Call of Duty loses 30 million users in one year

The latest data published by developer Activision Blizzard shows that Call of Duty fans might be losing interest in the game.

Fans of Call of Duty are losing interest, according to monthly active user data published by developer Activision Blizzard.

In the past 12 months, the total amount of players dropped from 127 million in June 2021 to 94 million this year.

While the decline is nothing new — the company has been losing players since allegations and investigations of sexual abuse and harassment have surfaced — it’s still not great news for the Call of Duty publisher.

Overall, revenue has fallen 28 per cent year-on-year to just under $2.4 billion, despite growth from other sectors in the company, according to the report.

Diablo Immortal, in particular, has exceeded expectations in revenue, despite the negative press surrounding the microtransactions involved in the game.

The numbers for Activision Blizzard haven’t been this low since 2019, after the launch of Call of Duty Mobile.

The potential cause for the decline? Activision states that Call of Duty: Vanguard, which launched last year, didn’t perform as expected. Plenty of bugs, connection, and balance issues plagued the launch of Vanguard, sending fans to social media to protest.

Interest in Warzone has also been on the decline, due to a replacement schedule to launch later this year.

Call of Duty has lost 30 million players in a year. Picture: Activision

This report comes at a convenient time, however — mere days earlier, it was reported that Sony, in opposition to the Activision Blizzard and Microsoft merger, responded to a Brazilian court inquiry that Call of Duty is “an essential game” that “influences users’ console choice.”

Activision plans on rebounding in the second half of the year, with planned releases like World of Warcraft: Dragonflight, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Overwatch 2, and Diablo IV (which launches in 2023.) The third section of Activision’s revenue streams, King, which is the developer of popular mobile games like Candy Crush, reported a stable 6 per cent increase in income year-over-year.

Aiming to bolster its World of Warcraft team, Activision bought a studio to bring 100 staff on board specifically to aid in the development of future expansions.

Diablo Immortal has seen massive success in revenue, despite being lambasted for predatory microtransactions that require nearly $140,000 to max out a single character.

— written by Junior Miyai on behalf of GLHF