BREAKING NEWS: Call of Duty is really popular

• Joe (@Joe_of_the_Dead)
• Sunday, January 8th, 2012
• 0

Larry Hryb, Director of Programming for XBOX Live, better known to XBOX users as Major Nelson, has released his annual list of the most played games on the service. To no one’s surprise, the overall winner was Call of Duty: Black Ops. The title has been a juggernaut since its release a little over a year ago. What is surprising, however, is that Call of Duty titles took all three of the top spots on the list.

Finishing in second place was Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, even though the game was only available for the final seven weeks of the year. Rounding out the top three was Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, a game that was released all the way back in November of 2009. In all, five titles in the Call of Duty series made it onto the Top Twenty list. Now, I know what you’re thinking, but the list is determined by unique users. So even though your sixteen year old cousin plays MW3 for five hours a night, every night, he still only counts as one user. It is a testament to the staggering popularity of the Call of Duty franchise, and with MW3 breaking every sales record set by its predecessor, Activision’s behemoth doesn’t show any signs of slowing down.

The Top Twenty Most Played Games of 2011 on XBOX Live

1. Call of Duty: Black Ops
2. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
3. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
4. Halo: Reach
5. Battlefield 3
6. Skyrim
7. Gears of War 3
8. FIFA 12
9. FIFA Soccer 11
10. Madden NFL 12
11. GTA IV
12. NBA 2K11
13. Battlefield: Bad Company 2
14. Call of Duty 4
15. Battlefield 3 Beta
16. Halo 3
17. Gears of War 2
18. Forza 4
19. Red Dead Redemption
20. Call of Duty: World at War

You can view the full list, as well as lists for most played XBOX Live Arcade, XBLA Indie, Games for Windows, and Windows Phone 7 games, at the Major Nelson Blog.