It’s the ‘off-season’ in the Call of Duty esports scene, which means competitors worldwide are looking for something else to play. By way of an answer, the community seems to have simply reverted to playing older Call of Duty games – which isn’t an uncommon sight by any means. However, as time goes on, it seems like Call of Duty fans are becoming increasingly nostalgic, desperate to revert to what once was.

Recently, a petition surfaced again that has been open for some time now, and it pertains to ‘getting Call of Duty Black Ops 2 remastered’. At the time of writing, this petition has over 40,000 signatures – but it has stagnated over time. Regardless, it’s a perfect representation of the desire to go back to ‘the old days’. In this particular off-season, players have been soaking up the likes of Cold War, Black Ops 4, and some of the older ‘jetpack era’ Call of Duty games.

We Just Want to Go Back

Image Credit: Activision

As the old adage goes, ‘You never know what you’ve got until it’s gone.’

That’s something that’s ringing true for many Call of Duty players now, particularly those that have rebooted 2020’s Cold War in an effort to reclaim something that once existed. When Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War was the current game in the series, it was almost ridiculed, but now, fans are deciding that they were too harsh on the game that was in development for just a few months.

Of course, these feelings have emerged for the one simple reason that the community in general really doesn’t appreciate 2022’s Modern Warfare II. Now that the Call of Duty League 2023 season has wrapped up, they ‘don’t need to play it anymore’, and they’re moving back in time to recapture some semblance of happiness with the Call of Duty franchise. Coincidentally, they’re all dropping back to play faster-paced Call of Duty games – because that’s what everyone seems to love.

It’s why games like XDefiant are gaining ground so quickly – they’re faster, and by association, more attractive to modern first-person shooter-focused gamers.

But What Comes Next?

On Twitter, even the best Call of Duty players of all time have been calling out for remakes or remasters of older titles. For instance, Black Ops II is widely considered to be the best multiplayer Call of Duty of all time. It’s where the Call of Duty esports scene kicked off in earnest, and despite being more than ten years old, fans can’t stop looking back.

In a few weeks, there are high hopes that Activision will lift the lid on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III. It’s a chance for the developers to fix some of the ‘mistakes’ made with Modern Warfare II and hopefully bring some of these nostalgic players back into the fold. It’ll take a huge effort, though – despite Modern Warfare II being the fastest-selling Call of Duty game of all time, it did die off quite quickly.