Black Ops and Black Ops 2 are getting native PlayStation ports next month.
Two of Call of Duty’s most celebrated titles are heading to PlayStation next month, but the announcement has left many Xbox and PC players feeling overlooked rather than excited.
Treyarch, the Call of Duty developer operating under Microsoft and Activision, confirmed on Wednesday that both Call of Duty: Black Ops (2010) and Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 (2012) will be ported to PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 in July. Iron Galaxy Studios, a developer well known for its porting expertise, is handling the technical work to bring both games natively to Sony’s modern hardware.
The move makes sense from an access standpoint. PS4 and PS5 consoles are not backwards compatible with PS3 software, which means PlayStation players have until now only been able to experience these games through PlayStation Plus Premium streaming not as native installs. The upcoming ports will change that entirely.
A welcome addition for PlayStation, but a bitter pill for others
For PlayStation players, this is genuinely good news. Two of the most popular entries in the entire Call of Duty franchise will be fully playable on current hardware in just a matter of weeks. That said, questions remain about whether PS3 owners particularly those with digital copies will be able to access the ports at no additional cost or carry over any saved progress. Neither Treyarch nor Iron Galaxy has provided clarity on either point.
It is also presumed, though not confirmed, that the ports will connect to the games’ existing online server infrastructure rather than launching on new dedicated servers.
Xbox and PC players say they’ve been waiting years for basic fixes
What has turned an otherwise positive announcement into a controversy is the silence surrounding the state of these games on Xbox and PC, where a range of serious, unresolved problems have been documented by players for years.
Both Black Ops 1 and Black Ops 2, when played through Xbox Backwards Compatibility, are reportedly capped at 720p resolution a significant limitation for a feature that Microsoft has long promoted as a flagship benefit of owning an Xbox console. Beyond the visual shortcomings, both games on Xbox and PC have been heavily impacted by hacker activity across their online multiplayer modes, with the problem persisting without meaningful intervention.
Adding to that frustration, neither title has been added to Xbox Game Pass in the more than two and a half years since Microsoft completed its $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard in 2023. Downloadable content for both games also continues to be sold separately rather than being bundled with the base games.
The broader conversation about Xbox’s priorities
The timing of the announcement has reignited a wider and increasingly pointed discussion about how Microsoft manages its relationship with Xbox players compared to those on competing platforms. Many fans have taken to social media to express their dissatisfaction, arguing that the decision to move forward with PlayStation ports without simultaneously announcing improvements for existing Xbox and PC versions reflects a troubling set of priorities for a platform holder.
The frustration is not entirely new. Xbox players have raised similar concerns in recent years over game releases, service changes, and the pace at which older titles are made available on Game Pass. But the Black Ops announcement has added fresh fuel to that ongoing debate.
At minimum, many players and observers believe Microsoft, Treyarch, and Iron Galaxy should commit to bringing the Xbox and PC versions of both games up to the same standard as the incoming PlayStation ports. Whether that means resolving the resolution cap, addressing the hacker problem, bundling DLC, or adding both titles to Game Pass ideally all of the above the expectation is clear.
Whether any of those updates will be announced ahead of or alongside the July PlayStation launch remains to be seen.