Black Ops 1 and 2 PS5 Ports: $40 Price Tag Has Fans Uneasy

Call of Duty: Black Ops 1 and Black Ops 2 are heading to PlayStation 4 and 5 in July, and the price tags Microsoft just put on the PC and Xbox versions have PS5 owners bracing for the worst. CharlieIntel reported on June 20 that the 2010 and 2012 games have been relisted at $39.99 apiece, with individual DLCs at $10 (down from $15) and season passes at $30 (down from $50). Treyarch’s port announcement had come only two days earlier, and CharlieIntel’s post closed with a line that has since defined the conversation, “This could be how PlayStation ports are priced too.”

Treyarch’s announcement of the July port release did not include any price guidance. It confirmed that the work is being handled by Iron Galaxy, the studio behind the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 revival, and that the ports will ship with campaign, multiplayer, and Zombies included. The post left the price question hanging for the very audience that has been locked out of both games for more than a decade. The reaction on social media and Reddit has been swift and loud, with fans pointing to a worst-case scenario of $140 for both games with their season passes.

The Microsoft Listings That Sparked the Panic

The pricing update landed on the Microsoft Store pages for Black Ops and Black Ops 2 the same week Treyarch announced the PlayStation ports. Before the change, both games had lived in the $50 to $60 range for years on PC and Xbox. CharlieIntel, the Activision-focused social account that first surfaced the new figures, framed the change as a possible preview of PlayStation pricing, an inference that immediately spread through the wider Call of Duty community. Per the social post flagging the $40 base price, Black Ops 1 and Black Ops 2 base games now sit at $40 each, individual DLCs at $10, and season passes at $30. The worst case for anyone who wants both titles with everything attached lands at $140, with the camos and personalization packs now listed as free to soften the new sticker.

• Black Ops 1 base game: $40
• Black Ops 2 base game: $40
• Individual DLC: $10 (down from $15)
• Season pass: $30 (down from $50)
• Both games plus both season passes: $140

Microsoft’s move also stripped price tags from several in-game items. The microtransaction camos and personalization packs that had cost extra are now listed as free, a quiet change that felt like either a goodwill gesture or an attempt to take the edge off the new sticker. Both base games come to $80, and adding both season passes brings the worst case to $140, a number that has been doing the rounds across every Call of Duty subreddit and Discord since the listings went live.

Activision has not confirmed any of those prices for the PlayStation side. The only official word on cost so far is silence, and the gap between Microsoft’s new $40 tags and Treyarch’s announcement has left fans reading the listing for clues about what Sony’s store will show in July.

Treyarch’s Confirmed Port Details

Treyarch’s official July PlayStation port announcement, made on June 18, was the first official word on the ports since they leaked earlier in the month on PlayStation’s own servers. It confirmed three things: a July launch window, Iron Galaxy as the development partner, and inclusion of the full campaign, multiplayer, and Zombies experience in each title. It did not confirm pricing, cross-play with the Xbox and PC versions, whether progress or unlocks would carry over, or whether DLC maps and packs would be sold separately on the PlayStation side. The original versions of both games have been on Xbox through Microsoft’s backward compatibility for years, which is why the PlayStation announcement is being framed as filling a gap rather than expanding the addressable market.

The ports are listed as PlayStation exclusives for now. Whether the PS5 will get native ports or run the PS4 versions through backward compatibility remains unclear. Treyarch has not named a specific day inside the July window, and the company has not said whether progress and unlocks from the Xbox and PC versions will transfer to the new ports.

The ‘Port’ Question Driving the Backlash

Activision is selling these as a port, not a remaster, and that distinction is the source of most of the anger. Treyarch’s announcement did not list any visual upgrades, frame-rate targets, or remastered audio for the PlayStation releases, and the publisher’s wording in the IGN report on the listing change suggests little to no changes from the base experiences that released in the early 2010s.

Black Ops 1 came out in November 2010 and Black Ops 2 in November 2012, more than a decade before the ports arrive. The original reviews for both games were strong per IGN, 8.5 out of 10 for Black Ops and 9.3 out of 10 for Black Ops 2, and the two titles have since been counted among the most celebrated and quotable in the franchise. A true remaster in the Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare mold would have come with rebuilt assets and at least a frame-rate target, and this one is being sold without any of that. A 2020 Modern Warfare 2 campaign remaster left fans upset when the multiplayer mode was left on the cutting room floor, and the comparison is the closest recent example of Activision walking back from a full remaster. Fans are noticing the difference between the two approaches, and they are not shy about pointing it out.

A reminder of what fans feel they are being asked to pay for landed hard on social media, and the strongest line came from a post on X. The post drew a flood of agreeing replies, and the broader reaction on Reddit pointed in the same direction. One Reddit user summed up the consensus with a single line, and others borrowed a Black Ops catchphrase to mock the math.

