The gaming landscape has a new king, at least for now. The highly anticipated release of Battlefield 6 has not just met expectations—it has utterly demolished them, setting a new, staggering record for concurrent players on Steam and leaving its chief rival, Call of Duty, in the digital dust.
Just hours after going live, the military shooter hit a monumental peak of 747,700 concurrent players on Valve's platform, according to data from SteamDB. This colossal number instantly establishes Battlefield 6 as the second most-played game on Steam currently, trailing only the free-to-play titan *Counter-Strike 2*.
The record-shattering launch shouldn't come as a complete shock. The game's open beta last month saw a massive peak of over 520,000 players, signaling immense hype. However, the full paid version's performance has likely surpassed even the most optimistic projections at publisher Electronic Arts (EA) and developer DICE.
A Stunning Reversal of Fortunes
To understand the scale of this success, you need only look at the franchise's recent history. The previous title, Battlefield 2042, struggled at launch and only managed a peak player count of 107,376. Battlefield 5 performed slightly better with 116,104. Battlefield 6's player count isn't just an improvement; it's a six-fold increase, representing a massive resurgence for the franchise.
But the most striking comparison is with its long-time competitor, Call of Duty. The entire Call of Duty franchise on Steam, which is tracked collectively, had its highest-ever peak of 491,670 players back in November 2022 following the free launch of Warzone 2. Battlefield 6, a premium, paid game, has dwarfed that number by over 250,000 players.
You can see the live player count trajectory for yourself on the official Battlefield 6 SteamDB charts page.
The momentum seems firmly on Battlefield's side as we look to the next major release. Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, scheduled for November 14, has shown weaker initial numbers. Its recent beta maxed out at around 100,000 players, a fraction of Battlefield 6's launch. Widespread feedback from players suggests that many feel Black Ops 7 hasn't innovated enough, a sentiment that appears to be reflected in the numbers. Activision seems aware of the challenge, having already extended its open beta period to drum up more interest.
A Launch Not Without Its Hitches
Of course, a launch of this magnitude is rarely smooth. Despite pre-launch assurances that servers were ready, players have been met with massive login queues and connection issues. Some frustrated gamers have also reported bugs, including being prompted to purchase content they already own before entering their first match.
The official Battlefield Comm Twitter account has acknowledged the issues, stating the team is "actively monitoring" the situation and working on solutions.
Critics have also pointed out the game's uninspired single-player campaign, contributing to its solid but not stellar 84 rating on Metacritic. However, this criticism appears to have done little to dampen the enthusiasm of the core player base, which is primarily focused on the large-scale, chaos-filled multiplayer matches the series is famous for.
With the weekend approaching, all eyes are on the servers. If DICE can stabilize the experience, the traditional Battlefield sprawling maps could see even more players dropping in, potentially pushing that record-breaking number even higher. For now, Battlefield 6 is the undisputed champion of the shooter launch season, and it has the player count to prove it.
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