Modern Warfare 3 Launch Disappoints With 182K Concurrent Steam Players

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Abiyan

At Tech4gamers, I cover all sorts of gaming news. Whether it’s a leak of any upcoming game or an update, an announcement, or a rumour, I like to write about it all. Over the weekend, I sit and write features where I talk about games that I miss or want to see return.

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Modern Warfare 3 was released recently, and the game became the worst-rated entry in the franchise soon after its launch. Common criticisms of the game include its short campaign and Activision’s reliance on old content.

Many fans had already refunded the first-person shooter after playing the single-player campaign, but a lot of excitement remained for the multiplayer component. However, the franchise has seen a disappointing number of concurrent players on Steam at launch compared to last year’s release.

Why it matters: Modern Warfare 3 was developed in just 16 months, and many believe it represents a new low for the series. Therefore, the player counts may be reflective of the game’s quality.

At the time of writing, 122K players are currently active in the game, and over 182K concurrent players have enjoyed the title in the last 24 hours. Though the number may look massive, this is a considerable reduction over last year’s release.

Modern Warfare 2 reached over 238K concurrent players during launch, and the game reached even higher peaks once Warzone 2.0 was released. Compared to this, Modern Warfare 3 has not been very impressive.

Still, like any Call of Duty, the game has been far from a failure. Leading up to its launch, it was the best-selling title on all major platforms like Steam, PlayStation Store, and Xbox, even if the results were worse than last year.

It should be kept in mind that Activision has merged the PC application for all recent Call of Duty games. Therefore, the 182K concurrent player count includes Warzone 2.0 and Modern Warfare 2 players, in addition to Modern Warfare 3 players.

The actual number of players in the new game might be lower, but we are willing to give this release the benefit of the doubt. Anyhow, a direct comparison is not very favorable for this year’s Call of Duty.

It’s disappointing to see how a game like Baldurs Gate 3, which was released over 3 months ago, is averaging around 140K players each day. On the other hand, Modern Warfare 3 is struggling to reach 200K at launch, which is typically the biggest period for a game.

Interestingly, various dedicated fans are enjoying Modern Warfare 3 for the changes made to the multiplayer gameplay. Sledgehammer Games has addressed the community’s feedback, reversing many of the controversial changes of last year’s offering.

Abiyan

[News Reporter]

Abiyan is on track to complete his Computer Science bachelor’s degree. His enthusiasm for writing and gaming motivates him to keep readers and gamers updated with the latest information from the industry. In his free time, Abiyan enjoys playing Dota 2 and Rocket League. Abiyan has also been cited in reputed websites such as Kitguru, Comicbook, GamingBible, Eurogamer and Gamingbolt.