Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, a title first released in 2012, is currently outperforming the latest franchise entry, Black Ops 7, in terms of player numbers and sales on PlayStation platforms. According to sources at Call of Duty fansite CharlieIntel, the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 ports of Black Ops 1 and Black Ops 2 have more concurrent players than Black Ops 7 does combined across all platforms, including PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and PC.
Ports Top PlayStation Store Charts
The ports of Call of Duty: Black Ops 1 and Black Ops 2 were released on PlayStation consoles last week, priced at £34.99 each. Until August 6, PS Plus subscribers can purchase both titles at a 50% discount. This pricing strategy has made the games cheaper on PlayStation than on Xbox, despite Microsoft's ownership of Activision. Both games have climbed to the top of the PlayStation Store best-sellers list in multiple territories, including the UK, the US, France, Germany, and Italy. Black Ops 2 has proven the more popular of the two across all storefronts.
Sales Success Amid Criticism
The ports have been successful despite complaints about the price and the lack of included downloadable content (DLC) in the base game. On the UK PlayStation Store, both Black Ops games are outselling major titles such as Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced, EA Sports FC 26, Grand Theft Auto 6, Fortnite, Roblox, and Marvel Rivals. The popularity of these older titles was foreshadowed by social media engagement metrics, which dwarfed those for the upcoming Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4.
Implications for Activision
The success of these ports may encourage Activision to release more classic Call of Duty titles on PlayStation consoles. Currently, many older Call of Duty games are playable on Xbox via backward compatibility, but titles from before the PlayStation 4 era are not available on Sony's current systems, aside from remasters of the first two Modern Warfare games. If old ports continue to outperform modern entries, it could present an awkward situation for the franchise. Black Ops 7 marked a notable downturn in both quality and sales for Call of Duty, and it remains to be seen whether Modern Warfare 4 can reverse the trend.