$40 for games we already purchased (allegedly with no enhancements btw) is an absolute atrocity.

The X post was made in reply to CharlieIntel’s report on the pricing change, and the user behind it has not been publicly identified. Other comments in the same thread used the Black Ops catchphrase “The numbers Mason, they’re telling you not to buy…” to mock the math. A separate post on X called the pricing “nasty work” and pointed to the games’ release dates. The throughline across all of them is the same: the price is the problem, but the lack of upgrades is what is making the price feel insulting.

Adding Up the $140 Worst Case

If the Microsoft Store prices hold for the PlayStation ports, the total cost for a complete Black Ops 1 and 2 experience lands at the figures below. These are the listed prices for the Xbox and PC versions as reported by CharlieIntel on June 20. Activision has not confirmed any PlayStation pricing, and the IGN report on the listing change included the same worst-case math. The chart breaks out each item, with the $140 worst case being the most-cited number across the fan reaction. Per the same report, the worst case for both games with their season passes comes to $140, with individual DLCs adding more on top.

The chart above shows the line items as listed on the Microsoft Store. Per the IGN report on the listing change, the worst case for both base games is $80, and the worst case for both games with their season passes is $140. Individual DLCs at $10 each would add more on top.

Whether any of that translates to the PlayStation Store is the question Activision has yet to answer. The silence is starting to look like a strategy, with the company holding its cards until the ports are closer to launch. Fans who already own the games on Xbox or PC are pointing out that they are being asked to pay $40 a second time for a version with no announced upgrades. Treyarch has not said whether existing progress or purchases will transfer, and the silence on that question is the same as the silence on price.

Sony’s PS3 Backward Compatibility Gap

The reason these games needed ports at all traces back to a long-running gap in Sony’s hardware story. Per the history of PlayStation’s backward compatibility, the PS3 used a Cell processor architecture that the PS4 and PS5 cannot natively run, and Sony has never shipped a working emulator for the older console’s library on its newer hardware. Microsoft has supported backward compatibility on its current consoles, which is why both Black Ops games have been playable on Xbox for years.

The absence of working PS3 backward compatibility is what made the ports necessary in the first place. The ports are a way of bridging that gap by re-releasing the games on hardware that can run them. They join a small list of PS3-era Call of Duty titles that have made it to Sony’s current consoles. They are the first to arrive as ports developed by a third-party studio rather than as in-house remasters, with Iron Galaxy handling the work. For PlayStation owners who have never played the original Black Ops games, the July launch will be their first official entry into two of the most celebrated entries in the franchise.

What Modern Warfare 4 Means for the Ports

The Black Ops ports arrive during a year already stacked with Call of Duty news. The next mainline entry, Modern Warfare 4, is also expected later in 2026, and the community is watching how Activision splits attention between the new release and the ports.

The publisher’s history with CoD remasters is mixed. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare was remastered in 2016 and was a huge hit, but it also took focus away from Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare. The 2020 Modern Warfare 2 campaign remaster left fans upset that the game’s iconic multiplayer mode was left on the cutting room floor. Treyarch’s port-first approach for Black Ops 1 and 2 is a quieter strategy, and one that may be designed in part to avoid splitting the multiplayer population of newer entries like Modern Warfare 4.

Activision is walking a tight line between monetizing the franchise’s back catalog and keeping the new release’s player base intact. The ports also give PlayStation owners a reason to spend on Call of Duty outside of the annual release cycle. The shape of the franchise’s 2026 will be clearer once Activision names a July date and a price for the Black Ops ports.

Frequently Asked Questions

When are the Black Ops 1 and 2 PS5 ports launching?

Treyarch announced the ports on June 18, 2026, with a July release window. Activision has not yet named a specific date inside that window.

How much will the Black Ops 1 and 2 PS5 ports cost?

Activision has not announced PlayStation pricing. The June 20 update to the Microsoft Store listings, first flagged by CharlieIntel, set the Xbox and PC versions at $40 per base game, $10 per individual DLC, and $30 per season pass, and CharlieIntel’s post noted the same pricing could carry over to PlayStation.

Are the Black Ops 1 and 2 PS5 ports remasters?

No. Treyarch and Iron Galaxy are calling them ports, and the publisher’s wording in its announcement suggests little to no change from the original 2010 and 2012 releases. No visual upgrades, frame-rate targets, or remastered audio have been announced.

Will the Black Ops PS5 ports include all DLC?

Treyarch has confirmed that campaign, multiplayer, and Zombies will ship with each port, but has not said how the individual DLC map packs or season passes will be sold or priced on the PlayStation side.

Will my progress or unlocks carry over to the PS5 ports?

That has not been confirmed. IGN’s report on the announcement said it was unknown whether players could carry over progress, whether cross-play with the Xbox and PC versions would be enabled, or whether the ports would live in isolation from the older versions.