Activision brought back two of Call of Duty's most celebrated entries with the least amount of extra work possible. Treyarch's Black Ops and Black Ops II are now available on PS4 and PS5, and they are, deliberately, nothing more than ports: no remaster, no rebuilt visuals, no platform-specific enhancements mentioned anywhere in the announcement.
What's actually being preserved
The original Black Ops launched in 2010 and pushed the series into Cold War territory with a story built on psychological twists and a multiplayer suite that became one of the most played in Call of Duty history. It's also the game that turned Zombies from a bonus mode into a franchise pillar still running today. Black Ops II followed in 2012 with a branching campaign across two timelines where player choices shaped the ending, plus a multiplayer overhaul that drew a serious competitive following well past its release window. Both are routinely cited by longtime fans as the series' creative peak.
Why a bare port instead of a remaster
Treyarch didn't detail any PS4 or PS5-specific technical work in the announcement, so both games should run as their original builds intended, full campaigns, multiplayer and Zombies included. That's a notably lighter touch than recent classic re-releases in other franchises have gotten, and it reads less like a nostalgia showcase and more like straightforward access restoration for players who moved platforms or lost their original hardware.
For anyone who only knows Call of Duty from its more recent entries, Black Ops and Black Ops II are as good a starting point as any for understanding why the franchise's early years still come up in every conversation about the series. Pricing and availability are live now on the PlayStation Store.
