Activision has temporarily disabled certain playlists in the Call of Duty: Black Ops PS4 and PS5 port as it investigates widespread exploitation in multiplayer lobbies. The disruption affects players attempting to engage with the recently released remasters of the original Black Ops titles, where exploits are making the game largely unplayable.
The PS4 and PS5 ports of the first two Black Ops games launched last week, allowing fans to revisit the classic entries. Despite initial enthusiasm, reports quickly emerged that multiplayer sessions were being compromised by players using exploit techniques. Notably, some lobbies have been flooded with users repeatedly self-inflicting grenade kills upon spawn and then leaving the game, instantly maxing out their ranks through this exploit.
Exploit Causes Lobbies to Become Unplayable
The exploit centres on the ability to host modded lobbies in Black Ops 1. Players take advantage by killing themselves immediately after spawn, exiting, and in doing so rapidly advancing to the maximum rank. This behaviour encourages others to join the lobbies for similar exploits, leading to repeated disruptions. Entire enemy teams sometimes quit, resulting in matches being won by default forfeits. Several players have described the experience as unplayable, with lobbies plagued by continuous self-kills and quitting.
Community reactions highlight frustration that the ports, which saw little to no major updates at launch, have been so severely impacted by these exploits. Some players have pointed out the irony that the wider Call of Duty community had long requested re-releases of earlier games, only for some to rapidly exploit these versions once available.
Implications for Call of Duty Fans on PlayStation
The issues are currently specific to the PS4 and PS5 ports, with Activision actively reviewing the situation by disabling affected playlists as a stopgap measure. Server and hit registration problems have also been reported, but the exploit-driven account progression has been the most disruptive. While some lobbies remain playable, the prevalence of the exploit undermines the overall multiplayer experience.
The ongoing investigation by Activision suggests no immediate fix, and the minimal updates included in the ports raise questions about how quickly the exploit problem can be resolved. If a significant portion of the player base reaches the max rank through exploits, it remains unclear whether this will stem the issue or deter continued play. No announcements have been made regarding an official patch or timeline for restoring full playlist availability.
This situation is particularly relevant for PlayStation players who invested in the Black Ops ports hoping for a clean multiplayer experience. With Xbox and Nintendo platforms not involved in this release, the problems are isolated to PS4 and PS5 owners.
For now, consumers will need to monitor official Activision channels for updates on the status of affected playlists and any upcoming measures to address exploit activity on the PS4 and PS5 Black Ops ports.
