Iron Galaxy shipped another update to the Black Ops 2 PlayStation port on August 14, and Activision's official updates channel published the change list. It is mostly maintenance: more security work on top of the security work that came before it, plus a short set of quality of life fixes. One of those fixes is a Depth of Field toggle in Custom Games, which is the only line in the notes that changes how a competitive lobby looks.
Confirmed. The change list is Activision's own, published through the official Call of Duty Updates channel, and MP1st reproduces it line for line and adds the build numbers. What nobody claims: that this pass finally ends the exploit-driven lobbies. Two earlier security updates did not, so treat the patch as real and the outcome as unproven until you are the one in the lobby.
What the update changes
- More security work Another round of security updates, aimed at the exploit-driven lobbies that have followed this port since launch.
- Depth of Field toggle Custom Games now carries a toggle for Depth of Field visual effects.
- Bot lobby UI fix Various UI fixes, including one for an issue that could occur after adding friendly and enemy bots in Custom Games.
- Combat Axe edge case A rare Free for All issue when the final kill was scored with a Combat Axe has been addressed.
- UGC settings UI setting options now adjust automatically when platform level UGC settings are enabled.
Why Hardcore SnD cares
Black Ops 2 is a legacy title people still run one life rounds on, and every one of those rounds happens in a Custom Game. Public lobbies on this port have been the problem all summer. Custom Games are the workaround, so anything that makes a private server easier to set up and cleaner to read matters more here than it would on a current title.
- Visibility is a setting again Depth of Field blurs what is not in focus. Turning it off in a scrim server means the guy holding a long angle reads the same on both screens, which is the whole point of a practice lobby.
- Bot lobbies stop fighting you Filling a side with bots is how a five stack still runs site hits. A UI bug in that exact flow is the kind of thing that eats ten minutes before every session.
- Security work is the lobby you actually want Every pass at the exploiters is a pass at whether a pub night is worth booking at all. This is the third round, and the first two did not settle it.
What is not claimed
Neither Activision nor MP1st says the exploit problem is solved. The notes say additional security updates and stop there, and there is no Black Ops 2 entry on the official patch notes page to read further into. The honest read is that the port is still getting support fourteen years on, which is more than anyone expected, and that support has not yet produced a public lobby you can trust. Judge it in a week, by whether the reports stop.
Support is not the same as a fix. Book the custom lobby anyway.