The unannounced PS5 and PS4 conversions of "Call of Duty: Black Ops" and "Black Ops 2" immediately took over the top spots in the PlayStation Store charts worldwide after their release and, according to industry reports, have higher active player numbers than the current main installment "Call of Duty: Black Ops 7".
Nostalgia beats next-gen
The technical facts behind the sudden chart success reveal a massive imbalance between technical effort and commercial return. Activision released the two classic shooter games from 2010 and 2012 digitally for PS4 and PS5 without any significant modernizations.
Despite foregoing native 4K resolution, higher frame rates or crossplay features, the ancient ports are pushing current major projects like "Assassin's Creed: Black Flag Resynced" and the pre-orders of "GTA 6" out of the top spots in large markets such as the USA, Great Britain and Germany.
The success is based purely on the desire for the old, untouched gameplay mechanics. Activision is exploiting a painful loophole in the PlayStation ecosystem. While Xbox players have been able to use the original discs for free on the Xbox Series X for years thanks to backward compatibility, Sony is once again asking its customers to pay due to the lack of PS3 emulation. Players are paying for mere access.
The pricing of minimalism
The pricing structure of the releases has drawn sharp criticism from the community, but the market has accepted it without complaint. Activision is charging a base price of €39,99 for each of the two titles. This price includes only the basic main game with campaign, standard multiplayer, and the original Zombies mode.
Additional content is completely absent from the base game. Those wishing to purchase the complete package, including all map packs released at the time, must buy a separate Season Pass for €29,99 per game. Without discounts, the total price for both titles comes to nearly €140.
A limited-time offer, valid until August 6, 2026, reduces the cost for PlayStation Plus subscribers. The price per game drops to €19,99, while the Season Pass is offered for €8,57. Even this discounted package still costs around €60. For games that are almost a decade and a half old. A calculated move.
Technical setbacks in the package
Anyone expecting a technical overhaul in the style of modern remasters will be disappointed. According to initial analyses, the ports run at a simple Full HD resolution of 1920x1080 pixels. The basic visual framework is exactly the same as the PlayStation 3 versions.
More serious than the lack of modern graphics is the removal of original features. The popular Theater Mode and Wager Matches have been removed from the code, presumably to simplify server architectures and minimize vulnerabilities to exploits. Only the emblem editor has made the jump to the PS5.
The only real added value lies in the infrastructure. Since these are dedicated PS4 and PS5 server structures, the lobbies, unlike the completely compromised PS3 originals, are currently free of hackers and modders. Clean gameplay comes at a high price here.
MW2 would be awesome too
I want MW3
I find it to be too old a technology.
Personally, I would place MW 1 from 2007 ahead of Black Ops 1 and 2.
Because they're cheaper and nothing's changed in the sequels anyway. 😅 Surprise, surprise. 🙂
It's all better than today's CoD games because back then there were no meta weapons.
Of course, the AN94, Scar, and MSCM exist.
That was to be expected, BO2 is still one of the best games in the series, simple and straightforward, that's how it should be 😊
MW3 is better
Unplayable 🤣
Patrick Spannlang, why? Cheaters or bugs?
Dennis Fist input leg
It will be fixed.
The most intense input was unplayable.