Battlefield 6 drops out of the top-10 most played console games in the U.S. — but Call of Duty is doing just fine

by

Despite a lot of online negativity, Call of Duty is still quite popular in the United States, according to recent data from Circana.

We can learn a few key things from the data, as highlighted in the following post by Mat Piscatella from Circana.

Call of Duty remains one of the most popular console games, second only to Fortnite. However, despite strong initial sales that surpassed Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, the latest Battlefield game isn’t seeing much player engagement on consoles right now.

According to Circana’s Player Engagement Tracker, the game Marvel Rivals saw a boost in players after releasing new content on January 16, 2026. This content update, titled ‘Night at the Museum,’ moved the game to the 6th most-played spot on PlayStation and 8th on Xbox, based on total weekly active users in the US (not counting concurrent players).

— @matpiscatella.bsky.social (@matpiscatella.bsky.social.bsky.social) 2026-01-27T15:16:40.780Z

Battlefield 6 seems to be doing well on Steam, but it’s worth noting that Call of Duty isn’t as popular there at the moment.

I personally don’t play Battlefield 6 – I’ve never been a fan of the series, and I’ve only spent a small amount of time with the beta and on the REDSEC servers. However, I don’t want the game to fail, as healthy competition ultimately benefits everyone.

It’s easy to get the impression that Call of Duty is underperforming based on online conversations. While it may not be reaching the heights of previous years, it remains a popular game, especially on consoles. Looking at Twitch viewership numbers, Call of Duty is currently performing much better than Battlefield 6.

It’s true that Call of Duty has three main games, but Fortnite also offers a variety of different ways to play, so you could argue it’s similar in that respect.

It’s pretty clear that EA needs to deliver a truly impressive season for Battlefield 6. The game has already been delayed, and players won’t stick around for long without exciting new content.

Look, I get it, people love to complain about Call of Duty, but honestly, Season 01 has been surprisingly good. There’s been a ton of limited-time stuff happening in both Black Ops 7 and Warzone – new modes, events, and challenges left and right. Plus, the data from Circana shows that adding the Marvel Rivals content really gave the game a boost, which proves if you give players cool things to do, they *will* show up and play!

It’s amazing how popular GTA V still is – over 12 years after its release, it’s consistently one of the most-played console games. I might even replay it before GTA 6 comes out, if we’re lucky!

Read More

2026-01-27 18:39