Halo remake isn't doing so hot on PS5 compared to Black Ops ports
Overview & Key Takeaways
Call of Duty: Black Ops and Black Ops 2 recently came to the PS4 and PS5, where they're dramatically outselling Halo: Campaign Evolved.
Strange things are happening in the world of video game sales figures. After decades of Xbox exclusivity, Halo finally made the jump to PlayStation with the Halo: Combat Evolved remake, Halo: Campaign Evolved. But despite being a crossover that would have had gamers in 2007 foaming at the mouth, it seems modern PlayStation 5 players didn’t care very much.
According to data from Alinea Analytics, Campaign Evolved only sold around 351,000 copies on PlayStation in July. It was outpaced by Palworld, Minecraft, Grand Theft Auto 5, several EA Sports games, and Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag Rescynced. Halo: Campaign Evolved sold around 212,000 on Steam and around 900,000 on Xbox (console and PC), based on Alinea Analytics' figures. Considering Halo 3 sold 14.5 million on a single console, those PS5 numbers do not seem great. Campaign Evolved has received good reviews for its updates and new additions, particularly its all-new missions, but this doesn’t seem to have resulted in enthusiasm among PlayStation fans. The lack of PvP is probably at least part of the problem.
While Microsoft was likely hoping for a bigger haul from its legacy series finally landing on a rival console, a lower-risk bet paid off instead. Microsoft and Activision-Blizzard recently released Call of Duty: Black Ops and Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5. The games are exceeding expectations and have sold a combined 11 million copies at $39.99 each (or $19.99 for PlayStation Plus subscribers) for an estimated $435 million, based on Alinea's data.
Iron Galaxy handled the ports of the 2010 and 2012 Call of Duty games, which, despite featuring no updates or changes from the original versions, have sold 3 million and 8.2 million, respectively. The first two Black Ops games were previously only available on the PS3 for PlayStation consoles. The Xbox 360 version is backward compatible with modern Xbox hardware.
The overwhelming response to these seemingly minimal-effort ports shows the continued demand for Call of Duty's multiplayer offerings, while the tepid response to the Halo remake signals the series’ waning appeal following Bungie's breakup with Microsoft after Halo: Reach. It turns out a silent majority of players continue to obsess over multiplayer shooters and sports games while ignoring almost everything else, even the Master Chief.
