Call of Duty Black Ops 6 players have abandoned the game; what went wrong?

Just one month after the Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 release, the number of its Steam users has dropped massively.

CharlieIntel shared on X that the game had hit over 148,000 players during its release period of October and November, enough to break records for the franchise.

By December, however, almost all of those gains were erased, with 145,000 players lost. Despite breaking records with a +85.6% surge in average player counts in November, the momentum didn’t last long, as the game has been plagued with continued issues.

What went wrong for Call of Duty: Black Ops 6

Ranked and casual matches have been frustrating for PC players long plagued by rampant hacks on both Warzone and Black Ops 6.

While disabling cross-play fixes some issues for console players, PC gamers have no option to turn off cross-play, which means they are stuck in lobbies with cheaters.

The problem is further compounded by the fact that many legitimate players claim to have been shadowbanned while hackers continue to wander around freely.

Another common complaint is the spawn locations on Black Ops 6 multiplayer. Players have expressed disapproval due to poor balance or unfair spawning ways.

Will Call of Duty players return? 

It will be hard to bring back the lost player base, but it is not impossible.

In Seasons 2 and 3, developers are rolling out major updates to the Ricochet anti-cheat system. However, these changes will not happen overnight, so this issue remains unsolved for now.

New, fresh maps and content could revive players’ interest. Well-conceived additions would reignite the spark of interest in the community.

Warzone Map Verdansk will return this year, as confirmed by the franchise itself. This map would be a major fan favorite and could easily bring back a huge number of players who left.

Call of Duty’s player count decline has largely been predicated on the game being riddled with cheaters. Still, if they get more robust anti-cheat fixes, compelling updates, and some nostalgia with Verdansk content, it might just be able to turn the ship around. It remains to be seen whether that will come soon or not.