For the past two decades, the Call of Duty titles have almost always been the US’s top-selling games of the year. But it looks like Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is experiencing a marked decline in sales from its predecessor, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6.
According to GamesIndustry.bizAlinea Analytics’ data indicates that Black Ops 7 sold 401,000 copies on Steam in the first 26 days after its launch. By comparison, Black Ops 6 sold 2.3 million copies in the same time period in 2024. Call of Duty games have historically sold fewer copies on Steam than on consoles, and Black Ops 6 and 7 were both included with PC Game Pass. But that doesn’t account for why the latter had such a dramatic decline.
Video Game Insights also shared data that suggests Black Ops 7’s daily active users dropped to 18 million in November 2025, down from 36 million DAU in December 2024. Going back to Modern Warfare in 2022, concurrent users on Steam had been on a steady decline from 500,000 in early 2023 before briefly rebounding to over 300,000 players for Black Ops 6. Currently, Black Ops 7 is estimated to have a concurrent count between 50,000 and 100,000 players on Steam.
“The data points to a foundational engagement challenge for Black Ops 7,” reads a statement from Video Game Insights. “Whether the cause lies in franchise fatigue, shifting genre preferences, competition from other titles, or a misalignment with player expectations, the early indicators are clear: this is not a normal launch-cycle fluctuation. It is a significant departure from historical performance.”
Earlier this week, Activision itself acknowledged that Black Ops 7 fell short of the mark the publisher set for itself. That was soon followed by an announcement from Microsoft that Call Of Duty was 2025’s top franchise on Game Pass. Both of those things can be true, but it remains to be seen whether the decline in standalone sales is being made offset by Game Pass or other factors.
Microsoft and Activision haven’t shared their Call of Duty plans for 2026 yet. The one thing we do know from Activision’s recent dispatch is that there won’t be any more Modern Warfare or Black Ops sequels dropping in consecutive years.
