Activision Says Modern Warfare 4 Could See a Player Bump When GTA 6 Arrives

Activision chief marketing officer Tyler Bahl sees Grand Theft Auto 6 as a possible boost for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, not simply a game that will pull players away. In an interview with The Game Business, Bahl called GTA 6 and Modern Warfare 4 the two biggest games of 2026. He said GTA 6 could bring lapsed players back to Xbox and PlayStation and put more eyes on Call of Duty, though that does not mean those players will switch games.

Bahl’s argument also rests on Call of Duty’s social appeal. He said Activision’s research points to spending time with friends as a major reason players enjoy the series. Cross-platform play lets those groups play together across Nintendo Switch 2, PC, Xbox, and PlayStation. Switch 2 is a new platform for Call of Duty this year.

Modern Warfare 4 is scheduled to launch October 23, 27 days before GTA 6 arrives on November 19. The Ocarina of Time remake is set for November 5 and is exclusive to Switch 2, placing it between the two releases.

Circana senior director and industry advisor Mat Piscatella put Modern Warfare 4 at 15% purchase intent among U.S. console and PC players in August 2026. Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 registered 21% in August 2025. The figures measure purchase intent, not sales or the number of players who will be online when GTA 6 launches.

Circana PlayerPulse purchase intent among US Console/PC players:Aug 2025 COD:BO7 – 21%Aug 2026 COD:MW4 – 15%Last year, disappointing performance was blamed on Game Pass inclusion. Now, it's media. When MW4 disappoints it'll be GTA's fault.

— Mat Piscatella (@matpiscatella.bsky.social) 2026-10-15T14:43:43.259Z

The Ocarina of Time remake registered 10.4% purchase intent across the full U.S. console and PC audience. Since the game is only available on Switch 2, that total includes players who cannot access it. Piscatella said its rate is higher when measured against its potential audience, so the broad-audience figure does not make it a direct comparison with games available on more platforms.

On a per potential player rate, the intent on Ocarina is far higher.

— Mat Piscatella (@matpiscatella.bsky.social) 2026-10-15T14:50:31.863Z

How much should a game’s potential audience change the way you read purchase-intent comparisons? For updates on the audiences around these closely timed releases, stay connected on X, Bluesky, YouTube, Instagram, Steam, and Telegram.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4

Developed by Infinity Ward

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 is a first-person shooter and the follow-up to Modern Warfare III (2023), continuing the rebooted Modern Warfare storyline. The campaign is set during a North Korean invasion of South Korea and features dual perspectives: a young South Korean soldier named Private Park facing his first combat deployment, and Captain Price operating outside official channels on a personal mission. The game also includes multiplayer with 6v6 core maps, large-scale vehicle combat maps, and a dynamic map system called Kill Block that reshapes layouts between rounds. A DMZ extraction mode is also featured. The game is released exclusively on current-generation platforms and PC.

• Genre Shooter
• Platforms Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2, PC (Microsoft Windows), PlayStation 5
• Perspective First person
• Modes Single player, Multiplayer, Co-operative
• Release October 23, 2026
• Publisher Activision
• Age Rating

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