Call Of Duty: Black Ops 2, Modern Warfare 3 see massive player spikes

The Call of Duty series has been one of the most popular franchises in video game history for the last two decades, and for good reason.

Not content with offering a high-octane single-player campaign, its multiplayer offerings have been the go-to multiplayer experience for fans across the world. Starting off with humble beginnings with the original Call of Duty in 2003 on PC, it has now evolved into a gigantic series that sees players in the masses from all corners of the globe compete in the likes of the free-to-play battle royale, Call of Duty: Warzone as well as the recent Modern Warfare II reboot.

Check out the Call of Duty: Black Ops II trailer below!

However for many fans, you just can't beat some classic Call of Duty, and it seems that the classic entries have seen a massive resurgence as of late. As reported by Pure Xbox, following a recent matchmaking update on Xbox, players have been returning in large numbers to revisit the likes of Modern Warfare and Black Ops.

I’ve just booted up the original two Black Ops games as well as the Modern Warfare trilogy and I can confirm that you’ll have no trouble getting into a competitive multiplayer match, which is fantastic to see. Unlike on PlayStation, you can pretty much play all classic Call of Duty games on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S, thanks to backwards compatibility.

At the time of writing, 2007’s Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare has over 3,300 players online on Xbox, while Modern Warfare 3 (2011) has a whopping 76,00 players. For some reason, the online player numbers weren't showing for me when I booted in Modern Warfare 2 (2009), but I was paired into a full lobby within seconds.

As for the two original Black Ops games, you should have no trouble finding a match on Xbox either. At the time of writing, while Call of Duty: Black Ops II (2012) has just over 3,300 players online, whereas Black Ops (2010) has over 127,000 players. However, we're not 100% sure whether the numbers for BO2 are a true representation or if it's the result of a glitch. Either way, the numers aren't too bad for a game over 13 years old. It will be interesting to see if these impressive numbers will maintain once the Call of Duty series eventually becomes available on Xbox Game Pass following Microsoft's acquistion of Activision Blizzard.

If you’re interested in playing some classic Call of Duty on Xbox, then you might be interested to know that much of the series is on digital sale via the Xbox Marketplace. For example, you can pick up the original Modern Warfare trilogy from £9.99/£12.49/$9.99/$14.99 USD each. While the two original Black Ops games can be picked up for £11.99/£12.49/$14.99 USD. The sale ends roughly two weeks from now, so act fast to avoid disappointment.