Call of Duty: Black Ops 6

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
Developer(s)	Treyarch Raven Software
Publisher(s)	Activision
Series	Call of Duty
Engine	IW 9.0
Platform(s)	PlayStation 4 PlayStation 5 Windows Xbox One Xbox Series X/S
Release	October 25, 2024
Genre(s)	First-person shooter
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is an upcoming first-person shooter game co-developed by Treyarch and Raven Software and published by Activision. It will be the twenty-first installment of the Call of Duty series and the seventh entry in the Black Ops sub-series, following Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War (2020). The game is scheduled for release on October 25, 2024, for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S, and is set to be available to Xbox Game Pass subscribers on release day.

The game's single-player campaign—described as a "dynamic and intense spy thriller"—will act as a continuation of Black Ops Cold War's story, taking place during the early 1990s. Its multiplayer component will contain sixteen new maps at launch and include omnidirectional movement mechanics, which will allow players to sprint, dive, and slide in any direction. Additionally, Black Ops 6 will feature a new iteration of the cooperative round-based Zombies mode, with two brand-new maps being planned for inclusion at launch.

Black Ops 6 boasts the longest development cycle in Call of Duty history, spanning four years; some Treyarch employees stated that they have been play-testing the title since 2022. Marketing for the game began in May 2024, through the publishing of fictional advertisements on the front pages of multiple newspaper outlets and the release of several live-action teaser trailers. A full reveal for Black Ops 6 debuted following the airing of the 2024 Xbox Games Showcase event on June 9.

Gameplay

Like previous entries in the Call of Duty series, Black Ops 6 will be a first-person shooter. The game's single-player campaign will feature multiple ways to approach its missions and include dialogue trees for its cast of non-player characters (NPCs). In-between missions, players will be able to access a safe house, where they will be able to plan out missions via an evidence board, apply player upgrades, and interact with NPCs.

Black Ops 6's multiplayer component is set to include sixteen brand-new maps at launch; twelve of these maps are designed for its core six-versus-six (6v6) gameplay loop, and are supplemented by four "Strike" maps, which can be played in either two-versus-two (2v2) modes or in the core 6v6 modes. New gameplay mechanics featured in the multiplayer component include omnidirectional movement (i.e "omnimovement"), which allows players to sprint, dive, and slide in any direction. Additional features include the return of the traditional "Prestige" system, which allows players who have reached the maximum player level to reset it up to ten times, and the return of the "Theater" mode, enabling players to rewatch multiplayer matches from the perspective of any player.

In addition, a new iteration of the cooperative round-based Zombies mode is also set to be featured in Black Ops 6, with two all-new maps—"Terminus" and "Liberty Falls"—being planned for inclusion at launch. Zombies will feature cross-progression for weapon unlocks between it and the multiplayer component and will include a dedicated cast of characters that act as a core part of the mode's storyline; players will also be able to play as the "Operators" from the multiplayer mode.

Premise

Campaign

Black Ops 6's campaign is set to take place during the early 1990s, following the events of Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War (2020) and the flashbacks to the 1980s in Call of Duty: Black Ops II (2012). The game's story is described as a "dynamic and intense spy thriller", in which players are "never sure who to trust, and what is real". The campaign will also explore the aftermath of the Cold War and feature a depiction of the Gulf War. During this time, the CIA has been infiltrated by a new mysterious force, and many operatives have been forced to go rogue after being branded traitors, including Russell Adler (Bruce Thomas) and Frank Woods (Damon Victor Allen). While Adler's true allegiance and motivation remain unknown, Woods assembles a team of rogue agents to assist him in finding out the truth, including: field operative Troy Marshall (Y'lan Noel), CIA handler Jane Harrow, technical genius Felix Neumann, and assassin Sevati Dumas.

