Call of Duty: Warzone surpasses 100 million players

bruen mk9
(Image credit: Activision)

A little over a year after its release on March 20, 2020, Call of Duty: Warzone has achieved yet another major milestone: Activision announced today that its big-time battle royale has now racked up more than 100 million players in total.



The numbers have added up quickly: Warzone hit 15 million players less than a week after it went live, and reached 30 million in just ten days. The 50 million mark was reached in April 2020, just a couple of months after release, followed by 75 million in August and 85 million in December. Being free to play obviously makes Warzone easily accessible, but it takes more than a non-existent price tag to maintain that kind of growth over the course of more than a year. 

By way of comparison, it took Apex Legends—no slouch in the battle royale business in its own right and one of EA's biggest money-makers—roughly twice that long to achieve the same mark. Coincidentally, it moved past the 100 million player milestone last week.

It's an undeniably impressive achievement, but Infinity Ward and Raven aren't easing up. The long awaited nuke event, which will likely introduce a new version of Verdansk, is set to happen tomorrow, April 21, and there's also a new zombie problem that Morgan is quite enjoying, although the big blast will probably bring an end to that. Of course, there are some rough spots, too, including an invisibility glitch that just won't go away, and more recently a Most Wanted contract that was turning players into unkillable gods.

Andy Chalk
US News Lead

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.

Read more
A soldier looks out over the Verdansk map, as a single tear rolls down his cheek.
The original Verdansk map is returning to Call of Duty: Warzone, to celebrate which we get a soldier crying to Nat King Cole
The Thing in Marvel Rivals
Marvel Rivals starts 2025 by clobberin' the most played charts, hitting over 640,000 players on Steam alone
Monster Hunter Wilds
Monster Hunter Wilds claws past Dota 2 and Lost Ark to be Steam's 5th most-played game ever, with a nearly 1.4 million peak player count
Stalker 2
It launched upside down and on fire, but busted and brilliant Stalker 2 has attracted 6 million players to the Zone in the last 3 months
black ops 6 season 1
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Season 3 has been delayed, as the devs say they're 'taking the time to deliver a great experience' for what will be a 'big moment' for Call of Duty
black ops 6 season 1
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 has now banned 136,000 accounts as part of the ongoing struggle to ensure fair play but still says that IP banning isn't an option
Latest in Call of Duty
A soldier looks out over the Verdansk map, as a single tear rolls down his cheek.
The original Verdansk map is returning to Call of Duty: Warzone, to celebrate which we get a soldier crying to Nat King Cole
black ops 6 season 1
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Season 3 has been delayed, as the devs say they're 'taking the time to deliver a great experience' for what will be a 'big moment' for Call of Duty
A zombie santa with six fingers leaps at the screen.
Call of Duty admits it's using generative AI to 'help develop some in-game assets', and suddenly all those poorly made calling cards make sense
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in Black Ops 6.
Call of Duty's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles crossover costs like $90 and even the die-hards are in shellshock: 'Cash cow-abunga!'
Ghost, from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2022), looks bleakly at a fellow passenger in a transport.
For COD’s sake: One player’s 763-day legal quest to make Activision unban their account ends in total success: ‘Worth the effort’
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Season 2
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Season 2 will let players battle on boats and bullet-trains, with the Terminator entering the fray 'shortly after launch'
Latest in News
A woman with an arcane slingshot uses it to light a distant fire
Deconstructeam's next game is about training to shoot a single fireball at an impossible target
assassin's creed shadow naoe
We asked two parkour athletes to rate the realism of Assassin's Creed's acrobatics, and a surprising 'crime against parkour' might actually be one of the most realistic things they saw
Mechs fight on the outside of a spaceship
MechWarrior 5: Clans is getting DLC with playable Elementals and a fight on the outside of a spaceship
Aloy - Horizon
'I feel worried about this art form:' Unsurprisingly, the real Aloy from Horizon isn't a fan of AI Aloy
Crying laughing emoji with disturbing realistic elements for REPO
REPO's first update will add a new map and a 'duck bucket' so we can finally give that pesky quacker a time out
Man facing camera
The Day Before studio reportedly sues Russian website for calling infamous disaster-game a 'scam'