The PlayStation return of Call of Duty: Black Ops and Black Ops 2 has become one of 2026’s biggest gaming stories. For Gavin Goslin, a former Treyarch developer who helped create both games, their commercial success is an achievement mixed with serious frustration.
Activision brought the 2010 original and its 2012 sequel to PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 in July. Each game cost $40, and neither release included paid downloadable content. Despite that limited package, players responded strongly to the older, faster-paced style of Call of Duty.
Industry tracking placed the two releases among two of the most played games of the year. Their early performance also suggests that both could finish among 2026’s best-selling games.
Goslin spent 15 years at Treyarch as a level designer and artist. He has now shared his thoughts on the situation on LinkedIn.
Why the Black Ops ports matter
In his comments, Goslin argued that the response reveals strong demand for tightly designed, high-quality games that can be played without the scale and complexity often associated with modern releases.
He also highlighted the financial value of older software. Although the PlayStation versions were straightforward $40 digital re-releases without new features, both entered the Circana US weekly active-user Top 10 soon after launch. In practical terms, work completed more than a decade ago is still generating substantial revenue for Activision and Microsoft.
That renewed interest has also put the wider question of game preservation and retro releases in the spotlight. Players exploring classic console experiences may find useful context in RETROCADE’s arcade news and editorial coverage.
A success Goslin describes as bittersweet
Goslin said the chart performance is difficult to view simply as good news. He and the Treyarch team invested what he described as countless, punishing hours in crunch to finish the games to a high standard.
Seeing that work remain popular in 2026 is rewarding, but Goslin objected to the contrast between the financial returns received by executives and the lack of ongoing compensation for the people who built the games. His criticism is that senior figures can receive large bonuses from the continuing success of established titles, while former developers receive no comparable share.
The issue connects with a broader weakness in the games business: residual payments are not a standard part of the industry. Unlike some film and television arrangements, developers generally do not receive continuing payments every so often if people keep buying their titles, nor do they typically benefit from union-managed funds as in Hollywood.
Should legacy revenue reach the original developers?
Goslin’s proposed solution is retroactive revenue sharing. In his view, continuing income from older games should create continuing rewards for the developers who made them, particularly those who endured the production pressure required to ship them.
The debate is relevant well beyond Black Ops. As publishers revisit established franchises and players return to older games, the commercial life of a title can extend for years after its original development team has moved on. That makes the way studios recognise past creative work an increasingly important part of the arcade and gaming industry conversation.
For readers interested in bringing classic gameplay into the home, RETROCADE’s arcade machines, compact bartop cabinets and arcade machine buying guide offer practical starting points.
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