Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 drew a smaller share of active players on PlayStation and Xbox in the United States during its launch week than Black Ops 7 did during its launch week last year, according to figures from market research firm Circana. The data covers the week ending October 24, 2026, and was shared by analyst Mat Piscatella.
On PlayStation, 19% of players played Modern Warfare 4, compared with 23% for Black Ops 7 in the equivalent period a year earlier. Xbox engagement was 17% for the new release, down from 29% for Black Ops 7. Steam showed the opposite pattern: Modern Warfare 4 reached 4.2%, compared with 1.5% for last year’s game.
Despite the lower console figures, Modern Warfare 4 entered the top 10 most-played titles on all three platforms. On PlayStation, it ranked just behind Fortnite. Piscatella also reported that Call of Duty climbed from 32nd to sixth on US Steam with the launch.
The difference on Xbox may be linked to Modern Warfare 4 not launching day one on Game Pass, while Black Ops 7 did. On PlayStation, the report suggests that the summer releases of Black Ops 1 and Black Ops 2 on PS4 and PS5 may have drawn some longtime fans to the older games.
Xbox CEO Asha Sharma celebrated the franchise’s $40 billion in revenue in a public post but did not directly address Modern Warfare 4’s launch figures. Posts following Black Ops 7’s release the previous year had focused on the game.
Sources: Eurogamer Portugal.