Since 2007, without fail, Call of Duty has released an annual title, and for the duration of 2010, so did its main rival, Battlefield, the latter of which took a hiatus before returning with Battlefield 6 earlier this year.
Only real people will remember Christmas Day lobbies with the arrival of level 1 players and double XP every week in the annual COD.
Each year, thousands of children, teenagers and adults make either Call of Duty or Battlefield their biggest wish for Christmas, often leading to a huge influx of new players on Christmas Day, seeing their wishes come true.
Yes, about that…
Based on player count data available on SteamDB, it appears that Christmas did little to help revive Battlefield 6 or Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, both of which have struggled with player concurrency at launch (Black Ops 7) or in the months following (Battlefield 6).
Battlefield 6 player numbers at all-time low after failed Winter Offensive update
The Winter Offensive update hasn't been very well received. Something to be understood. A lot of the game feels broken.
The end result is two live-service games that seem to be chugging along with a very muted player base.
Both titles are deeply discounted, and this seems to have had little impact
As of this writing, 70,527 players are actively playing Battlefield 6, up from the mid-40,000 that the game was dipping into just a few days ago. Its 24-hour peak sits at 99,369, a far cry from the all-time peak of 747,440 players that appeared on launch.
When it comes to Christmas Day, the game managed to shoot from almost 75,000 players to less than 100,000. However, within a few hours the figure returned to its normal trend.
On the Black Ops 7 side, 44,396 players are currently engaged with the game. Specifically, 44,396 players are somehow involved with the Call of Duty app, as everything is housed there.
It's unclear how much of that Black Ops 7 has, but given the poor reviews, it's safe to assume it's not a ton.
Black Ops 7's 24-hour peak is 51,017 players, and between Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, things weren't quite at their peak due to the influx of new players. In fact, if you look at things in a week-long breakdown, the game was almost more popular a week ago on Sunday (62,442 players) than it is now.
By Christmas, Black Ops 7 was more than 50 percent off its recommended retail price, which historically has almost never happened. Meanwhile, Battlefield 6 was a major recipient of sales during Black Friday, and is still on sale for as low as $39.99 at various retailers.
Short of giving the game away for free, it's unclear what Battlefield 6 or Black Ops 7 will have to do to get back into video games' good graces. Based on the player count above, it doesn't seem like many gamers were asking Santa for either title.
- issued
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October 10, 2025
- ESRB
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Mature 17+ / Blood and gore, intense violence, strong language, in-app purchases, user interaction
- developer(s)
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Battlefield Studio
Asking Santa for a Pokemon game makes me feel like a kid again
Trying to convince Santa to help me grab them all for Christmas has me feeling nostalgic.
