No Wager Matches, No Theater Mode in Black Ops Ports

Activision is selling nostalgia with its upcoming Black Ops 1 and 2 PlayStation ports, but the nostalgia apparently comes with asterisks. Trophy lists for both games have appeared on Sony's servers, and while they're mostly identical to the PS3 originals, several trophies tied to beloved features are gone. As first spotted by ForwardLeaks on X, the missing entries point to the removal of Wager Matches and Theater Mode from Black Ops 1, and League Play from Black Ops 2.

These aren't obscure features. Wager Matches were a playlist where players staked their earned CoD Points on unique modes like Gun Game and One in the Chamber. Gun Game cycled your weapon with every kill; One in the Chamber gave you a single bullet and forced you to earn more through kills. Both modes became so popular that later Call of Duty games adopted them outright. The original 'In The Money' trophy required winning five Wager Matches, and its removal from the new list strongly suggests the entire Wager system is gone. Whether Gun Game and One in the Chamber survive outside of that framework is unclear, but I wouldn't bet on it.

Theater Mode is the other big loss. Back in 2010, it let you record full match replays, scrub through them from any player's perspective, and export clips. This was before built-in capture tools were standard on consoles, and it turned Black Ops into a content creation machine during YouTube's early boom. The 'Date Night' trophy, which required inviting a friend to watch a clip, has been removed. That's a strong signal Theater Mode didn't make the cut.

League Play and the Bigger Worry

Black Ops 2's missing trophy is less painful. 'Big Leagues' required five wins in League Play, the game's ranked competitive playlist. Expecting a functioning ranked ladder in a 14-year-old port is a stretch, so this one isn't surprising. But the pattern of removals has players on edge about what else might be absent. The Emblem Editor, a community favourite that let you design custom player cards, hasn't been confirmed or denied. If Activision is trimming features that defined these games, the emblem system feels like it could be next.

On the brighter side, the trophy lists do confirm one thing fans were anxious about: both games will get native PS5 versions, not just PS4 builds running through backwards compatibility. As reported by Push Square, separate PS5 and PS4 trophy lists appeared for each title, confirming native releases for both platforms. Activision announced the ports on June 17 through developer Iron Galaxy, calling them ports rather than remasters, so don't expect visual overhauls or DualSense haptics.

Pricing hasn't been officially confirmed, but recent speculation puts both games at $40 each, matching their current Steam prices. Neither version is expected to include DLC map packs. Paying $40 for a direct port of a 2010 game with features stripped out is a tough sell, and I think Activision is going to hear about it. The Wager Match system was one of the things that made Black Ops 1 feel distinct from every other Call of Duty, and removing it guts part of what people are paying to revisit.

Activision has confirmed both ports will include campaign, multiplayer, and Zombies, and that they're launching sometime in July 2026. The appearance of trophy lists on Sony's servers usually means a release date is days away, not weeks.