The trophy lists for Call of Duty: Black Ops and Black Ops 2 surfaced online ahead of their PS4 and PS5 re-releases this month, and they're already raising questions. A close comparison to the original PS3 versions reveals a handful of trophies have been quietly dropped, and the missing ones point directly at some of the most memorable content in both games.
What the trophy list actually reveals
The leaked lists are largely intact. Campaigns, Zombies, and the core multiplayer trophies are all present. But trophies tied to Theater Mode, Wager Matches, and Black Ops 2's League Play have been removed entirely.
Theater Mode was a feature that let players rewind and replay their matches with free camera control. For 2010, it was ahead of its time, and a lot of early YouTube content creators built entire channels around it. Losing it in a modern re-release stings a little.
Wager Matches are the bigger loss for most players. These were dedicated playlists where you could bet COD Points (the in-game currency) on your performance across a set of unconventional game modes. Gun Game, where every kill cycles you to a new weapon, and One in the Chamber, where each player starts with a single bullet and earns more through kills, both lived inside Wager Matches. They were genuinely fun and have appeared in other Call of Duty games since, including Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 variants of Gun Game. The gambling mechanic, though, is almost certainly why they're gone here.
The gambling problem that hasn't aged well
Here's the thing: the Wager Match system was built around wagering in-game currency, and gaming's relationship with virtual gambling has changed significantly since Black Ops launched in November 2010. Various governments have tightened regulations around gambling mechanics in games over the past decade, and Activision likely wants to avoid any regulatory headaches with a straightforward port.
There's a realistic scenario where Gun Game and One in the Chamber still ship in the re-releases but as standalone modes without the betting component. That would preserve the actual gameplay while sidestepping the wager mechanic entirely. The trophy removals don't confirm the modes are gone, just that the trophies tied to the gambling aspect won't be tracked.
League Play from Black Ops 2 is a different story. That was a ranked competitive system, and expecting it to have an active player base in 2026 is a stretch. Its removal makes practical sense.
What Activision has confirmed
Activision has confirmed both games will include their campaigns, multiplayer, and Zombies modes when they arrive on modern PlayStation consoles this month. That's the full core package. The silence around Wager Matches and Theater Mode, combined with the trophy list changes, is what's driving speculation right now.
The bulk of trophies remaining unchanged does suggest the re-releases are close to the originals in structure. But when specific trophies tied to specific features disappear, it's hard to read that as anything other than those features being absent.
For players who grew up with Black Ops, the loss of Theater Mode feels like a missed opportunity. Recreating those old clips, sharing highlights, and revisiting the replay system would have been a natural fit for a modern re-release. Its absence makes the port feel slightly less complete than it could have been.
If you're planning to jump back into the Black Ops era and want to brush up on what's available, the Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 guides cover the current state of the franchise in detail, and the broader gaming guides hub has resources across the series. Watch for an official Activision statement before the July release date to see whether Wager Matches survive in any form.
