Ex-Call of Duty Developer Says Activision Executives Are "Raking It In" From Black Ops Remasters

A former long-time Call of Duty developer has publicly criticized Activision's executives for profiting from the re-release of older games, including Black Ops and Black Ops II. The developer argues that the people who built those titles are not the ones seeing the money come back in.

The developer, who says they survived the crunch periods that came with the franchise, described the original teams as having put in "blood, sweat, and tears" to make the games. In their view, those staff members have gained nothing from remasters and re-releases, while leadership is "raking it in" from sales.

The complaint fits a wider debate across the games industry about how revenue from catalog titles is shared. Remasters and bundles are comparatively cheap to produce and can keep earning long after launch, yet developers who worked on the originals often have no royalty, bonus or other stake tied to that income.

The available material does not include a response from Activision, so it is not clear whether the company has addressed the claims. Readers who want the full remarks and their context should look at the original report.