Three-Year-Old Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 Multiplayer Is More Popular Than Newer Games

Aside from being in the news for acquiring Candy Crush maker King, Activision also announced its financial earnings report for the third quarter of 2015. It makes for interesting reading. For one, the three-year-old Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 has nearly 12 million monthly active users. To put that into perspective, that's double the combined player base of both Battlefield: Hardline and Battlefield 4. Staggering for a game that's just on the PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360, and not even on the PS4 and Xbox One.

"Momentum ahead of launch has been strong and engagement for Call of Duty: Black Ops II grew quarter-over-quarter again to nearly 12 million MAUs, an unprecedented level for a game that is three years old and only available on old-generation consoles," the report states.

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Furthermore, the company states that Call of Duty has recorded double digit revenue due to high sales of its back catalogue (older games like Call of Duty: Black Ops, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, and Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare) and their related microtransactions known as Supply Drops. Also, last year's Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare continues to be its highest selling game on the PS4 and Xbox One.

"Activision Publishing's Call of Duty franchise year-to-date non-GAAP revenues increased by a double-digit percentage year-over-year due to strong catalog sales of Call of Duty: Black Ops, Call of Duty: Black Ops II, and Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, both for full game and Supply Drops. Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare remains the No. 1 game on next-generation consoles life-to-date as it has been since its launch a year ago."