Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Has Broken Its Own Steam Record After a Massive Price Drop

Image credit: Activision

A 90% discount on Steam has brought Call of Duty: Modern Warfare back into the spotlight in a big way.

The 2019 first-person shooter, originally priced at $59.99, dropped to just $5.99 during the Steam Spring Sale. That move alone was enough to send the game's player count through the roof.

Over the weekend, Modern Warfare hit a peak of 61,667 concurrent players on Steam, which is an all-time high for the title on Valve's platform.

To put that number in context, the game had barely a few hundred active players before the sale kicked in. And when it first launched on Steam back in 2019, it only managed a peak of 3,500 players on day one.

What makes this even more interesting is how it stacks up against newer entries in the series. According to SteamDB, at the time the player count was booming, the Call of Duty HQ app, which runs more recent titles including Black Ops 7 and Warzone, had just 25,000 concurrent players combined.

Infinity Ward also added to the momentum by announcing a double XP weekend for the game, giving players who picked it up another reason to stick around.

Modern Warfare's revival also comes at an interesting time for the franchise. Black Ops 7 has had a rough run since its launch, struggling in sales compared to its predecessor, Black Ops 6. European sales figures and even Activision's own statements have pointed to the underperformance. It is worth noting that Call of Duty now launches day one on Xbox Game Pass, which likely affects traditional sales figures, particularly on console.

When Modern Warfare originally launched in 2019, it became the fastest-selling Call of Duty game at the time. It reshaped the franchise, bringing in cross-platform play, laying the groundwork for Warzone, and revamping the Call of Duty League. The follow-up title, Black Ops Cold War in 2020, was received far more modestly and somewhat broke that momentum.

Looking ahead, the next premium release is widely expected to be Modern Warfare 4, again developed by Infinity Ward.