Millions of people are still playing Call of Duty: Black Ops 2

In Activision's latest earnings call, the publisher revealed a growth in the number of people playing Call of Duty: Black Ops 2.

According to the publisher, the first-person shooter, which released all the way back in 2012 on last-gen systems, grew quarter-over-quarter and now has nearly 12 million monthly active users. Activision admits that's an "unprecedented level for a game that is three years old and only available on old-generation consoles."

While the uptick in active players can likely be attributed to the upcoming release of Black Ops 3, it's still pretty amazing that a last-gen game is commanding that amount of attention from gamers.

Activision also revealed that the Call of Duty franchise's year-to-date non-GAAP revenues increased by a double-digit percentage year-over-year due to "strong sales" of Black Ops, Black Ops 2, and Advanced Warfare, "both for full game and Supply Drops."

With that sort of command, it's no wonder Activision is hesitant to completely ditch last-gen systems. Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 will once again appear on both current- and last-gen consoles; however, the campaign will only be playable on Xbox One, PS4, and PC. And even though competitive multiplayer and Zombies mode will be supported on last-gen systems, Black Ops 3's Season Pass and "The Giant" Zombies bonus map will not be available on Xbox 360 (and presumably PS3).