The most recent Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 new release has reportedly attracted 5.25 million PS5 players per week in the US, surpassing the nearly 5 million previously recorded for Black Ops 7 and War zone combined. Black Ops 2 has always been a fan favorite Call of Duty entry, with players typically noting that it has some of the strongest multiplayer and zombies content in the entire franchise.
Activision finally released native PS4 and PS5 versions of the original Black Ops and Black Ops 2 on July 9, 2026. While these releases are straight ports rather than full-on remakes or remasters, their campaigns, multiplayer modes, and Zombies content have all been ported over to newer PlayStation hardware, mostly intact. Some modes are missing from Black Ops 1 and 2but by and large, it's the same game that fans fell in love with over a decade and a half ago. Both shooters launched for $39.99 with a PS Plus discount to $19.99 for a limited time, making these drops a major event for PlayStation users who missed out on the original PS3 run of both games.
Black Ops 2 only beat Black Ops 7 and Warzone Combined on PS5
Return of the original Black Ops duology has certainly been a hit with fans, as MysticRyan and Spawn Wave of the SpawnCast recently discovered that Black Ops 2s weekly PS5 players reached 5.25 million US users, while Black Ops 1 brought in approximately 1.9 million as of July 16. MysticRyan collected this data from PlayStation's experimental weekly player count widget, which is only available to users participating in the beta, so this figure is not currently available via any standard player count tables. The player count discussion starts at 2:03:15 in the YouTube video. According to the widget, this statistic represents the number of players who started or played the game during the week, not the number who played simultaneously, and it only covers PS5 users in the US rather than Black Ops 2s complete global audience across both current PlayStation consoles.
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Compared to Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 and War zoneit seems like BO2 surpasses both games combined if the PS player count widget is to be believed. A May 15 Twitter post by Charlie Intel revealed that Call of Duty HQ launcher had just under 5 million players booting up BO7, War zoneor another game in the franchise the week the widget launched. Fans should note that because Call of Duty HQ is a start for the most recent entries in the series, the total cannot be broken down into any single new title. Even with that qualification, in 2012 Black Ops 2 pulling 5.25 million users per week is astounding, as that number surpasses the entire hub's previous numbers.
Black Ops 2 launch performance is just proof of the enduring demand for the elderly Call of Duty experiences, especially from the Xbox 360 and PS3 era. Both of these return Black Ops Games offer a more traditional multiplayer structure than recent entries in the series, with recognizable fan-favorite maps, simple progression mechanics, and fewer live service systems competing for players' attention. Simple nostalgia is also a contributing factor, but these results may certainly indicate other inaccessible heritage Call of Duty games may have a large audience waiting for modern console versions.
However, fans should note that the number of weekly players differs from average concurrent users, total sales, engagement hours or long-term player retention. Black Ops 2s impressive figures were measured during its long-awaited launch period, while Call of Duty HQ number came from a couple of months back, during the middle of Black Ops 7s content cycle, in what is considered a “down year” for the series. Future weekly numbers will give a more meaningful indication of whether Black Ops 2 has really changed Call of Dutys latest releases or simply had a huge launch. Regardless of whether these ports maintain this momentum, they make a compelling case for Activision to continue with the classic Call of Duty games for modern hardware.
- Released
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November 13, 2012
- ESRB
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M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language, Suggestive Themes, Use of Drugs
- Engine
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