The PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 ports of Call of Duty: Black Ops and Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 have only been available for a few days, yet hacked lobbies have already become a major problem. An old XP exploit has returned, allowing cheaters to reach max prestige within minutes while disrupting progression for legitimate players.
Instead of celebrating the return of two of Call of Duty’s most popular multiplayer titles, many players are dealing with hackers and broken progression.
Hackers Waste No Time
It didn’t take long for the little brats to show up.
Rather than learning how to play the game, these players are abusing exploits to gain an unfair advantage. Whether they’re actually kids or simply acting like them, the result is the same: public matches become less enjoyable for everyone who wants to play fairly.
Sadly, this has become a familiar story whenever older Call of Duty titles receive renewed attention.
How the XP Exploit Works
According to community reports, the exploit involves transferring a PlayStation 4 save file to a PC, editing the save’s default text, and uploading it back to the console.
Once inside an affected lobby, players repeatedly eliminate themselves with grenades to trigger massive XP gains. Within only a few matches, hackers can reach max prestige without earning it through normal gameplay.
Legitimate Players Are Being Punished
The exploit doesn’t just reward hackers.
Players who eliminate hacked accounts can receive massive XP penalties instead. Some victims reported losing so much XP that their accounts dropped below level one, temporarily locking them out of multiplayer.
Instead of rewarding fair play, the exploit ends up punishing legitimate players who simply joined a public match.
Iron Galaxy Responds
Developer Iron Galaxy has already deployed the first phase of a server-side fix.
The update restores players affected by negative XP to level 20 and introduces changes designed to reduce the exploit’s impact. The studio also confirmed that more server-side mitigations will arrive in future updates.
While the response is welcome, the exploit has already damaged the multiplayer experience during the game’s launch week.
Other Problems Continue
The XP exploit is only one of several issues affecting the PlayStation ports.
Players continue to report controller input lag and general performance problems. Cross-generation multiplayer also arrived after launch, as PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 owners were initially unable to join the same lobbies.
Iron Galaxy has addressed several launch issues already, but there is still work to do before these ports deliver the polished experience many fans expected.
A Disappointing Start
Classic Call of Duty games have always attracted hackers, but seeing exploits return within days of launch is frustrating.
Players wanted to revisit two legendary multiplayer games. Instead, they found hacked lobbies filled with people who would rather exploit the system than improve their skills. Hopefully, the upcoming fixes arrive quickly so legitimate players can enjoy the experience without having to deal with these childish antics.
