Modern Warfare 4 peaks at 227,434 Steam players, below Black Ops 6

Infinity Ward launched Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 on Friday, October 23, 2026, releasing it on Windows, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch 2, and the game reached 227,434 concurrent Steam players during launch weekend.

Ghacks reported that figure on October 26, 2026, drawing it from SteamDB data for the shared Call of Duty application. Because Steam groups every Call of Duty release under a single application, the count can include players of Warzone and other supported games rather than Modern Warfare 4 alone. Ghacks said the same limitation applied to Black Ops 6, so the two peaks support only a rough, inexact comparison.

Black Ops 6 drew roughly 306,460 concurrent Steam users near its October 2024 debut, topping Modern Warfare 4 by about 26 percent, or approximately 79,000 players. Ghacks treats the two peaks as comparable because both games passed through Steam’s shared application, while cautioning that neither figure reflects exact players for a single title. The outlet called Modern Warfare 4’s start much stronger for the series than Black Ops 7’s, even though it trails the 2024 debut.

Black Ops 7, the 2025 entry, peaked at roughly 100,000 concurrent users during launch weekend, a Steam figure Modern Warfare 4 more than doubled. Ghacks uses that comparison to characterize the 2026 launch as a much stronger start for Call of Duty on Steam even though it did not match Black Ops 6.

TechSpot described Modern Warfare 4 as the last big AAA release before Grand Theft Auto 6’s November launch, with most publishers pushing releases into 2027 to avoid competing with Rockstar. The outlet published that framing on October 19, 2026, ahead of the October 23, 2026 release.

Black Ops 6 launched on Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass, while Activision confirmed Modern Warfare 4 requires a separate purchase and will arrive on Game Pass in Holiday 2027. Ghacks noted that Game Pass gave Black Ops 6 PC players a cheaper alternative to Steam, yet that game still posted the larger Steam peak, and the separate-purchase model should push Modern Warfare 4 PC players toward Steam.

Activision has shared no total sales or player figures for Modern Warfare 4 on consoles, Battle.net, or other PC stores, so the reported data covers Steam alone. The publisher has not committed to a date for sharing launch sales or engagement figures, leaving the Steam player count without an official publisher total. Ghacks said Infinity Ward plans months of seasonal updates for Modern Warfare 4.

Steam complaints about Modern Warfare 4 involve multiplayer balance, technical problems, and the Call of Duty launcher. Ghacks lists those issues as points players can weigh alongside the shared Steam player count and the separate-purchase model when deciding whether to buy now.

Ghacks said Modern Warfare 4 holds a Very Positive Steam rating because 80 percent of English-language reviews recommend it after launch, and its campaign briefly reached 94 percent positive during early access. TechSpot reported on October 19, 2026 that Modern Warfare 4 had 4,068 total Steam reviews including 3,438 from verified buyers, with 94 percent positive and a Very Positive rating. The TechSpot report came ahead of the October 23, 2026 launch and described thousands of pre-order customers trying the campaign in early access, mostly impressed by gameplay, graphics, and storyline.

Insider Gaming first reported SteamDB ratings at about 900 reviews and 81.5 percent positive, and TechSpot called Modern Warfare 4 the best-reviewed Call of Duty release on Steam since Black Ops in 2010. TweakTown said on October 19, 2026 that the campaign earned a Very Positive Steam rating of 92 percent from more than 3,400 reviews after early access for pre-order customers began October 16. The outlet said the roughly six-hour campaign’s score climbed steadily as more players finished missions, and that the response topped every major Call of Duty release on Steam in over a decade.

TechSpot said recent Call of Duty releases have struggled to reach even the 50 percent mark on SteamDB, pointing to Black Ops 7 at 38.7 percent, Black Ops 6 at 45.7 percent, Modern Warfare III at 48.1 percent, and Black Ops III at 84.3 percent. TechSpot described the positive early reception as a relief for Activision after lukewarm responses to recent mainline Call of Duty releases. TweakTown said Black Ops 7 sits at Mostly Negative at roughly 37 percent positive, while the 2019 Modern Warfare reboot reached Mostly Positive at 79 percent. TweakTown called the Modern Warfare 4 response far warmer than expected after a rough beta.

TweakTown linked to coverage reporting the Modern Warfare 4 beta’s high of 115,145 Steam players followed by a loss of more than half within a day. The outlet used the weak beta showing to contrast with the warm campaign reviews and with a decade of mixed-to-negative Call of Duty Steam scores.

TweakTown said IGN gave the Modern Warfare 4 campaign an 8 out of 10, while community feedback praised its storytelling, pacing, and the sense that single-player is more than an afterthought. The outlet noted some reviews rank the campaign among the best in the series since the original Modern Warfare trilogy.

TechSpot warned Modern Warfare 4’s high rating could change considerably once players try multiplayer, including 12 core 6v6 maps and DMZ, where squads of up to three players enter an exclusion zone. TechSpot’s report preceded the full launch and drew on early-access campaign reviews before multiplayer was broadly available.

Yahoo Tech said on October 23, 2026 that the PC version of Modern Warfare 4 has an 84 Metacritic score from around 20 critic reviews. The outlet said the 84 score ranks as the series’ best in about 15 years, dating to Modern Warfare 3’s 88, and noted the score could still fluctuate because it draws on only around 20 reviews. Yahoo Tech said the score might fall to tie or drop below Black Ops 6 or Black Ops 4, and the assessment assumes the score holds as more reviews arrive.

Yahoo Tech’s comparison list scores Black Ops 7 at 65, Black Ops 6 at 82, Modern Warfare III at 56, Modern Warfare II at 75, and Modern Warfare 3 (2011) at 88. It also lists Vanguard at 73, Black Ops Cold War at 76, Modern Warfare at 80, Black Ops 4 at 83, WWII at 79, Infinite Warfare at 77, Black Ops III at 81, Advanced Warfare at 81, Ghosts at 78, and Black Ops II at 83.

User reviews were not yet in, and Metacritic would not open them for a day. Yahoo Tech noted that Call of Duty user scores run below critic scores and are sometimes protest metrics tied to issues such as server problems and microtransactions.

Yahoo Tech assumed Modern Warfare 4 will likely be the second-best-selling game of 2026, eclipsed by Grand Theft Auto 6, which arrives in November, and said the Rockstar game’s presales may already outsell Modern Warfare 4’s total. The outlet offered this sales assumption as closing context for its October 2026 Metacritic report.

TechSpot said Activision has faced financial and creative challenges and several rounds of layoffs since Microsoft acquired it for $68.7 billion in 2023. The positive early Modern Warfare 4 reception came as a relief to Activision given those challenges.

Yahoo Tech said the publisher has claimed coverage carries a Call of Duty tax because the annualized routine release is not focused on as much as newer titles. Yahoo Tech’s columnist agreed the claim is probably true and attributed it to the nature of the series rather than to journalists or YouTubers.