Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War is more fun with friends, and this is especially true when playing Zombies. Unfortunately, sometimes the game runs into network issues. When this happens, you may see an error message saying the game failed to host the lobby. This is typically caused by a network fault, but there are a few simple things you can do to fix the problem.
Black Ops Cold War | Failed to host lobby error
There are a few reasons why Black Ops Cold War says it has failed to host a lobby. This error can appear when game servers are down or experiencing technical difficulties. You may also fail to host a lobby if you’re experiencing home network or internet connectivity issues.
In many cases, Black Ops Cold War will tell you it’s failed to host a lobby when the game servers are experiencing interruptions. It could be that servers went down, or that your connection to the servers aren’t entirely stable. This can also cause you to lose connection to other hosts. In these cases there’s no fix other than to wait for servers to come back online. Otherwise, there are a few things you can try to fix the error.
How to fix the failed to host lobby error
Your first order of business should be to check out the Call of Duty server status on the Activision Support page. There you’ll be able to tell whether or not Black Ops Cold War servers are online and functioning. If they aren’t, that’s why you can’t host a lobby. You’ll have to wait until they’re back up and running.
Otherwise, this error is often a caused by a problem with your internet connection or service. Diagnosing these sorts of issues can be difficult, but there are a few things you can do to fix the problem or at least figure out what’s causing it:
- Restart the game
- Power cycle your PC or console as well as your modem or router
- Ensure that your home internet connection is working as expected
- Try to load something from the internet on another device aside from your PC or console. If it doesn’t work, then there’s a problem with your internet connection or internet service provider
- If possible, connect your PC or console with an Ethernet cable as opposed to Wi-Fi
- Temporarily disable anything that might be causing network interference
- This includes other PCs or consoles as well as mobile phones, laptops, or smart TVs running on Wi-Fi
- Finally, if your home network and internet connection are working as intended, try playing the game through a VPN
Chances are good that the failed to host lobby error is caused by an unstable internet connection. The best way to fix it is to make sure your home network is working. However, if your home network isn’t at fault, playing the game through a VPN will allow you to connect to different Black Ops Cold War servers that should allow you to host a lobby successfully.
