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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare racks up over 500 million multiplayer play hours

Gabe Gurwin
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Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® | Multiplayer Reveal Trailer

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is a phenomenal multiplayer shooter, made with an understanding of what worked in the previous trilogy without feeling limited by the groundwork laid out in those games. It appears players have been enjoying their time with the game thus far, as Activision announced it has totaled more than 500 million hours of multiplayer playtime since its launch less than two months ago.

In just 50 days, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare players collectively battled in 300 million multiplayer matches, and the collective multiplayer hours played, hours per player, and average daily player numbers all set records for the franchise during this generation. This is despite the game including a campaign mode, which last year’s Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 did not, instead offering the battle royale mode Blackout.

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Players have been able to continue enjoying the game together for a longer period of time, as Modern Warfare got rid of the season pass system and paid map DLC, instead giving everyone access to all maps and modes as they became available. On top of this, the game included cross-play support from the beginning, allowing those on PS4, Xbox One, and PC to all enjoy the game together, as well as carry their progress from one platform to the next if they decided to switch.

Thus far, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare has managed to sell more than $1 billion worth of copies across both physical and digital versions. These would be eyebrow-raising numbers for nearly any other franchise, though they are essentially par for the course for the gargantuan Call of Duty. Despite the popularity of the free-to-play Fortnite as well as players’ growing interest in the next generation of game consoles, they’re still more than willing to get the latest game from Activision and get a few kill-streak rewards online — more than a few, as the playtime numbers made clear.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is available on PS4, Xbox One, and PC. A free mobile game called Call of Duty: Mobile includes some elements from the Modern Warfare series and can be played on both iOS and Android. It also includes a battle royale mode.

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