Despite being a bit of a terrible deal, the PS4 and PS5 versions of Call of Duty: Black Ops and Black Ops 2 both charted among the most played games on PlayStation in the US last week.
Earlier this month, Activision released the rumored Call of Duty: Black Ops 1 and 2 ports on PS4 and PS5. And despite being the highlight of the franchise for many people, these ports haven't exactly gone down well with fans.
First off, unless you have PlayStation Plus to take advantage of a limited-time discount, both games are $40 each, and $30 on top of that for the DLC map packs, which fragments the player base between those who do and don't have DLC… the already fragmented player base, as there's no crossplay between PS4 and PS5.
And on top of that, the game swiftly became rife with cheaters – presumably due to the fact that 15-year-old exploits haven't been fixed – making the online just a bit of a miserable experience.
Circana Player Engagement Tracker - US Top 10 Titles by Total Weekly Active Users (Not Concurrent) - W/E Jul 11, 2026- Call of Duty: Black Ops I & II debut in top 10 on PlayStation- Palworld jumps from 57th on Steam a week ago to 2nd with v1.0 official launch
— @matpiscatella.bsky.social ( @matpiscatella.bsky.social.bsky.social ) 2026-07-21T14:54:39.588Z
And yet, the nostalgia for these two games has proven potent, as thanks to Circana's Mat Piscatella, we know that both games debuted in the top 10 most played games on PlayStation in the US. Black Ops came in at ninth place, with only Madden NFL 26 behind it in the top 10, while Minecraft and Marvel Rivals came in eighth and seventh before Black Ops 2 appeared at number six. However, the regular old Call of Duty (the app that encompasses the likes of Warzone) came in fourth, giving Activision's shooter three spots in the top 10.
Predictably, the top 10 outside of these two games is filled with titles that were also in last week's ranking, with Fortnite, NBA 2K26, and Roblox holding the same top three spots. As for last week's big release, Assassin's Creed Black Flag: Resynced, the chart notes that it launched within the top 30 on PlayStation. So nostalgia is potent, but maybe for some things more than others.