Zombies

The Zombies story for Black Ops 6 will act as a continuation of the "Dark Aether" story arc, which was first established in Black Ops Cold War's Zombies mode, picking up five years after the events of that story. According to Kevin Drew, Treyarch's associate design director for the mode, Black Ops 6's Zombies narrative will cover "a simultaneous situation" and tell a story of "two places at the same time" within its first two maps. The first map, "Liberty Falls", will explore a Dark Aether incursion in a small town nestled in the Appalachian Mountains, while the second map, "Terminus", will be centered on a "nighttime assault on a remote prison island in the Pacific Ocean". Central characters in Black Ops 6's Zombies story will be the former handlers for the classified CIA task force Requiem: Dr. Elizabeth Grey (Amy Pemberton), Special Commander Grigori Weaver (Gene Farber), and Major Mackenzie Carver (Keston John). They are joined by Maya Aguinaldo, a new character created for Black Ops 6.

Development

Black Ops 6 is being co-developed by Treyarch and Raven Software, with Raven leading production on the game's single-player campaign and Treyarch developing the multiplayer and Zombies modes. The game boasts the longest development cycle in Call of Duty history, spanning four years. Some Treyarch employees stated that they have been play-testing the game since 2022. Details surrounding Black Ops 6 began to surface in November 2023, when Windows Central reported that the game would be set during the Gulf War and feature a story focused on the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard and its studios in 2023 marked the end of an exclusivity deal between Sony and Activision, which saw Call of Duty titles receive exclusive content and offers on PlayStation platforms. Though Microsoft had a similar deal with Activision for the Xbox consoles prior to 2015, Microsoft Gaming's CEO Phil Spencer has stated that moving forward, the franchise will have no exclusivity deals, with content parity across all supported platforms.

Marketing

On April 30, 2024, Microsoft announced that they would be hosting an Xbox Games Showcase event on June 9, 2024, which is set to be followed by a "[REDACTED] Direct" presentation. Microsoft did not comment on which game the presentation would be focusing on, only stating that it would be "a special deep dive into the next installment of a beloved franchise". The Verge's Tom Warren reported that the presentation would be focusing on the 2024 Call of Duty installment.

USA Today newspaper showing the advertisement for Black Ops 6

On May 22, 2024, a website titled "The Truth Lies" went live and was posted on Call of Duty's social media channels. The website featured several real-life video clips of global monuments, such as Mount Rushmore and Brandenburg Gate, being vandalized by a group of people, as well as fictional news reports on the vandalism. The clips featured a three-headed dog logo, which was first seen in Microsoft's announcement for the 2024 Xbox Games Showcase. On May 23, 2024, several newspaper outlets, such as USA Today and The New York Post, featured "The Truth Lies" advertisements on their front pages. On the same day, Activision officially announced Black Ops 6 and confirmed that the "[REDACTED] Direct" on June 9 will be centered on the game.

On May 27, 2024, a teaser trailer for the game, titled "Open Your Eyes", was published on Call of Duty's YouTube channel. It largely consists of footage from news shows and television adverts from the early 1990s, narrated by a distorted male voice, who directly speaks to the viewer, telling them to "stop being sheep and become wolves". The teaser was also noted to include brief glimpses at gameplay footage from the game. An extended version of the teaser was sent to Call of Duty content creator NoahJ456, which was noted to include a brief look at potential gameplay footage of Black Ops 6's Zombies mode.

On May 28, 2024, Activision released a live-action trailer for the game, which features several real-world political leaders, including former U.S. presidents Bill Clinton and George H. W. Bush, former U.S. secretary of state Colin Powell, ex-UK prime minister Margaret Thatcher, and former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein. The YouTube thumbnail for the trailer was noted to contain the coordinates to Hussein's former palace in Baghdad.

On June 3, 2024, teasers for Black Ops 6 began appearing in Call of Duty: Warzone, including a new cutscene featuring Black Ops character Frank Woods talking about the discovery of a "mole", who is suspected to be Russell Adler, a character from Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War (2020).

On June 9, immediately following the airing of the 2024 Xbox Games Showcase, Activision presented a 25-minute deep dive into Black Ops 6, which offered insight into the game's single-player campaign, its multiplayer component, and its Zombies mode. On the same day, Activision revealed in a post on the offical Call of Duty blog that a full reveal for the multiplayer would debut at the 2024 Call of Duty NEXT event on August 28.

Release

Black Ops 6 is scheduled for release on October 25, 2024, for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. It will also be available to Xbox Game Pass subscribers on release day. The game will require a continuous internet connection to play all of its modes; this also includes the single-player campaign.

External links

• Official website