One would think that Black Ops 6’s availability on Xbox Game Pass would significantly increase player count numbers, but that hasn’t been the case.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said Black Ops 6 was the biggest Call of Duty launch ever, as it set a record for day one players as well as Game Pass subscriber adds on launch day. It wasn’t just because this was the first CoD game to launch on day one for Game Pass, though, as unit sales on PlayStation and Steam were also up over 60% year-over-year.
Black Ops 6 went on to hold the top spot for best-selling game in the United States for four straight months before being overtaken by Monster Hunter Wilds in February. In saying that, the early sales success didn’t translate to long-term retention.
Black Ops 6 Sees Lowest Player Count in Years
According to The Game Business, Call of Duty’s player count in March 2025 was 20.6 million. In comparison, there were 22.4 million in March 2023 and 20.8 million in March 2024.
The declining player count trend is concerning, and it also doesn’t help that even though the game is available on Game Pass, it is more popular on PlayStation.
The Game Business reported that Xbox was the most popular place for Call of Duty with Black Ops 6’s launch on Game Pass in November. However, PlayStation overtook the lead in March with 33% active players, while Xbox had 32.5%.
On a positive note, Warzone’s original map returning in April increased player count by 200%, and Activision is reportedly pleased with the results, as the update exceeded expectations.
Yet, it remains to be seen if that promising update will be enough to recoup the losses or keep the remaining players interested through the summer.
In other gaming news, Warzone cracked down on cheating in Season 3 Reloaded, Marvel Rival fans are going feral over Squirrel Girl’s new costume, and the second GTA 6 trailer already has half a billion views.
Do you still play Black Ops 6? Let us know on the Insider Gaming Forums.
Game pass was the beginning of the end. Ruined COD forever. Players are sick of their stats being meaningless because of the massive amount of cheaters. Please invent a device that fries the console/PC when a zen or other device is detected. The cheating would stop immediately.