Leaked PlayStation intel reveals shocking number of Call of Duty players only play CoD

Brad Norton
Call of Duty Warzone 2 gameplay

Despite attempting to redact confidential information amid the ongoing FTC vs Microsoft court hearing, a PlayStation document has nonetheless revealed some staggering Call of Duty intel. Namely, that roughly a million CoD players play CoD and nothing else.

There’s no denying Activision’s hit FPS franchise is an absolute juggernaut and has been now for many years. Approaching the 20th installment in the series later this year, CoD is the industry leader in the FPS space, generating billions in revenue each and every year.

However, the sheer extent of its dominance has now been illuminated thanks to some leaked intel. As Microsoft’s attempted acquisition of Activision Blizzard continues advancing through the courts, we’ve learned a great deal about not only Xbox, but also its main rival in PlayStation.

Now, through further documents provided in the latest hearing, Sony has inadvertently revealed a new staggering insight on the CoD franchise. Despite using a black marker to redact key details, secrets have nonetheless spilled out.

In total, the CoD series attracts a jaw-dropping 70 million daily active users, according to Activision CEO Bobby Kotick. Furthermore, 100 million unique players are engaging with the FPS series each month, he claimed.

Of those players, a reported six million of them spent more than 70% of their total gaming time with CoD, at least on PlayStation. Though topping the engagement charts, a whopping one million PlayStation users supposedly spent 100% of their gaming time with CoD in 2021.

From that data alone, we can see the impact of the series. Roughly a million gamers spend every moment of their gaming time with CoD and nothing else. Hammering the point home, the average player recorded 116 hours per year with the franchise.

Though the most dedicated of the bunch, those exclusively grinding CoD, supposedly spent an average of 296 hours with the FPS series in 2021 alone.

Obviously, it’s worth bearing in mind these figures pertain to 2021. With Vanguard covering much of the 2022 cycle and now Modern Warfare 2 in 2023, there’s every chance this data has changed somewhat.

To that point, Warzone was also at the peak of its popularity in 2021. Today’s engagement may tell a different story.

About The Author

Brad Norton is the Australian Managing Editor at Dexerto. He graduated from Swinburne University with a Bachelor’s degree in journalism and has been working full-time in the field for the past six years at the likes of Gamurs Group and now Dexerto. He loves all things single-player gaming (with Uncharted a personal favorite) but has a history on the competitive side having previously run Oceanic esports org Mindfreak. You can contact Brad at brad.norton@dexerto.com