Fifteen-year-old Call of Duty ports outsold every new game on PlayStation in July
Call of Duty: Black Ops and Black Ops II, originally released in 2010 and 2012, topped the PlayStation sales charts for July 2026 — beating every major new release on the platform. The two ports combined for over 11 million copies sold and an estimated $435 million in revenue on PlayStation alone in less than a month, according to Alinea Analytics. These are 1080p ports, not remasters — no visual overhaul, just the original games running on PS4 and PS5.
The numbers
Black Ops II led with 8.2 million copies sold. Black Ops I followed with 3 million. To put that in context: Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced — a full remake from Ubisoft — sold around 1.6 million copies on PlayStation over the same period. EA Sports FC 26 moved 1.3 million. Halo: Campaign Evolved, Microsoft's bid to bring the Xbox flagship to PlayStation for the first time, attracted just 351,000 players on the platform.
Both Black Ops ports launched July 9 at $39.99 / £34.99 each. PS Plus subscribers got a 50% discount — dropping to $19.99 / £17.49 — through August 6, which almost certainly accelerated early sales. That price point undercuts Halo: Campaign Evolved at £44.99, despite Black Ops being a significantly older game with no graphical upgrades.
Call of Duty: Black Ops II on PS5 — a 1080p port of the 2012 original, no visual upgrades included.
Why it landed so hard
The original Black Ops games were already among the best-selling shooters ever made — the first sold over 30 million copies in its original run, the second around 29 million. That installed base of fans clearly had appetite for revisiting them, and $40 is a low enough ask that the nostalgia math works out. The PS Plus discount created an urgency window that pushed fence-sitters to buy.
The Halo comparison is telling. Microsoft put Halo: Campaign Evolved on Game Pass at launch, offering it free to subscribers on Xbox and PC — but PlayStation players had to pay £44.99 with no discount window. The ports strategy from Activision, priced lower and backed by a meaningful PS Plus offer, converted far more buyers.
For players, the message is simple: both games are available now on PS4 and PS5 via the PlayStation Store, complete with campaign and multiplayer modes. If you missed them the first time — or want to go back — this is the cheapest and easiest they've ever been to access on PlayStation.
