Call of Duty: Warzone Gained 15 Million Players in Less Than a Week
Call of Duty: Warzone, the all-new and long-awaited battle royale mode for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, appears to be a resounding success, at least as far as player numbers are concerned. Barely a week after Warzone launched as a free-to-play game alongside Modern Warfare, it has already attracted fifteen million players!
Call of Duty: Warzone Passes 15 Million Players
Although Activision evidently attempted to keep Warzone secret until the day prior to its launch, the game was plagued by leaks for months, meaning that most of its details were exposed ahead of launch. However, Activision still managed to keep a few things under wraps, and certainly, it doesn’t seem as though the leaks impacted the success of its launch. Fifteen million players is an incredibly high number, especially in the game’s first week. Notably, that is a higher figure than either Apex Legends or Fortnite accrued in their own first weeks.
Of course, it’s worth noting that Call of Duty: Warzone does now face the challenge of retaining its players. Like Apex Legends, the game has enjoyed a massive surge in new players thanks to its accessibility, not to mention the high-profile nature of the Call of Duty brand. However, many of those players will likely move on to other things once they’ve tried it out. In the case of Apex Legends, the game’s launch player numbers dropped off sharply after release. If Warzone doesn’t keep offering new content, it may face a similiar drop-off. Only time will tell.
However, it’s true that Activision does have a proven track record for providing consistent new content. This is particularly true in Modern Warfare’s case. The game’s seasonal releases and consistent new content launches have demonstrably improved player retention rates over previous Call of Duty titles. If Activision continues to follow that model, it could well work for Warzone too. Although, it may be that a free-to-play audience will prove tougher to retain in such huge numbers.