Black Ops 1 & 2 PS5 Ports: The Good, The Bad, and The Hackers
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If you grew up running lobbies in Black Ops 1 and 2, you probably felt that itch when Activision shadow-dropped PS4 and PS5 ports of both games back on July 9th. You weren't alone. Black Ops 2 was the #1 best-selling game in the entire US for July 2026, and Black Ops 1 landed at #5. Fourteen-year-old games outselling almost everything on the market. That tells you everything about how hungry people are for the classics.
But here's the thing — and this is where we earn our keep — these ports are not the triumphant return you might be hoping for. Let's break it down.
Iron Galaxy Studios handled the ports, and "handled" is doing some heavy lifting here. These are essentially the PS3 versions running on modern hardware. $40 each. No DLC maps included. No real quality-of-life improvements. No visual overhaul. You're paying $40 for the convenience of not dusting off your PS3. That's the deal.
For the campaign-only crowd, honestly? It's fine. The Black Ops 1 campaign is still one of the best in the franchise, and BO2's branching storyline holds up. If that's all you're after, you'll get your money's worth — just maybe wait for a sale.
This is where things went sideways fast. Within days of launch, hackers and cheaters flooded both games. We're not talking about the occasional wallhacker you'd run into back in the day. We're talking full-blown lobby manipulation.
In Black Ops 1, modders figured out that Iron Galaxy didn't even bother changing the save file encryption from the PS3 version. The same exploits that existed on PS3 work on these "new" ports. Modded lobbies, instant max prestige, the whole nine yards. Players were calling the game "unplayable."
Black Ops 2 had it even worse. A hacker going by "C Isn't Sharp" was running around lobbies resetting player accounts, forcing everyone into a non-existent "Prestige 16" that effectively bricked their progression. People were warning each other to immediately close the game if they saw this person in their lobby.
On top of all that, multiplayer launched with peer-to-peer connections only — no dedicated servers. In 2026. For a $40 port. Let that sink in.
Credit where it's due: Activision and Iron Galaxy haven't completely abandoned these ports. Several patches have rolled out addressing stability, security, and controls. And the big one — Black Ops 2 finally got dedicated servers in a recent update. Fans are thrilled about that, and rightfully so. It's the kind of thing that should've been there day one, but better late than never.
The player count has also hit some major milestones, which means finding matches isn't an issue. The community clearly wants these games alive.
Look, there's a reason these games sold like crazy. Black Ops 1 and 2 are legitimately great shooters from an era when Call of Duty was at its peak. The campaigns hold up, Zombies is still a blast with friends, and the multiplayer — when it works — scratches an itch that modern CoD just doesn't.
But $40 for what amounts to a barely-touched PS3 game with a rocky multiplayer launch? That's a tough sell. If you're a die-hard who just wants to relive the glory days, the dedicated servers update for BO2 makes now a better time to jump in than launch. If you're on the fence, wait for a price drop.
It's a classic Activision move — they know the demand is there, so they put in the bare minimum effort and charge a premium for nostalgia. The games themselves are still great. The ports? They're getting there. Slowly.
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