Activision released ports of Call of Duty: Black Ops and Black Ops 2 for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 on July 9. Players quickly encountered widespread cheating that disrupted matches. Activision responded by disabling select playlists.
The ports cost $40 each and lack paid DLC maps or quality-of-life updates. They arrived after leaks and prior confirmation from Activision. Xbox players had accessed the titles through backward compatibility for years, but PlayStation owners could not until now.
Cheaters modified save data to reach max prestige or used exploits in modes such as Domination. Some players received negative experience points that locked accounts at negative level one and blocked matchmaking. Clips shared on social media showed matches pausing repeatedly as hosts changed.
On July 13 Activision confirmed it had disabled affected playlists while investigating the issues. The problems mirror long-standing exploits on the original PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions that remain unresolved.