Activision has taken initial steps to address widespread cheating in the recently released Black Ops 1 and 2 ports on PlayStation 4 and 5. The developer disabled affected playlists and applied a server-side fix after players reported frequent encounters with hackers. More updates are promised.
The ports quickly rose to the top of the PS Store charts despite limited features and high prices. However, this popularity drew hackers who exploited old vulnerabilities from the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions.
Hackers reached max levels instantly, demoted other players below level one, and gained unfair advantages such as seeing through walls. Playlists including Ground War and Domination were hit hardest, forcing Activision to disable them on Monday.
The playlists returned on Tuesday as the first phase of a fix. Activision applied a server-side update that raised all affected players to level 20 and said further changes are coming.
The issues stem from peer-to-peer matchmaking and modified PS4 save files that transfer across generations. Players have mixed reactions, with some calling for a full progress reset while others welcome any response.