Call of Duty has stayed at the top of the FPS market for years with unmatched sales and players.
But what once would have sounded far-fetched is now reality, with Call of Duty dropping to its lowest Steam numbers yet and Battlefield 2042 overtaking it.
How Do the Numbers Compare Between Battlefield 2042 and Call of Duty?
According to tracking data, Call of Duty (which includes Black Ops 6 and Warzone under the Steam launcher) has fallen to around 33,000 active players, peaking at 70,000 in the past day.
Battlefield 2042 saw its numbers jump to more than 58,000 active players and a peak of 74,000 during the day.
That’s a big deal since 2042 hasn’t seen numbers like this in years, and on PC, it even pulled ahead of one of gaming’s most reliable powerhouses.
Why Is Battlefield 2042 Suddenly Surging Again?
Incentives and excitement factor in, but EA’s strategy of tying 2042 to Battlefield 6 leads the way.
Players can unlock a free Battle Pass with rewards that carry into the upcoming title, keeping them active in the older game until the October launch.
At the same time, 2042 was briefly put on sale for under $3, which brought in new players curious to try it out and old fans willing to give it another shot at a bargain price.
To maximize rewards, many players joined Portal servers designed for AFK farming, allowing them to rack up XP without actively playing.
This means that the concurrency figure is inflated since some players are logged in but not engaged.
EA also released the Iwo Jima map in a surprise update that appealed to veterans and refreshed the game for new players.
Why Is Call of Duty Struggling on Steam?
Meanwhile, Call of Duty has been losing ground as Black Ops 6’s record-breaking debut earlier this year gave way to a steady decline in players.
The return of Verdansk in April gave it a brief spike, but numbers quickly dropped off again, leaving the last month as the lowest activity period for Call of Duty on Steam to date.
The decline partly ties back to platform distribution, with most of CoD’s base on PlayStation, Xbox, or Battle.net instead of Steam.
Even so, the comparison speaks volumes as Battlefield 2042, infamous for its rocky 68 Metacritic debut, has now pulled ahead of Call of Duty on PC in a stunning turnaround.
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