Treyarch has officially confirmed that Call of Duty: Black Ops and Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 are getting native PlayStation ports this July, bringing two of the most beloved entries in the franchise to modern PlayStation hardware for the first time in over a decade.
Treyarch made the announcement via X, confirming that both games are being ported to PlayStation with Iron Galaxy Studios handling the development work. In a follow-up post, Treyarch clarified that the ports include Campaign, Multiplayer, and Zombies, covering the full original experience from both titles.
Iron Galaxy is a well-regarded support studio with a solid porting resume. The team has previously handled ports for Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4, Fallout 76, Skyrim, and both The Last of Us and Uncharted on PC. The studio brings real experience to the project, which is reassuring for fans who have been waiting a long time for a playable version on modern PlayStation consoles.
These are ports, not remasters. Treyarch was clear with its wording, and players should not expect major visual overhauls or gameplay changes.
Why PS4 and PS5 Players Have Waited 13 Years for This Black Ops Port
PS4 and PS5 are not backward compatible with PS3 games, which means both Black Ops and Black Ops 2 have been locked out of modern PlayStation hardware since the PS3 era. The only way PlayStation owners could access these games was through PlayStation Plus Premium game streaming, which is far from ideal.
Black Ops launched in 2010 and Black Ops 2 followed in 2012. Both games were originally released on PS3, Xbox 360, and PC. Xbox players gained access to native backward-compatible versions on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S through the Xbox Backwards Compatibility Program starting in 2016. PlayStation players had no equivalent option.
These July ports change that, giving PS4 and PS5 owners their first chance to run either game natively on current hardware.
What We Still Don’t Know About the Black Ops 1 and 2 PS4 PS5 Port
Several important details are still unconfirmed. Treyarch has not clarified whether PS3 owners will receive a discount, a free upgrade path, or any way to transfer existing save data to the new versions. This may depend on whether players hold a digital copy of the original game.
Pricing is also a mystery. With the Xbox 360 digital version of Black Ops still listed at $40 in 2026, concerns about port pricing are legitimate. Activision has not addressed this yet.
Cross-play support between PlayStation and existing Xbox or PC versions has not been confirmed. The ports are currently expected to connect to the existing server network rather than run on fresh dedicated servers, though even that has not been officially verified.
The exact platform breakdown is slightly unclear too. Treyarch announced “PlayStation” as the destination without specifying PS4 and PS5 separately, though earlier PlayStation Game Size data pointed to both platforms being in scope. Since PS5 supports PS4 games through backward compatibility, both consoles should have access regardless.
Xbox and PC Players Are Frustrated
The announcement landed poorly with a section of the existing player base. Xbox and PC players have long dealt with issues on their versions of both games: the backward-compatible Xbox builds run at 720p with no resolution improvements, and both games across all existing platforms have struggled with hacker-infested servers for years.
The fact that Iron Galaxy is building fresh PlayStation ports while existing Xbox and PC versions remain unaddressed has fueled real frustration online. Players are also pointing out that neither game is available on Xbox Game Pass and that DLC still requires a separate purchase, more than two and a half years after Microsoft completed the Activision Blizzard acquisition.
Ratings board filings that surfaced earlier this month listed Xbox and Switch 2 alongside PlayStation, which suggests additional platform announcements may still be coming. Nothing official has been confirmed outside of PlayStation at this point.
Black Ops and Black Ops 2 arrive on PlayStation in July 2026. The Black Ops sub-series is taking a break after two consecutive releases in Black Ops 6 (2024) and Black Ops 7 (2025). The next major release in the franchise is Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, slated for October 23, 2026, on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch 2, and PC.
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