Major video game publisher Activision has recently made three popular Call of Duty games — Modern Warfare, Black Ops Cold War and Vanguard — available for purchase and play on Valve’s Steam platform for PC.
The success of Modern Warfare 2 may have contributed to the decision to bring these other three games to Steam, as the game was one of the best-selling titles on Steam in 2022 and achieved similar success on PlayStation.
Previously, the most recent Call of Duty games were only available on Blizzard’s Battle.net launcher. Activision’s decision to release Call of Duty games on Steam is part of their strategy to make the franchise available on multiple platforms and launchers.
The release of Modern Warfare 2 on Steam resulted in increased sales, prompting Activision to add more games to the marketplace and making the franchise almost entirely playable on PC.
The only game in the series still unavailable on Steam is Call of Duty: Black Ops 4. The game did not feature a campaign and had a largely inactive multiplayer component, so Activision may not choose to release it on the platform.
Activision has not only released games on Steam, but it has also celebrated their arrival on the platform by heavily discounting each game. All three games have a 50 percent price reduction and are currently on sale for $29.99, down from their original price of $59.99. This deal will last for approximately two weeks, expiring on March 23.
Steam also now offers all of the downloadable content packs from the new Call of Duty titles. However, these content packs are still listed at their full price. For those who have been waiting to experience the franchise on Steam, there is now an abundance of Call of Duty content available on the platform.
Microsoft’s commitment to keeping Call of Duty multiplatform
Since Microsoft announced its plans to acquire Activision Blizzard in a $68.7 billion deal, the Call of Duty franchise has been the focus of the gaming community.
Concerns have been raised by regulators and Sony regarding how Microsoft could potentially use the shooter franchise as leverage to bring players into Xbox and Game Pass.
Activision might have released its three slightly older Call of Duty games on Steam to show the commitment of its potential owner to keeping the series multiplatform. Microsoft has repeatedly said that the franchise will not be exclusive to Xbox for the next ten years, and this move is meant to demonstrate its commitment to that promise.
However, it is also possible that Activision Blizzard is releasing games that have reached the end of their lifecycle. Ubisoft took a similar approach with Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, which was released on Steam in December 2022.
The release of these older Call of Duty games on Steam raises questions about the next large-scale game in the series, which is expected to be an extension of Modern Warfare II and is set to release later this year.
Modern Warfare II was the first game in years to be released on Steam on day one, and it was a huge success. Depending on the performance of these older games on Steam, the semi-successor to Modern Warfare II may also see a day-one release on the platform.
