Former Call of Duty Dev Says 'It's Hard to Watch' Xbox Make Money From Black Ops PlayStation Ports

Former Call of Duty designer Gavin Goslin has criticised the practice of Microsoft and Activision profiting from porting older games to new platforms, specifically pointing to the recent release of Black Ops 1 and 2 on PlayStation. Goslin, a former Treyarch level designer, took to LinkedIn to express his disappointment, stating it is "hard to watch" as the companies make "massive windfalls" from legacy titles while the original developers receive no royalties.

The Black Ops 1 and 2 games reportedly sold 11.2 million copies combined in July, generating an estimated $435 million in revenue in a single month, according to Alinea Analytics. Despite being simple digital re-releases with no additional features, both titles quickly climbed to the top of the Circana U.S. Top 10 for weekly active users. Goslin expressed both pride in the games' success and frustration at the apparent lack of fairness in the situation.

As someone who worked on both Black Ops and Black Ops 2, Goslin poured his heart into creating the games and experienced the intense crunch period required to deliver a polished product. However, seeing the games still dominate charts in 2026 feels bittersweet, as the developers are left with nothing from the ongoing financial success.

Goslin argues that the wealth generated from these classic games should be shared with the original creators, similar to how royalties work in the book, movie, and music industries. While there is no indication that Microsoft will introduce a royalty payment system for video games, Goslin's post arrives at a timely moment, as AI-generated ports of classic games have become increasingly popular. Microsoft has even acknowledged this trend by launching the Xbox Labs project focused on AI ports.

Activision CEO Tyler Bahl recently commented on the success of the Black Ops ports, acknowledging the pent-up demand for nostalgic experiences and expressing the publisher's intention to utilize these learnings in future games. The Modern Warfare 4 title, concluding the rebooted Modern Warfare saga, is set to release on October 23.

With the success of Black Ops 1 and 2 on PlayStation, questions arise about the likelihood of Activision releasing ports of the classic Modern Warfare games ahead of the next mainline entry in the franchise.