Call of Duty: Black Ops-Cold War's multiplayer is free until Christmas Eve
No catch, comrade.
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
Want to add more newsletters?
Every Friday
GamesRadar+
Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you're going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them.
Every Thursday
GTA 6 O'clock
Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O'clock experts.
Every Friday
Knowledge
From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what's on the horizon.
Every Thursday
The Setup
Hardware nerds unite, sign up to our free tech newsletter for a weekly digest of the hottest new tech, the latest gadgets on the test bench, and much more.
Every Wednesday
Switch 2 Spotlight
Sign up to our new Switch 2 newsletter, where we bring you the latest talking points on Nintendo's new console each week, bring you up to date on the news, and recommend what games to play.
Every Saturday
The Watchlist
Subscribe for a weekly digest of the movie and TV news that matters, direct to your inbox. From first-look trailers, interviews, reviews and explainers, we've got you covered.
Once a month
SFX
Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month!
Following the release of Season One across Call of Duty: Black Ops—Cold War and Warzone, Activision has made (most) of the former's multiplayer mode free until December 24. Presumably so that all the six year-olds who get it on Christmas day don't have to put up with you freeloaders.
Now's your chance to experience the next evolution of Black Ops Multiplayer.Jump into the #BlackOpsColdWar Multiplayer Free Access Week through 12/24. pic.twitter.com/v7c7BMgAsXDecember 17, 2020
From Thursday, December 17 till Monday, December 21, free players can participate in the Team Deathmatch, Domination, the butt-clenchingly good 2v2 Gunfight, Nuketown and Raid the Mall playlists. Then at some yet-undefined time on the 21st, the Prop Hunt, Combined Arms Hardpoint, and Fireteam Dirty Bomb modes are added until the promotion ends on December 24. The last mode in particular is a complete mess but kind of amazing.
In addition, double XP and double weapons bonuses are running for all players till December 21, and double battle pass XP will be activated from December 22 (this runs past the free period, until December 28). The free trial is accessed through the Battle.net app.
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.

Rich is a games journalist with 15 years' experience, beginning his career on Edge magazine before working for a wide range of outlets, including Ars Technica, Eurogamer, GamesRadar+, Gamespot, the Guardian, IGN, the New Statesman, Polygon, and Vice. He was the editor of Kotaku UK, the UK arm of Kotaku, for three years before joining PC Gamer. He is the author of a Brief History of Video Games, a full history of the medium, which the Midwest Book Review described as "[a] must-read for serious minded game historians and curious video game connoisseurs alike."

