The recently released Call of Duty: Black Ops and Call of Duty: Black Ops II ports for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 are already facing a major hacking problem.
Just days after launch, players began reporting hacked multiplayer lobbies that exploit the game’s XP system, allowing cheaters to reach max prestige within only a handful of matches.
The issue has drawn widespread attention across the Call of Duty community, prompting developer Iron Galaxy to release the first phase of a server-side fix while promising additional updates in the coming weeks.
XP exploit lets players reach max prestige within minutes
The exploit works by transferring PlayStation save data to a PC, modifying specific files, and reuploading them to create hacked multiplayer lobbies.
Once inside these matches, players repeatedly eliminate themselves with grenades to earn massive amounts of XP, allowing them to unlock max prestige at an unusually fast pace instead of progressing normally.
The exploit has also created an even more serious issue for legitimate players. Some users report that defeating players who obtained illegitimate XP can trigger a massive XP loss, causing their own rank to fall below Level 1 and preventing them from accessing multiplayer progression.
Following player reports, the official Call of Duty Updates account confirmed that the development team has already implemented the first phase of a fix targeting the XP exploit.
According to the statement, playlists have received a server-side update, and players affected by negative XP have had their accounts restored to Level 20, allowing them to continue playing. The developers also confirmed that
“additional mitigations will continue to roll out in future updates,”
signaling that more anti-cheat measures are planned.
Beyond the hacking issue, players have also reported controller input lag, performance problems on PS5, and launch-day matchmaking limitations that initially prevented PS4 and PS5 users from joining each other’s lobbies. Cross-generation multiplayer has since been enabled.
The PlayStation ports were welcomed by longtime fans because they finally brought Black Ops 1 and Black Ops II to modern PlayStation hardware without requiring a PS3. However, the emergence of hacked lobbies within days of release has overshadowed that excitement.
Iron Galaxy’s rapid response suggests the studio is prioritizing fixes, but many players will be watching closely to see whether future updates can restore a fair multiplayer experience.
