Call of Duty Nearly Loses All of Black Ops 6 Launch Numbers on Steam Just One Month After Launch

After seeing a massive spike of new players when call of Duty: Black Ops 6 launched in November of 2024, the call of Duty app on Steam has seen a massive decline in its player base. After gaining around 148,000 new users between October and November, more than 145,000 players left by December, leaving the game with almost no new users retained on Steam.

The sharp drop in player numbers is attributed to Activision’s treatment of not only the game, but the community as a whole. Instead of improving the game’s core mechanics, such as investing in anti-cheat systems, the publisher prioritized microtransactions and paid passes, as evidenced by the new premium Event Pass introduced in the Squid Games 2 content collaboration launched yesterday.

Black Ops 6 Faces Backlash Over Microtransactions and Cheating Issues

The launch of the heavily criticized Call of Duty x Squid Game 2 collaboration Event Pass further alienated players since it added another layer of microtransactions to the game. Aside from the Battle Pass, there is the Black Cell Battle Pass, and now, a new Event Pass that we’re hoping doesn’t become a recurring thing. This new microtransactions ploy came just days after TeamRICOCHET admitted significant flaws in the anti-cheat infrastructure that should protect the game from in-game cheating. The timing of these events, coupled with the launch of Season 1 in November, created a situation that frustrated many fans.

Faced with ongoing cheating issues and a heavy push for monetized content, many players decided to abandon Black Ops 6 entirely. “They are taking the tone-deaf route they did in Modern Warfare 2/Warzone 2, and it’s so sad to see,” CharlieIntel remarked.

CharlieIntel continued, “I actually had hoped that they learned to not go that again after what happened with Infinity Ward’s reputation in Modern Warfare 2/Warzone 2. Here we are. A mess!”

In other Call if Duty News, players can now check their hidden skill rating and detailed gameplay data for Call of Duty games through Activision’s website, uncovering how matchmaking works.