Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 Is Doubling Black Ops 7's Steam Pre-orders With Two Months Still to Go
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 is nearing 400,000 copies sold on Steam, well ahead of where its predecessor stood at the same point — and the game does not launch until October 23. (GameSpot)
Those Steam pre-sales alone work out to roughly US$21 million in revenue, according to Rhys Elliott of analytics firm Alinea Analytics. For comparison, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 reached about 200,000 copies pre-sold on Steam by launch. Modern Warfare 4 has already doubled that figure with two months still to go before release.
The momentum built quickly. Pre-orders on Steam crossed 120,000 copies in less than a day of going live, Elliott reported on August 19. Within a week, the game had sold 300,000 copies on Steam and generated US$14.5 million, with 10 weeks left until launch, per Alinea Analytics.
Modern Warfare 4's beta offered another signal of interest. During its early-access period — the first window of a multiplayer test, open only to players who pre-ordered — the beta peaked at more than 115,000 concurrent users on Steam, per SteamDB. Black Ops 7, by contrast, peaked at about 100,000 concurrent users on Steam even after it went live for everyone, not just beta participants, according to Call of Duty news account CharlieIntel.
One factor behind Modern Warfare 4's stronger PC pre-sales: the game is not included with PC Game Pass, Microsoft's subscription service that lets members play select titles for a flat monthly fee. Black Ops 7 was available through PC Game Pass at launch, which likely drew some players away from outright purchases. Without that option this time, more buyers are purchasing the game directly on Steam.
Modern Warfare 4 is also the first Call of Duty entry since 2013's Call of Duty: Ghosts to skip PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. It launches only on current-generation consoles — PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S — and PC, plus Nintendo Switch 2. That is a notable shift for a series that has historically appeared on older hardware well into a new generation's life.
Elliott suggested that Modern Warfare 4's current-gen-only release, combined with Grand Theft Auto VI arriving on November 19 — also skipping last-generation consoles — could help move more PS5 and Xbox Series X|S units and "for sure nudge the last-gen holdouts" who have not yet upgraded.
Black Ops 7, the previous entry, had Call of Duty's lowest US sales-year ranking since 2008. Whether Modern Warfare 4 reverses that trend will depend on how its early Steam momentum holds through launch and beyond — though the early numbers, at least, point in a healthier direction.
An open beta for Modern Warfare 4 runs August 28 through September 1. Unlike the early-access period, this one is open to anyone on any platform without a pre-order, and it extends to Nintendo Switch 2. Players who want a hands-on look before the October release will get their chance.
One wrinkle in the pre-order picture: Gears of War: E-Day briefly overtook Modern Warfare 4 in Steam pre-orders, according to Alinea Analytics estimates. That lead was temporary, and Modern Warfare 4 has since pulled well ahead on the platform.
