October was a pretty busy month for new releases, and Circana video game industry advisor and executive director Mat Piscatella has shared a new list of the most-played games during the final full week of the spooky season, October 20-26. Circana's data tracked the most popular games by player engagement during this week across PC via Steam, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S, and as you'd expect, Call of Duty shot to the top almost instantly.

It's also worth noting that Call of Duty HQ was on the list, not Black Ops 6 specifically, as the launcher for all CoD games was in the top spot on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. While Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 was likely the main reason why Call of Duty HQ surged to the top--especially on Xbox consoles thanks to its day-one Game Pass launch--older CoD games and Warzone are also accessible from the launcher.

Another interesting thing to look at is how the top 10 games on Xbox Series X|S are identical to last week. There were no changes whatsoever, while on PS5, several games jockeyed for position and swapped places. EA Sports College Football 25 overtook WWE 2K24, Fortnite dropped to second place thanks to Call of Duty, and Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero fell to fifth place on the standings.

Meanwhile, PC gamers stuck to old favorites like Counter-Strike 2, Helldivers 2, and Deadlock. The one notable game on the list was Factorio, as the massive Space Age expansion and 2.0 update saw the game climb to fifth place on the Steam charts. Considering that it was previously in 54th place, that's quite an impressive surge in popularity. While CoD wasn't in first place here, it's worth mentioning that was also available through other digital storefronts.

Next month should be interesting to see which games jockey for the top weekly positions, as some of the highlights include Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl, and Lego Horizon Adventures. On the PlayStation side, it'll be interesting to see if there's any disruption on the charts when the PS5 Pro is released, as there's a good chance that any of the dozens of games getting enhanced for the new console could make a return.

October was a pretty busy month for new releases, and Circana video game industry advisor and executive director Mat Piscatella has shared a new list of the most-played games during the final full week of the spooky season, October 20-26. Circana's data tracked the most popular games by player engagement during this week across PC via Steam, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S, and as you'd expect, Call of Duty shot to the top almost instantly.

It's also worth noting that Call of Duty HQ was on the list, not Black Ops 6 specifically, as the launcher for all CoD games was in the top spot on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. While Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 was likely the main reason why Call of Duty HQ surged to the top--especially on Xbox consoles thanks to its day-one Game Pass launch--older CoD games and Warzone are also accessible from the launcher.

Another interesting thing to look at is how the top 10 games on Xbox Series X|S are identical to last week. There were no changes whatsoever, while on PS5, several games jockeyed for position and swapped places. EA Sports College Football 25 overtook WWE 2K24, Fortnite dropped to second place thanks to Call of Duty, and Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero fell to fifth place on the standings.

Meanwhile, PC gamers stuck to old favorites like Counter-Strike 2, Helldivers 2, and Deadlock. The one notable game on the list was Factorio, as the massive Space Age expansion and 2.0 update saw the game climb to fifth place on the Steam charts. Considering that it was previously in 54th place, that's quite an impressive surge in popularity. While CoD wasn't in first place here, it's worth mentioning that was also available through other digital storefronts.

Next month should be interesting to see which games jockey for the top weekly positions, as some of the highlights include Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl, and Lego Horizon Adventures. On the PlayStation side, it'll be interesting to see if there's any disruption on the charts when the PS5 Pro is released, as there's a good chance that any of the dozens of games getting enhanced for the new console could make a return.