Analyst: Call of Duty’s withdrawal from last-gen consoles means it’s selling into the smallest install base since 2017
Activision’s decision to discontinue PlayStation 4 and Xbox One support for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 will significantly shrink the game’s addressable market, according to analysis from S&P Global. The firm estimates the loss of legacy console players represents a 4.3% reduction in the potential install base.
To partially offset this decline, Activision is bringing the franchise to Nintendo Switch 2, marking the first time Call of Duty has appeared on a Nintendo console since 2013. However, according to S&P analyst Neil Barbour, the Switch 2 launch will not fully compensate for the loss of users migrating away from PS4 and Xbox One platforms.
The shift reflects the industry’s broader transition away from previous-generation hardware, but it comes with notable constraints. The analyst highlighted that high pricing on current-generation consoles continues to limit the overall addressable audience for Modern Warfare 4, further restricting its market potential.
According to S&P’s internal data, the game will launch into its smallest global install base since 2017, highlighting the challenge of supporting only current-generation consoles and a new handheld platform. While the Switch 2 represents an opportunity to reach Nintendo’s audience for the first time in over a decade, it cannot fully bridge the gap left by abandoning the substantial remaining user bases on PS4 and Xbox One, where millions of players continue to be active.