Activision Blizzard’s recent investor report suggests that theCall of Dutyfranchise has been having a rough go of it recently. The publisher estimates thatCall of Dutyhas lost close to fifty million playersover the past year, attributing the downward trend to the underperforming 2021Call of DutyinstallmentCall of Duty: Vanguard. That’s a considerable chunk of the player base, and someCall of Duty: Warzonefans believe that the game’s developers are adding bots to bulk up the battle royale spin-off’s otherwise thinning lobbies.
This speculation stems partly from a recent encounterCall of Duty: Warzonestreamer theGivvy had with another player shortly after dropping into a match on Caldera. Right after landing, the streamer let off a few small arms rounds at a nearby player who then completely failed to react, moving with a single-minded focus to a nearby buy station. It’s hard to say with any authority whether this player was indeed an AI, butCall of Duty: Warzoneplayers do tend to act with the concept of self-preservation in mind—though that’s not always the case.
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Bots aren’t a totally foreign concept in battle royale gaming;Fortnitehas made use of them, andCall of Dutyfirst allowed players to add bots to custom matches in 2010’sCall of Duty: Black Ops. However, the timing of this controversy comes across as a bit strange. Not only isCall of Dutycurrently hemorrhaging players, but many key influencers such as Dr. Disrespect andTimTheTatman have openly criticized the new Caldera map. As a result, it could be thatCall of Duty’s publisher felt the need to surreptitiously inflate player numbers in order to see the franchise through its current dry spell.
That said, severalCall of Duty: Warzonefans responded to a Reddit post made by theGivvy by pointing out that Activision’s player numbers weren’t entirely accurate. While it is true that fewer gamers are engaging with the franchise today than last year, Activision’s estimates countCall of Duty: VanguardandCall of Duty: Warzoneplayers separately, meaning that one person who happens to play both games would be counted as two separate players.Call of Duty: Vanguard’s disappointing sales figuresmay have contributed to this downturn, but it’s not quite as significant as the publisher claims.
Additionally, while an estimated fifty million active users were reportedly lost over the past year, Activision still estimates that the franchise enjoys a player base of roughly one hundred million. Plus, with the recent confirmation ofCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 2dropping this year, it’s likely that many disinterested players will return when it releases.
Call of Duty: Warzoneis available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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