Bonus! Ranking of Black Ops (Patreon)

Check out this message that got posted on the Call of Duty blog last night:

https://www.callofduty.com/blog/2025/12/call-of-duty-message-from-the-team

It's kind of insane for them to say all this a little less than a month after the release of Black Ops 7 and something like a week after the start of their first "season." Like they don't come right out and apologize, but it sure does read like at least half of an apology for... well, I don't know what, exactly. It just has the sort of vague feeling of "we know people aren't into the game and the numbers are reflecting that" but without coming right out and saying what, exactly, the problem is.

When we look at the various reporting around the game's apparently lackluster retail sales, combine that with them not sending out the typical "WE SMASHED ALL RECORDS" press release that they seem to always send after the first weekend, and... well, the game itself, it's become clear that something's wrong. I've been feeling like the game has been off for the last week or so. Matches don't fill up before starting, like there aren't enough players searching to fill a game. I've been matching into games that are already in progress way more often, seeming to imply that more matches are starting with open slots or players are just quitting mid-match. All that's anecdotal, but comparing it to previous years and how the game typically works, every part of it feels like signs of a problem. The message from the team really just confirms that, I think.

Anyway, let's talk about that a bit and, as a part of that, I found myself quickly ranking all of the games in the Black Ops series. I also played a bit of the Endgame mode and fought a big dinosaur, that video will be going up shortly after this.