Modern Warfare 2 overtakes Warzone Twitch viewership as multiplayer finally usurps battle royale

Modern Warfare 2 had a higher viewership in March 2023 than Warzone 2, the first time the regular multiplayer game has beaten the battle royale outside of launch month since Warzone first launched in March 2020.

Since Modern Warfare 2 and Warzone 2 launched, there has been much furor over Call of Duty, especially as players struggle to enjoy the new BR as much as they did Warzone 1.

Issues with the movement mechanics, TTK, and more have been frequently highlighted, and players were first introduced to Al Mazrah, resulting in a declining player base and a considerable number of frustrated players, from both casuals to elite pros and streamers.

With said streamers and pros now either leaving the game or heading back to Warzone 1 or other titles, Twitch viewership for the title has taken a hit — and now, the regular multiplayer game is looking to take over.

In March 2023, Modern Warfare 2 reached 24,970,051 hours of watch time. Warzone, on the other hand, finished with 21,969,596 hours, almost a 3m difference, according to SullyGnome.

This is the first time the mainline game has had a more successful viewership outside of launch month since Warzone came out three years ago, and you can see how consistently Warzone has stayed ahead of multiplayer, albeit with peaks during launch months for Cold War, Vanguard, and MW2.

Call of Duty League leads MW2 viewership figures

The biggest contributor to Modern Warfare 2’s success in March was Call of Duty League viewership.

As was widely reported, Major 3 smashed viewership records for CoD esports, as the most-viewed event in CDL history.

Both the Call of Duty Twitch channel and Scump with his watch parties were huge factors in this, earning around 3.4-3.8m hours watched each.

There are a number of players who have long wanted to see multiplayer CoD back on top, and stats like these will definitely help feel like the game is on its way back after years of dominance from Warzone.

Of course, any viewers watching Call of Duty is a success for the franchise overall, and it’ll be interesting to see if this trend continues into the coming months.