Sony has seemingly started testing a new PlayStation 5 feature that allows users to see player counts for games like Call of Duty, Battlefield 6, Minecraft, and more.
Rumors that the company could soon roll out a new approach to player data began today after YouTuber Mystic shared footage of a new widget with two tracking options: one for trending titles and one for top 10 games. The former seems to track surges in gameplay hours for specific titles, while the latter shows how many players some games had in the last week.
Digital storefronts like Steam have been relatively transparent when it comes to player data — some games have even offered live player counts — but a concept like this would mark a significant change for PlayStation, specifically. As the feature is seemingly part of a beta test, it’s unclear if it will materialize into an official feature for all PS5 users in the future or fizzle out, never to be heard from again.
It’s the player count tracker that has fans stirring on social media, as these numbers could, theoretically, offer an idea of how popular some PS5 titles are each week. You can see games shared in the list, as well as the number of players they are said to have attracted in the last week, below:
- Apex Legends – 1.72 million
- Battlefield 6 – 1.51 million
- Arc Raiders – 972,000
- Fortnite – 14.6 million
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 – 4.95 million
- Grand Theft Auto 5 – 5.13 million
- Minecraft – 4.97 million
- Marvel Rivals – 1.58 million
There is, of course, much to consider before anyone should use these numbers to measure success. For starters, if Sony does intend to widely launch a PS5 player count widget, there’s a decent chance the version of it we see here is nothing like the finished product. The exact source of the above numbers also remains unclear, so while it makes sense to see games like Minecraft and Fortnite charting high, it’s hard to say just how accurate these player counts are.
Meanwhile, Sony doesn’t seem to spell out exactly how the numbers are gathered, assuming they’re even accurate. Details — such as how much time each of these players logged, when exactly they played, or when each week begins measuring engagement — are not currently available.
IGN has reached out to Sony for comment.
Should Sony move forward with bringing PS5 player counts to the public, it will do so nearly six years after its fifth home console originally launched. That said, it’s hard to say just how late into the device’s lifespan we currently are, as the PlayStation-maker recently stated that it still hasn’t determined when the release date for PlayStation 6 will land.
For more Sony news, you can check out what the company had to say following rumors that it would soon enforce a new DRM policy.
Michael Cripe is a freelance writer with IGN. He’s best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).
