Black Ops 1 & 2 PS5 Ports Hit With Price Shock Over DLC Costs
The long-awaited PlayStation 5 releases of Call of Duty: Black Ops 1 and Black Ops 2 finally landed earlier this week, but the reaction has been rough. For many players, “not going well” barely covers it.
Late last month, a listing on the Xbox storefront indicated the combined price for both ports could reach $80, which felt especially steep for games that are well past their prime by most standards. That figure has since been confirmed: Black Ops 1 and Black Ops 2 are each priced at $40.
Call Of Duty: Black Ops 1 And 2 Are Making You Pay For The DLC Again
Pricing would be bad enough on its own, but the bigger sticking point is the DLC situation. Unlike many older-game ports, these versions do not include the original downloadable content. That means anyone who wants the post-launch map packs will be required to buy them again.
Each title’s Season Pass bundles the DLC maps, but it’s far from cheap at $30 if you miss the promotion for PlayStation Plus members. Without the Season Pass, those maps won’t be available at all, and you won’t be able to queue up with other players who do have access. The whole setup has drawn a lot of criticism as outdated and aggressively monetized.
There’s also a broader claim floating around that the next PlayStation generation, PlayStation 6, will be tailored toward “hardcore gamers” who are willing to spend more.
To make matters worse, even players who purchased the Season Pass for those map packs years ago aren’t getting grandfathered in. They still have to buy the Season Pass again, effectively requiring DLC payment twice for the same game content.
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When you add everything together, the total reaches $140 for two releases that are nearly 15 years old. That’s a tough pill to swallow, and it’s being cited as another example of why moving away from physical media is viewed by some as anti-consumer. If you just want to play Black Ops, the suggested workaround is to pick up an Xbox and buy an Xbox 360 copy for £3 through online retailers.
