According to Circana analysts, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 achieved the top spot as the best-selling game in the United States last year, marking the Call of Duty franchise's sixteenth consecutive year leading the U.S. market. In contrast, the most popular sports game was EA Sports College Football 25, released on consoles in July. While overall U.S. gamer spending dipped 1.1% year-over-year in 2024, Circana attributes this decline to reduced hardware demand, with spending on add-ons and services showing growth of 2% and 6%, respectively.
Black Ops 6 and Warzone 2 will launch their second season on January 28th, featuring a ninja-themed update and a crossover with the "Terminator" universe. The game's diverse missions, praised by players and critics alike, successfully avoid monotony, consistently surprising players throughout the campaign. The shooting mechanics and completely redesigned movement system—allowing characters to run in any direction and shoot while falling or lying down—received particularly high praise.
The campaign's approximately eight-hour duration also garnered positive feedback, deemed neither too short nor too long by many reviewers. This sentiment was largely echoed by gamers, who especially lauded the zombies mode and the overall campaign experience. However, some players found Black Ops 6 underwhelming, with a significant portion of Steam complaints centering on technical issues. Reviews frequently cite game crashes and unstable server connections as major obstacles, often preventing progress through the story mode.