Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is the biggest Call of Duty launch ever, but Activision hasn't quite shared any hard numbers yet
Activision doesn't bring up actual unit sales or player numbers in its 'Black Ops 6 is a hit' statement.
We’re officially past the launch weekend of this year’s Call of Duty game, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6. This is usually when players start picking apart all the things they don’t actually like about it, as the honeymoon phase begins to fade.
It’s also about the time we expect Activision to release its, almost-yearly, ‘this Call of Duty is a hit’ statement, and the publisher has not disappointed this year.
Activision announced Thursday that Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 achieved the series’ “biggest three-day opening weekend.” In that period, the game had the highest number of total players, the most hours played, and the largest number of multiplayer matches. Unfortunately, none of these statements came with actual numbers.
The numbers statement, of course, bears much less weight this year as Black Ops 6 is also the first Call of Duty to launch day-one on Game Pass across PC, and Xbox consoles, making the game more accessible to players than ever.
These game launch statements are typically fairly qualified to paint the game in the best possible light, but Microsoft - now the owner of Activision - shed a little more light on the game’s full-price sales performance in a press release.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella revealed that Black Ops 6 saw a 60% growth in unit sales on Steam, and PlayStation - two platforms where Game Pass is not available, though obviously PC players still have access to the Game Pass version on the Microsoft Store, just not on Steam. Nadella also said that the game set a new record for “Game Pass subscriber adds” on its launch day.
Black Ops 6 will likely also lead October’s Circana (formerly NPD) sales chart. Given how barren this year has been of the sort of blockbuster game that could challenge it, it’s most likely also going to be 2024’s best-selling game.
If you’re among the millions who jumped in at launch, be sure to hit up our guide for campaign safehouse puzzles, our recommendations for the best loadouts and gun builds in multiplayer, and our full guides for the Liberty Falls easter egg, and Terminus easter egg - the two launch Zombies maps.