Classic Call of Duty fans are flooding back to Xbox 360 following surprise server revival

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Call of Duty Black Ops 1, 2, and Modern Warfare 3 have all seen a significant boost in player count

Call of Duty Black Ops 2
(Image credit: Activision)

It may have been over 10 years since Call of Duty Black Ops 1, 2, and Modern Warfare 3 released, but all three have suddenly seen a huge increase in players after the classic shooters got their servers revived over the weekend. 

As reported by several Call of Duty fans over on Twitter, the three classic Activision titles have had their servers put back online - so now fans of the classic Xbox 360-era titles have flocked back to the games in the thousands. As highlighted by Idle Sloth over on Twitter, it looks like Black Ops 1 has seen the biggest increase in players as (according to one player) it managed to accumulate 123,952 players online at one time.  

It's not just Black Ops 1 that's been getting a lot of attention either, as according to the Twitter user, Black Ops 2 has managed to bring in around 11,514 players and Modern Warfare 3 approximately 79,619 players. Lots of different players are reporting lots of different numbers, but one thing is for certain - Call of Duty fans are excited to revisit the games they grew up playing. 

It's not exactly clear why Activision and the Call of Duty games' various developers decided to reactivate the servers. One theory is that it could be linked to the Federal Trade Commission losing its bid to block the merger - leaving Microsoft free to acquire Activision at least in the US. Fans are hoping that this next step in the process will lead to many classic Call of Duty titles heading to Xbox Game Pass, and therefore needing their servers up and running again. 

On the flip side, we're getting a new Call of Duty game before the end of 2023. As leaked by a federal judge during the FTC and Microsoft hearing, we should expect the next installment of Activision's FPS series around early November. This just so happens to match up with what Summer Games Fest host Geoff Keighley said a couple of months ago when he revealed that we're getting a new Call of Duty game "this Fall".

In case you missed it, Sony and Microsoft have signed a "binding agreement" to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation consoles for at least the next 10 years. 

Hope Bellingham
Hope Bellingham
News Writer

After studying Film Studies and Creative Writing at university, I was lucky enough to land a job as an intern at Player Two PR where I helped to release a number of indie titles. I then got even luckier when I became a Trainee News Writer at GamesRadar+ before being promoted to a fully-fledged News Writer after a year and a half of training.  My expertise lies in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, cozy indies, and The Last of Us, but especially in the Kingdom Hearts series. I'm also known to write about the odd Korean drama for the Entertainment team every now and then.