Classic CoD revival sparks massive sales boost in UK
Activision It’s 2023, yet two Xbox 360 COD titles reappeared on the UK’s top 5 best-selling games list in July.
Activision infuriated COD community members by shutting down two mod projects that allowed players to revisit classic games. First, the publisher sent a cease and desist letter to Sm2 in May, and then forced X Labs to close its servers just five days later.
After Rockstar Games announced a partnership with two of the largest GTA mod creators, COD community members questioned why Activision couldn’t take a similar route instead of killing passion projects. It all made more sense when Activision fixed matchmaking for Modern Warfare 2 (2009) and other Xbox 360 COD games in July.
By taking power out of mod creators’ hands and it putting it back in their own, Activision struck marketing gold.
Modern Warfare 2 and Black Ops 2 top UK sales chart
On August 14, CharlieIntel reported: “Thanks to the Xbox 360 servers working again, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2009) reappeared on the Top 5 best selling games in the UK in July 2023.”
The Reliable COD new source added: “I think this is the first time there have been 4 Activision Blizzard games on a UK top 10 chart. 3 Call of Duty titles and then Diablo.”
It even reached a point when Xbox Series X’s sold out in stores, as players raced to get their hands on COD through its backward compatibility feature.
Activision’s decision to bring back classic COD titles obviously paid off tremendously, and the publisher may capitalize on nostalgia again soon.
According to leaks, Modern Warfare 3 is reportedly set to feature remastered versions of every single Modern Warfare 2 (2009) multiplayer launch map.
For more on Modern Warfare 3, make sure to check out the rest of our coverage.