Modern Warfare 2 beta hits nearly 110,000 concurrent players on first day on Steam

Modern Warfare 2 The beta version kicked off its second test last night on PC, PlayStation and Xbox. While this is the second time PlayStation players can play it, this is the first time PC and Xbox players have gotten the beta.

It’s only available to those who pre-ordered or got the beta code so far, but it’s already breaking records.

Everyone thought it was going to be huge, but it’s been five years since Call of Duty left Steam, and we’ve never really gotten a handle on its player count on PC. “Modern Warfare 2” marked the series’ heavy return to Steam, and the audience responded.

Although beta access was limited to pre-orders, nearly 110,000 concurrent players participated at its peak. Last night was enough to make it into the top five on Steam.

On the one hand, this number isn’t entirely surprising. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is consistently at or at the top of Steam’s weekly bestseller list. Since beta access is guaranteed through pre-orders, you can imagine that a significant portion of these players have already purchased the game.

On the other hand, Battle.net will likely see a similar number of players considering that Steam is just one way that PC players can access Call of Duty right now. Call of Duty hasn’t been on Steam for a while, so it’s not unreasonable to think that players who have accumulated COD points and Battle.net friends over the years might want their investment to stick around.

Still, Saturday’s numbers will be higher when the beta is fully open and available for anyone to download.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is coming to PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S on October 28.