Classic COD Games Surge In Sales After Multiplayer Service Gets Restored

gamespot.com:

Black Ops II hit the top twenty bestseller list for the first time since April 2017.

By Grace Benfell on

Older Call of Duty games leapt up the July charts after multiplayer services were restored on Xbox in July. Via Circana executive director Matt Piscatella, Call of Duty: Black Ops II returned to Circana's top twenty best-seller list for the first time since April 2017, claiming the 13th spot. Black Ops III landed on the 20th spot, after spending June at 28. Player counts in these games also surged as players discovered that servers were back online.

In more general video game sales news, Remnant II was the overall best-selling game in July. Two other new releases hit the top twenty with Pikmin 4 at the sixth spot and Exoprimal at the 16th. On the mobile side, Royal Match, Monopoly Go, and Roblox took the top three spots.

Spending on video game content (i.e. games, DLC, subscriptions) was up by 2% from July last year for a total of $3.7 billion. Hardware sales fell 19% as compared to last year, for a total of $292 million. PS5 reigns supreme in both unit and dollar sales, with the Nintendo Switch taking second in the same categories. Accessories sales were up 8%, resulting in a $173 million total. Gamepads, especially the DualSense Edge, drove accessory purchases up. The total amount of video game spending in July was $4.2 billion, a 1% increase from last year.

As for other Call of Duty news, Modern Warfare III is set for a November 10 release. The sequel will see the return of a zombies mode and bring back franchise villain Makarov. It will also feature every one of the original Modern Warfare 2's maps. You can view the full top 10 list below.

7/2/2023 — 7/29/2023

*Digital sales not included

^Xbox and Switch digital sales