Gavin Goslin, an artist and level designer who worked at Treyarch Studios for over 15 years, has opened up about the bittersweet story behind the success of Call of Duty: Black Ops 1 and 2 Remasters. Although Goslin was happy to see BO1 and BO2 ports top the charts, he revealed in a LinkedIn post that it’s saddening to see the original creators of the two classic titles get nothing in return.
Former CoD Dev Opens Up About the Bittersweet Success of Black Ops 1 and 2 Remasters
Earlier this year, both the Call of Duty: Black Ops 1 and 2 remasters for PS4 and PS5 were leaked. Following the leak, Treyarch Studio officially announced the PlayStation ports of the classic CoD Black Ops games. Both remasters launched on PS4 and PS5 in July this year with Campaign, Multiplayer, and Zombies modes, priced at $39.99 each.
In addition, both the CoD BO1 and BO2 ports received a 50% PS Plus launch discount. According to Gavin Goslin, Call of Duty: Black Ops 1 and 2 ports generated a staggering $435 million (estimated) in a single month.
Without a doubt, both CoD legacy titles are money-makers for Activision and Microsoft, continuing to generate massive revenue from games made over a decade ago. And this is where the problem comes in. Gavin Goslin, who worked on both the Black Ops games, shed light on the problem of CoD creators being denied their fair share.
Gavin recounted how he and other devs made sacrifices and endured brutal crunch periods to develop those Black Ops games. Although Gavin is happy to see the old CoD games top the charts, he finds it difficult to watch executives at Activision and Microsoft continue to profit from their old work while the people who created these games receive nothing in return.
“As a developer who actually worked on both BO1 and BO2, seeing these charts is bittersweet. I poured my life into those games, spending countless, brutal hours in crunch alongside an incredibly talented team to make sure they were perfect. Seeing our blood, sweat, and tears still dominating the charts in 2026 is amazing, but it’s hard to watch the suits rake in giant financial windfalls from our old code while the actual creators don’t see a dime of it,” Goslin said.
Gavin believes that profits from re-releases of the classic games must be shared with the respective game creators. This is absolutely crucial at a time when video game developers are facing massive layoffs: “If legacy games are going to print money for publishers in 2026, legacy rewards and protections need to exist for the developers who survived the crunch to build them.”
The former CoD developer has pointed out a fundamental flaw in the video game industry, one that resonates with all game developers. Gavin only aims to keep pushing for fair compensation and better sustainability in the industry.
Related Articles