Classic ‘Call of Duty’ games get a second wind from revived servers

The servers for classic Call of Duty Black Ops 1, 2, and Modern Warfare 3 have been revived and fans are as pleased to be back in the midst of some of the most beloved entries in the series.

Though Activision didn’t announce that the servers would be brought back online, players swarmed to the games, surging the Black Ops 1 player count to 123,952 according to Twitter user IdleSloth. Black Ops 2 recorded a significant rise to 11,500 players and Modern Warfare 3 saw almost 80,000 players arrive on the scene.

(FYI) The Xbox 360 Call of Duty servers are back online and now gamers are flooding back!!

Black Ops I – 123, 852 players
Black Ops II – 11,514 players
Modern Warfare 3 – 79,619 players

Credit to @Sn4kee for the ???? pic.twitter.com/qloT8ODrvx

— Idle Sloth???????? (@IdleSloth84_) July 16, 2023

It’s a strong show of support for these older games and proves that the demand is still there for games from two generations ago. Recently, the Video Game History Foundation and the Software Preservation Network found that 87 percent of classic games are unavailable to play anywhere, which is a troubling statistic as the industry becomes more and more focused on the future.

Though the news of the servers spread, it’s not known why Activision arranged for them to be reactivated again. A possible answer is that it’s a result of the ruling for Microsoft‘s proposed acquisition.

As the United States District Court for the Northern District of California denied the Federal Trade Commission’s injunction, Microsoft only has one last body to convince of the value of the takeover. That’s the CMA in the United Kingdom, which has already criticised the acquisition for its potential effects on competition in the video games industry.

In other gaming news, Microsoft and Sony have agreed on Call of Duty’s permanent presence on PlayStation consoles. “We look forward to a future where players globally have more choice to play their favourite games,” announced CEO of Microsoft Gaming Phil Spencer in a tweet.