Modern Warfare is Blowing Up on Steam After Six Years

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is blowing up on Steam over six years after its initial release, thanks to a significant discount that brings it down to its lowest-ever price on the platform. As Call of Duty: Modern Warfare continues to smash its own player count records on Steam, Infinity Ward has responded by enabling double XP in-game all weekend long.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare released in 2019 as a reboot of the fan-favorite Modern Warfare series. The single-player campaign quickly became regarded as one of the best Call of Duty campaigns to date, and the multiplayer is considered to be one of the better entries in the series, too. It used a new version of the IW Engine, representing one of the most significant technical steps up for the franchise throughout its long history.

Today’s Call of Duty Feels Nothing Like the Series That Started 20 Years Ago

Call of Duty is a veritable gaming Goliath, but the franchise has changed so much over the years that it’s nearly unrecognizable.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Has Huge Steam Player Count Spike After Big Discount

On Steam, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is available at a 90% discount for the first time ever as part of the Steam Spring Sale 2026. This price reduction brings the game down to just $5.99 until March 26, a significant decrease from its previous low of $19.79. The Call of Duty series notoriously keeps prices of older titles high on Steam, so gamers are taking advantage while they have the opportunity. According to SteamDB, the player count numbers for the game have gone through the roof. Prior to the discount, it was averaging between 200 and 800 concurrent players. At the time of writing, it has enjoyed a 24-hour peak concurrent player count of 52,183, which also represents an all-time high for the game on Steam. It’s important to note that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare did not launch on Steam at release; players had to purchase it on Battle.net until it finally launched on Valve’s platform in March 2023. This explains why the previous all-time high of 3,581 was so low compared to the game’s overall popularity.

Who’s That Character?

Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.

Who’s That Character?

Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.

Easy (7.5s)Medium (5.0s)Hard (2.5s)Permadeath (2.5s)

For some perspective, the Call of Duty app which is used to launch most modern COD games, including Black Ops 7, currently has a 24-hour peak concurrent player count of 41,230 on Steam. This isn’t even close to the numbers that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is pulling in at the moment, and these figures could go even higher in the coming days. There have previously been a few player-driven attempts to revive Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, but none have been quite as successful as Infinity Ward simply making the game available at a 90% discount.

The developer is aware of the increasing player counts, and has acted accordingly. In a post on X, Infinity Ward confirmed that players hopping into Call of Duty: Modern Warfare will enjoy double XP throughout the weekend, making it a perfect time to jump in and enjoy busy lobbies, quick XP, and one of the best COD multiplayer experiences to date.

It’s getting to that time in the year when Activision is gearing up to reveal the annual Call of Duty title. The publisher has yet to speak about the next game in the series, although prominent rumors from last year suggest that it will be Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, set in Korea. Nothing is confirmed at this point, and all rumors in this vein should be taken with a grain of salt until Activision confirms it one way or the other.