Earlier today, Xbox boss Phil Spencer tweeted that “Today is going to be a fun day.” Naturally, that sent many gamers into speculation mode as to what the cryptic message could mean. Xbox has now provided an answer to the predictions: Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 is going backward compatible on Xbox One.
While many gamers were hoping the big news would center on Project Scorpio, there are undoubtedly many thousands of Xbox One gamers who are happy with the Black Ops 2 backward compatibility announcement. After all, Black Ops 2 was the most requested backward compatible title for the better part of the last year.
The Black Ops 2 backward compatible reveal isn’t too surprising to many, though, since the game hit the Spring Sale today and was one of the few titles not available via backward compatibility. It seems fitting that the announcement would go live just as the sale kicked off.
Many gamers were losing hope that Black Ops 2 would make it to backward compatibility after Spencer shared a couple months ago that the game wasn’t headed to backward compatibility. At the time, the head of Xbox shard his desire to see the game come to Xbox One, but had to confirm for gamers that it hadn’t yet been approved.
Fortunately, it seems Activision has finally approved the title for the Xbox One service. And with the game discounted for the Spring Sale, Activision will likely see a small bump in sales thanks to the news. This is good for the publisher considering the latest Call of Duty title, Infinite Warfare, has followed the trend set by its predecessors of fewer sales than the year before its release.
Now that Black Ops 2 has been added to the list of backward compatible games, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare has been remastered, that leaves Modern Warfare 2 and 3 unavailable on Xbox One. It’s possible Activision is looking to remaster one or both of those games and include them in bundles with upcoming Call of Duty game, much like it did with Infinite Warfare. It seems that move helped bump up sales of Infinite Warfare, with many gamers purchasing the bundle just for Modern Warfare Remastered.
Rumors suggest Call of Duty’s next game will return to World War II. With this being the case, it will be interesting to see how gamers react to the newest Call of Duty title, and if Activision will release a Modern Warfare sequel remaster alongside it.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 is available now as a backward compatible title on Xbox One.