Call of Duty continues to be one of the most played franchises on Xbox and PlayStation, confirming its strength in the console landscape. In this second week of January 2026, the analytics firm Circana and specialist Mat Piscatella released data referring to 2025, revealing that titles like Black Ops 6, Black Ops 7, and Warzone maintained high engagement. This overview is crucial because it demonstrates that public Steam numbers, which sometimes indicate a decline, do not tell the full story of the series’ success on PC, since many players access the game via Battle.net and the Xbox app.
The relevance of this information is immense for content creators, players, and industry professionals. Despite occasional drops on a single platform, the franchise’s ecosystem remains robust, thanks to its multi-platform distribution. Therefore, understanding where the community actually plays becomes essential for accurate analysis and for planning broadcasts and competitive events throughout 2026.
Why Steam Numbers Aren’t Everything
Steam’s concurrent player charts are highly visible; however, they offer only part of the reality. A considerable audience prefers Battle.net, Activision Blizzard’s traditional platform, or the Xbox app for PC, especially those who are Game Pass subscribers. Therefore, a drop on Steam does not necessarily mean a reduction in the total number of active players. This distinction is vital for those who follow the games market, as it avoids hasty conclusions about the health of a giant franchise like Call of Duty.
For streamers and tournament organizers, this division by platforms defines strategies. The peak player time on consoles may differ from PC, and focusing on only one metric can lead to broadcasts during times with less viewership. Thus, monitoring activity on Battle.net and the Xbox app, in addition to Steam, becomes a smart practice for those who want to maximize their reach and engagement with the community.
The outlook for 2026 seems to consolidate this logic. With the franchise maintaining its dominance on consoles and with a distributed PC player base, its influence on the global gaming scene remains unquestionable. The lesson is clear: in the era of multi-platform gaming, it is necessary to look beyond the most obvious metrics to capture the true scale of a phenomenon like Call of Duty.
