Activision’s recent PlayStation ports of Call of Duty: Black Ops (2010) and Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 (2012) have been commercially successful, prompting reactions from a former Treyarch developer. A developer involved in the original projects, Gavin Goslin, says the ports’ ongoing performance—while “amazing”—is also “bittersweet,” because the financial gains appear to go to executives rather than the original creators.
Coverage links the success to pent-up demand from players who previously needed older hardware, as the games were not available through PlayStation’s backwards compatibility. One report says the two titles together sold more than 11 million copies on PS4 and PS5. Activision marketing head Tyler Bahl is cited saying the company expected the ports to do well but not “that well,” and that it plans to apply learnings to future Call of Duty releases, including Modern Warfare 4.
Across outlets, the differing emphasis centers on the developer’s argument about royalties and recognition for legacy work versus the broader business framing of strong sales and demand. All accounts describe the ports as ports rather than remakes or remasters, with no major new features.
