Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 has suffered a steep fall from its predecessor, with new analytics revealing drastically lower sales and player engagement just weeks after launch. Despite the franchise’s historical dominance as the U.S.’s top selling annual game, Black Ops 7 marks a significant departure, prompting Activision to abandon back to back Modern Warfare and Black Ops releases.
According to Alinea Analytics data shared with GamesIndustry.biz, Black Ops 7 sold only 401,000 copies on Steam in its first 26 days – an 82% drop from Black Ops 6’s 2.3 million over the same period last year.
According to reports, Black Ops 7 had an estimated 18M MAUs in November 2025, down 50% from BO6’s 36M MAU in Dec 2024
— NerosCinema (@NerosCinema) December 12, 2025
Black Ops 7 sold 401,000 copies on Steam in its first 26 days, down from the 2,300,000 that Black Ops 6 sold last year
(via @GIBiz)
The title also lagged far behind rival Battlefield 6, which sold 5.7 times faster on the platform post launch.
Analysts note that while CoD traditionally underperforms on Steam compared to consoles, and both games launched on PC Game Pass. This gap signals deeper issues like “franchise fatigue” and “community burnout.”
Player metrics paint an even grimmer picture. Video Game Insights reports daily active users across PC, PlayStation, and Xbox plummeted to 18 million in November 2025, halved from 36 million during Black Ops 6’s December 2024 peak.
Steam concurrent players for Black Ops 7 hover between 50,000 and 100,000, a sharp decline from highs over 300,000 for Black Ops 6 and an 80% drop from Modern Warfare 2’s 2022 peak. The data points to a foundational engagement challenge for Black Ops 7,” stated 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.”
Mixed Signals
Activision acknowledged Black Ops 7 “fell short” of internal targets, echoing poor critical reception (Metacritic: 66 on console, 57 on PC). Yet, Microsoft highlighted CoD as 2025’s top Game Pass franchise by players and hours played even in a “down year.”
Physical and full digital sales charts offer nuance: Black Ops 7 ranked #2 in the U.S. for Dec 1-7 (behind Battlefield 6), and topped European launch charts despite a 63% drop from Battlefield 6’s opening week and 50% from Black Ops 6.
Activision’s Response: No More Annual Sub Franchise Releases
In a recent blog post, “The Call of Duty Team” vowed “meaningful innovation” over incremental changes, confirming no 2026 Modern Warfare or Black Ops sequel to avoid consecutive drops.
A message from the Call of Duty Team.
— Call of Duty (@CallofDuty) December 9, 2025
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