Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4’s open beta appears to have drawn less console engagement than the existing Black Ops 7 and Warzone experience in the United States. Data from Circana’s Player Engagement Tracker, shared by Call of Duty specialist CharlieIntel, places the Modern Warfare 4 beta at No. 6 on PlayStation 5 and No. 4 on Xbox Series X|S for the week spanning August 29 through September 5. The existing Call of Duty application, which includes Black Ops 7 and Warzone, remained ahead of the standalone MW4 beta on both platforms.
The ranking is notable because Modern Warfare 4’s open beta was freely available to players and represented one of the first major opportunities for the wider public to try Infinity Ward’s next Call of Duty. Activision officially opened the beta to all players on August 28, with the scheduled open period initially running through September 1. The beta included traditional multiplayer alongside Ground War, a playable campaign mission and 44-player Zodiac Resurgence for Warzone.
Circana’s Player Engagement Tracker measures weekly US player activity rather than concurrent player counts, so the rankings should not be read as exact population figures. The data instead indicates how many users engaged with each title across the tracked week relative to other games on the same platform. That distinction is particularly important for Call of Duty because Black Ops 7 and Warzone are housed within the established Call of Duty ecosystem, while the Modern Warfare 4 beta was distributed as a separate beta experience.
Even with the beta receiving substantial promotion, its position behind the existing Call of Duty app suggests many console players continued spending their time in Black Ops 7 and Warzone instead of moving primarily to the upcoming game. On PlayStation 5, MW4’s No. 6 peak left it outside the platform’s five most-played titles for the measured week, while its No. 4 Xbox Series X|S ranking was somewhat stronger. CharlieIntel’s summary of the Circana data specifically notes that the Black Ops 7 and Warzone Call of Duty app maintained a higher player count than the MW4 beta.
The result does not necessarily indicate weak interest in Modern Warfare 4 itself. Betas are temporary, offer limited progression and content, and compete against live games where players already have established loadouts, seasonal progression and social groups. Activision also continued adjusting the test throughout its run, including an August 31 balance update that nerfed the Type 73 and FiNN LMG while buffing several other weapons, following earlier playlist and progression changes.
Infinity Ward used the beta to showcase a broader mix of content than a standard multiplayer test. In addition to core 6v6 modes, players could access Ground War: Combat Outpost, Kill Block and the Entrenched campaign mission, while Weekend Two expanded the offering with Warzone’s new Zodiac map. An earlier update also added Double XP and a Transit 213 playlist, giving players additional reasons to return during the testing period.
The Circana rankings are therefore best viewed as an early measure of relative engagement rather than a prediction of Modern Warfare 4’s commercial performance. The full game will arrive with its complete campaign, multiplayer offering and DMZ, while Warzone integration is scheduled to follow with Season 1. Activision has also confirmed that the current Black Ops-era Warzone experience will transition toward Modern Warfare 4 content once that seasonal integration begins.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 launches on October 23, 2026, for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC and Nintendo Switch 2. Its open beta may not have overtaken Black Ops 7 and Warzone in Circana’s latest console engagement rankings, but the figures provide one of the first independent indicators of how players divided their time between the upcoming release and Call of Duty’s existing live ecosystem.
