Activision disables playlists as Black Ops port is hit by exploiters

Activision has disabled select playlists in the Call of Duty: Black Ops port while it investigates exploit reports that are flooding PS4 and PS5 lobbies. Players are calling matches unplayable, with cheaters and high-prestige accounts swarming normal queues instead of letting the re-release feel like a clean return to an old favorite.

The problem looks bigger than a simple balance issue. Community posts describe save file manipulation, and one search-result snippet says players could hit max rank by blowing themselves up immediately, which helps explain why Activision moved beyond warnings and started removing playlists. When a publisher pulls modes from rotation, it usually means the abuse is affecting match flow, progression, or both, not just giving a few players an annoying edge.

The ports themselves make the situation more sensitive because Black Ops 1 and Black Ops 2 were brought to PS4 and PS5 with crossplay between the two consoles. That means any exploit that slips into the build can spread quickly across the same matchmaking pool, turning one bad lobby into a broader trust problem for the whole release. Tech experts had already called the PS5 release a “deeply odd state of affairs” and a “low-effort” port, and a modder who dug into the files warned, “They didn’t bother changing the encryption on the files.”

That file-level concern is what makes this feel like more than routine cheating. If the encryption, validation, or save handling is weak, exploiters do not need a clever loadout or a broken weapon to cause damage. They can use the port itself against players, which is why ordinary matches now come with uncertainty over which playlists are safe and whether progression can be trusted while the investigation continues.

For now, the practical move is to stay away from any affected playlist that is still live and watch for further playlist changes or hotfixes from Activision. A re-release built for nostalgia can survive rough balancing, but it is much harder to recover when players open the game and find lobbies already overrun.