LogInThe game's review scores and player numbers on Steam make BO7 look like one of Activision's most disastrous launches ever.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 dropped last Friday, and based on its performance and reception over the first weekend – typically the make-or-break period where the gaming community's opinion about any given title solidifies – the latest CoD installment may go down as one of, if not the most disastrous games Activision has ever put on the table.
While many anticipated a lukewarm reception based on the community's reaction to the gameplay reveal trailer, few could have predicted just how much of a calamity it would turn out to be – and BO7's user score on Metacritic leaves no doubt.
At the time of writing, the game sits at a 1.7/10 review score, making it the lowest-rated Call of Duty installment in the franchise's history – yes, even worse than 2023's Modern Warfare III, which held the previous low with a 2.3/10.
With a score like that, it's probably obvious that the full "what went wrong" list is far too long to cover in full, but the most frequently cited issues include Black Ops 7's poor optimization, predatory monetization, lackluster multiplayer, uninspired gunplay, and clunky controls.
There are, however, two points of contention that deserve special mention, the first being BO7's campaign.
Dubbed "the worst campaign of all time" by some reviewers, it was criticized for its plot, which many wrote felt more like something generated by ChatGPT than written by a human, its overall non-serious, whimsical tone – more akin to Fortnite than classic Call of Duty – and Activision's questionable approach to implementing the co-op element, which involves hosting campaign missions and gameplay on online servers, meaning the mode runs like multiplayer and cannot be paused even when playing solo.
Speaking of ChatGPT, the second point of contention is Activision's apparent overreliance on generative AI in developing Black Ops 7, with many of the game's calling cards and icons featuring an unmistakable AI feel and "art style," if you can even call it that:
When asked to address the topic, Activision provided a non-answer, acknowledging that AI tools were indeed used in production – something we already knew thanks to Steam's AI disclosure – while refusing to confirm or deny the AI nature of the examples above.
"Like so many around the world, we use a variety of digital tools, including AI tools, to empower and support our teams to create the best gaming experiences possible for our players," the studio told XboxEra. "Our creative process continues to be led by the talented individuals in our studios."
With a reception like this, a question arises: did the community's overwhelming dislike actually affect Activision's bottom line, or was brand loyalty once again stronger, and BO7 still sold like hotcakes despite its flaws? Surprisingly, the former seems to be closer to the truth.
But first, a little disclaimer: You know how it's always impossible to get actual sales numbers for any game, leaving SteamDB – the only platform that provides them – as the only option for estimating whether a game sold well or not?
Well, the thing you need to know about Call of Duty titles on Steam is that those are even harder to track, with SteamDB lumping together the numbers for all the latest games, meaning instead of one neat graph showing player numbers for BO7, we get a graph showing player numbers for BO7 plus BO6, Modern Warfare III, and Warzone 2.0.
With that in mind, the combined graph has only peaked at 100K concurrent players over the weekend, meaning that even with the numbers boosted by three other titles, Black Ops 7 didn't make much of a splash and performed relatively poorly with fewer than 100,000 active players at most.
By comparison, the two other shooter games currently dominating the market – Battlefield 6 and ARC Raiders – peaked at around 300K and 482K concurrent players over the same weekend, respectively, with ARC Raiders even breaking its all-time record.
Sadly, it remains unknown exactly how much Black Ops 7's 1.7 score and fewer than 100K concurrent Steam players on its first weekend have impacted the game's earnings, and by extension, it cannot be said with certainty whether Activision will get the message and change their approach for the next Call of Duty title.
What can be said with certainty, though, is that franchise fatigue is real, and when there are other games on the market that offer a better experience and Call of Duty actually has to compete, its success is no longer guaranteed.
What's funny is that one of those competitors went through the same struggle and eventually rose from the ashes – and if Battlefield managed to do that after V and 2042, maybe CoD can too?
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