also be pointed out that this is only taking into account the Steam data forCall of Duty: Warzone 2.Call of Duty: Warzone 2is readily available on modern PlayStation and Xbox consoles, and it’s possible that its player base on those platforms has been consistent. There’s no available data to say one way or another, so it’s possible that theWarzone 2player count drops aren’t as dramatic as they may seem on paper.
Call of Duty: Warzone 2is out now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
