Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 began its early access beta test on August 22. This first round of testing was primarily for players who pre-ordered the game and ended on August 26. Although Activision has not released specific data, we can examine its performance on Steam and compare it with other recent Call of Duty series betas, as well as betas from competing franchises.
Currently, the test is mainly available to players who have pre-ordered the game, although free beta codes can also be obtained through content creators, social media giveaways, or other channels. This is worth noting, as it effectively limits the test's reach, meaning participation could be higher when the open beta phase begins next weekend.
On Steam, the first round of the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 beta reached a peak of 115,145 concurrent players. The first day (last Saturday) started strong, but concurrent players declined day by day. It is worth noting that the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 beta has its own separate page on Steam and is not part of the main Call of Duty app.
The Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 beta currently has only 30,000 concurrent players on Steam, with a 24-hour peak of 46,000. This means that since the beta launched, Modern Warfare 4 has "lost" more than 70% of its players.
The full version of the game may still reside under the Call of Duty app, making it more difficult to track its performance, as the Call of Duty application also includes the free-to-play Warzone and several games from previous years.
In comparison, the Modern Warfare 2 beta set a record in 2022 with 168,330 concurrent players. With the next round of the Modern Warfare 4 beta adding Warzone mode trials, new modes, and new maps, we may see this record matched or even broken.
However, Modern Warfare 4 is certainly performing much better than last year's Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 beta, which had a peak of only 100,000 concurrent players on Steam.
A year ago, Activision Blizzard stated that the Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 beta was the largest in the series' history, but did not disclose specific numbers.
However, compared to Battlefield 6, Call of Duty's numbers look poor. The Battlefield 6 open beta achieved an impressive peak of 521,000 concurrent players on Steam.
It is important to note that Steam data only reflects part of the picture. While its data is generally consistent with other platforms, console platform data may be better. In fact, even on PC, some players use the Battle.net version or the Microsoft Store version.
Since the beta launch, IW has been releasing updates, including major patches on Saturday and Sunday. These patches added a new map, a game mode, and a new playlist. Additionally, they balanced the two best-performing weapons in the beta and adjusted the field of view on one of the maps.