Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 Launch Pushes Franchise Past $40 Billion Lifetime Revenue

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 launched last week on PC and current-gen consoles, and has since been widely lauded as one of the better entries in the franchise in recent years. Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has now confirmed that the first-person shooter franchise has surpassed $40 billion in lifetime revenue following the release of Modern Warfare 4.

The Xbox boss announced the milestone in an X post on Tuesday alongside a graphic showing glowing reviews of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4. Sharma did not confirm player or sales numbers for the new title, but congratulated Activision for the achievement.

“One of the most celebrated Call of Duty games in its 24-year history, and now $40B in lifetime franchise revenue,” Sharma said. “An incredible milestone. Congrats to the Activision team. And to the players, thank you for being with us.”

Modern Warfare 4 Launch

Call of Duty is among the best-selling game franchises of all time, and each new Call of Duty entry ranks among the top-selling titles of its year. The series' annual release cycle, robust gunplay, and multiplayer offerings bring millions of loyal players to each new entry.

Modern Warfare 4, developed by Infinity Ward, launched on October 23 on PC, PS5, Xbox Series S/X, and Nintendo Switch 2. The shooter is not available on Xbox Game Pass after Microsoft announced this year it would stop bringing new Call of Duty titles to its game subscription service day one.

It's difficult to gauge player numbers for a new entry in the series as Call of Duty games utilise a unified Call of Duty launcher that serves as a hub for recent games and Call of Duty: Warzone, the free-to-play Battle Royale mode.

However, as per SteamDB charts, concurrent player numbers for the Call of Duty app on Steam spiked on October 16, the day Modern Warfare 4 campaign early access began, reaching over 100,000 players in a day. Following the game's full launch on October 23, the Call of Duty app on Steam crossed 200,000 players over the weekend. Player numbers for the game on PS5, Xbox Series S/X, and Switch 2 are not known.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 features a campaign, multiplayer, and an extraction shooter mode called DMZ. The single-player campaign follows a conflict between North and South Korea.