New sales estimates from Alinea Analytics reveal a stark contrast in July's remake and port market: Call of Duty: Black Ops 1 and 2 ports sold a combined 11.2 million copies on PlayStation consoles, while Halo: Campaign Evolved limped to just 351,000 on PS5. The data, shared by industry analyst Rhys Elliott on Twitter, underscores the divergent fates of these legacy titles.
CoD Ports Dominate PlayStation Store
According to Alinea Analytics, the ports of Call of Duty: Black Ops 1 and 2 sold 3 million and 8.2 million copies respectively across PlayStation consoles in July. These figures have propelled the games to the top of the PlayStation Store's best sellers list worldwide, a remarkable achievement given their minimal enhancements.
For context, Black Ops 2 originally sold 7.5 million copies in its launch month in the US back in 2012. The new estimates suggest these low-effort ports are replicating similar numbers, a testament to the enduring nostalgia for the Black Ops series. This success is likely to encourage Microsoft to release more Call of Duty ports on Sony's console, and possibly even full remasters or remakes.
Halo's Slow Start on PlayStation
In stark contrast, Halo: Campaign Evolved, which launched on July 28, has had a lackluster debut. Alinea estimates place its PS5 sales at 351,000 for July, with 452,000 copies sold to date. On Steam, it managed 212,000 copies, and on Xbox (across console and PC), around 900,000. These figures pale in comparison to other Xbox games on PlayStation, such as Forza Horizon 5, which has sold over 5 million copies.
The game's concurrent player peak on Steam was just 25,376, and Circana's player engagement tracker shows only 1% of the PS5 install base booted it up on launch day. While these metrics aren't definitive, they suggest Halo is not resonating with PlayStation audiences, possibly due to the lack of competitive multiplayer in this campaign-focused release.
Implications for Future Xbox Exclusives
The poor performance of Halo: Campaign Evolved raises questions about the future of Halo on PlayStation. Microsoft may reconsider making future Halo games exclusive to Xbox, similar to Gears of War: E-Day. The success of CoD ports, on the other hand, could lead to more classic Call of Duty titles being ported or remastered for PlayStation.
Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced also performed well, selling 1.7 million on PS5 in July, according to Alinea, though Ubisoft reported 3.5 million across all platforms. These mixed results highlight the unpredictable nature of the remake market.
As more data emerges, the full picture of Halo: Campaign Evolved's sales will become clearer, but initial signs are not promising for Master Chief's PlayStation debut.
