GTA 6 usurped as best-selling game by the revival of 15-year-old shooters

Having been delayed and delayed again, Grand Theft Auto VI set its sights on 2026 to conquer, and has set a marker right for the busiest time of the year. Bold.

Yet it's hit like a tidal wave, as Rockstar's announcement has forced many competitor titles to rethink their strategies and move to a new release window, avoiding being gobbled up by what could be the greatest -and certainly the most expensive - game of all time.

One of those franchises that doesn't have any wiggle room to avoid GTA 6, though, is Call of Duty, as its November release window for another annual instalment comes just ahead of Rockstar's lawless RPG.

But CoD fans might not need to fear for the success of Modern Warfare 4, as 15-year-old franchise games are kicking GTA 6 off the best-selling and trending lists on PlayStation, showing that the franchise still has the pulling power to survive.

Age-old Call of Duty knocks GTA 6 off its throne

Back in 2013, gamers in their teens were reeling from Call of Duty's best game ever, Black Ops 2, and moving on towards Los Santos in GTA V.

Fast forward a generation, and somehow history is repeating itself.

Thanks to fresh ports for Black Ops 1 and 2 for PlayStation, the old CoD titles are back to their best, even surpassing the popularity of the current title in Black Ops 7, to the point where the PS5 ports have more active players than the current-gen title does across all platforms.

With players flocking to relive their childhood, the games were given a 1080p makeover and have proven to be just as great as we remember, aside from the omission of Theatre Mode to watch those cross-map tomahawks.

According to CharlieIntel, both Black Ops 1 and Black Ops 2 have proved so popular that they have overtaken GTA VI as the biggest-trending games on PlayStation, despite a whopping $80 charge for both decade-old titles. They have also knocked Fortnite and EA FC 27 off the most popular games on the PlayStation Store.

The hidden metrics of success for this are reportedly measured by increased popularity in a small time frame, which makes it quite surprising that GTA VI has been usurped, given that pre-orders only launched last week.

Read Next: The Best Call of Duty Games Worth Playing Before Modern Warfare 4

Black Ops 1 and 2 PlayStation ports revive golden era of shooters

Both of the Black Ops PlayStation ports have proven to be spectacular revivals of the golden era of first-person shooters, to the point where all of the old quirks have been carried forward.

Aside from the questionable and unmoderated emblem editor, which could have been left in the past, players have already been spotted getting used to the off-centre quickscoping mechanics, boosting with tactical insertions, marvelling in the madeness of the Peacekeeper and MSMC, and completing Easter eggs in the iconic Zombies maps like Tranzit and Die Rise.

The genius ports almost come as a missed opportunity for Microsoft too, as they could have bolstered the lacklustre performance of the games in the last two years, which have ultimately cost Xbox hundreds of millions by being added to Game Pass.

It's a bittersweet moment knowing that CoD's missed sales have probably led to the Xbox layoffs, but there's no denying that these games could help turn things around, even opening the door to full remastered versions.

Whether the success of the old-school Black Ops titles can carry enough favour for the franchise to make Modern Warfare 4 a success in the wake of Grand Theft Auto's next release is yet to be seen.

But for now at least, we can enjoy being a teen again.