Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 – All the key details on the next Call of Duty

Activision is going back to the well with Black Ops 7 this year—a deviation from the CoD release pattern that hasn't gone unnoticed or without concern—but Treyarch and Raven are zagging away from the Gulf War antics of last year's Blops 6. Instead, we're going back to the future (again).

While I quietly mourn the Infinity Ward game we're not getting this year, I look forward to seeing Call of Duty's latest interpretation of future warfare. Here's what we know about Blops 7 so far, including its release date and confirmed gameplay improvements.

When is the Black Ops 7 release date?

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is coming out November 14 on PC, PS5/PS4, Xbox Series X/S, and Xbox One. Which wasn't really a surprise when it was announced during Gamescom's Opening Night Live, as COD has come out every Fall, without fail, for the last 20 years.

When is the Black Ops 7 beta?

Unfortunately, Black Ops 7's beta is now over, and there won't be another one before the game is scheduled to release in November.

The last beta was originally scheduled to run from October 2 - 8, but it got extended by another day, so ended on October 9. And whether coincidence or not (I'm leaning on the side of 'or not'), this was the day before Battlefield 6 was actually released.

Black Ops 7 trailers

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 | Multiplayer Gameplay Reveal Trailer - YouTube

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Latest gameplay trailer

COD's bread and butter, multiplayer, finally got its own dedicated trailer, and it's just about what you'd expect. It acts more like a hype trailer than anything else, but it's kinda hard to get too excited when it all looks so familiar. But hey, even I can admit that familiar isn't always a bad, and Black Ops 7's multiplayer does seem to have made some nice improvements here with omnimovement and loadout sharing at the very least.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 | Official Teaser - YouTube

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Reveal trailer

Thanks to all the robots and holograms on display, this three-minute reveal of Black Ops 7 briefly fooled most of the audience at Xbox's June showcase into thinking Microsoft was announcing an original new series, but alas, it was an obligatory Call of Duty reveal.

Black Ops 7 story and setting

"The year is 2035 and the world is on the brink of chaos, ravaged by violent conflict and psychological warfare following the events of the fan-favorite titles Black Ops 2 and Black Ops 6," reads the Black Ops 7 Steam page.

That's right, we're going back to the future (but maybe not the flavor of future you're asking for). As the description indicates, Blops 7 is picking up the ball with David Mason, son of Alex "The Numbers" Mason. David Mason last appeared in 2012's Black Ops 2, a game now old enough to pluck the nostalgic strings of the late Xbox 360 era.

It's unclear if this 2035 story will have any material ties to the '90s antics of Blops 6, but history tells us not to expect much in terms of connective tissue. Maybe Frank Woods will show up? Did he die in Blops 2? High school was a long time ago.

And if you can't remember your Masons from your Woods, then our Black Ops lore explainer can help you get caught up on the franchise's often ridiculous story.

Black Ops 7 gameplay

Here's all the of the key details that we know about Black Ops 7's gameplay:

• The campaign can be played in 4-player co-op
• At the end of the story, the 'Endgame' has you teaming up with 32 players in total to fight on a massive scale and test everything you've learned during the campaign
• Global Progression lets you earn XP and complete challenges to level-up your weapons during the campaign. You can then bring these weapons into multiplayer, Zombies, and Warzone modes
• Scorestreaks, Field Upgrades, and Equipment can be upgraded with the new Overclock system
• Omnimovement is back unchanged, but now you can wall jump up to three times in a row, which Activision says lets you "evade or out-style your pursuers while increasing your traversal capabilities"
• Tactical sprint has been removed by default, but you can toggle it back on via a perk
• Multiplayer map locations include a guild facility in Japan, the Alaskan wilderness, and the Australian outback.
• Confirmed modes include Raid, and a new modes Overload and Skirmish
• Skirmish is a large scale 20v20 experience where teams battle it out to complete objectives (wingsuits and grappling hooks in this mode confirmed)
• In Overload, teams fight for control of the Overload Device, which they must pick up and carry into one of the enemy’s two control zones
• You can share and download weapon builds via build codes in gunsmith
• You will be able to level-up and prestige individual weapons
• Carry Forward... carries forward into Blops 7, but after a U-turn over continuing complaints, it's now been confirmed that Black Ops 6 cosmetics won't carry forward into Black Ops 7 (Warzone remains unaffected)
• There will, of course, be live service seasons after launch, including weekly challenges

You can also check out our page listing all perks and combat specialties in Black Ops 7 if you'd like to plan your builds ahead of time.

Black Ops 7 maps

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Black Ops 7 is launching with 18 maps in total: 16 6v6 maps and two 20v20 maps for its Skirmish game mode. With three of those 16v16 maps being reworks of old Black Ops 2 favorites Express, Hijacked, and Raid.

Here's a list of all maps in Black Ops 7 at launch:

1. Blackheart (6v6): Small-sized
2. Cortex (6v6): Small-sized
3. Paranoia (6v6): Small-sized
4. Flagship (6v6): Small-sized
5. Hijacked (6v6): Small-sized, rework of a Black Ops 2 map
6. Exposure (6v6): Medium-sized
7. Imprint (6v6): Medium-sized
8. The Forge (6v6): Medium-sized
9. Toshin (6v6): Medium-sized
10. Colossus (6v6): Medium-sized
11. Den (6v6): Medium-sized
12. Homestead (6v6): Medium-sized
13. Scar (6v6): Medium-sized
14. Express (6v6): Medium sized, rework of a Black Ops 2 map
15. Raid (6v6): Medium sized, rework of a Black Ops 2 map
16. Retrieval (6v6): Large-sized
17. Edge (20v20): Large-sized
18. Tide (20v20): Large-sized

Black Ops 7 operators

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There are two opposing factions in Black Ops 7: JSOC and The Guild. The JSOC faction is led by David Mason and The Guild is led by CEO Emma Kagan.

Across both factions, there are a total of 24 playable operators:

• 50/50
• Anderson
• Carver
• Dempsey
• Falkner
• Grey
• Grimm
• Harper
• Jurado
• Kagan
• Karma
• Mason
• Maya
• Nikolai
• Razor
• Reaper
• Richtofen
• Samuels
• Takeo
• T.E.D.D.
• Vermaak
• Weaver
• Wei Lin
• Zaveri

Black Ops 7 Zombies

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 | Zombies Gameplay Reveal Trailer - YouTube

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It's a Blops game, so of course Zombies is making the cut. Never been my thing, but last year's version was my favorite in a while thanks to its sandboxy maps.

Here's all the key details you need to know about zombies in Black Ops 7:

• It's round based, and Ashes of the Damned is set up to be the biggest round-based Zombies map in Black Ops history
• Survival maps are making a comeback (so no quests or Easter Eggs found here)
• The other two modes are Directed (a streamlined path through a Zombies map) and Cursed (a new experience featuring some legacy mechanics and side quests)
• Dead Ops Arcade 4 is also included
• There's a training course if you need a refresher on how zombies works
• There are eight Dark Aether versions in the dedicated crew: Grigori Weaver, Dr. Elizabeth Grey, Major Mackenzie ‘Mac’ Carver, Maya Aguinaldo, Tank Dempsey, Takeo Masaki, Nikolai Belinski, and Dr. Edward Richtofen
• New Wonder Vehicle, Ol’ Tessie, makes it debut. It’s a rusted pick-up truck that serves as the crew’s method of transportation, and you to keep it running by collecting repair modules and upgrades
• New Wonder Weapon, the Necrofluid Gauntlet, also makes it debut, letting you shoot and skewer targets at range
• The Fireworks ammo mod is new, with bullets having a chance to shoot fireworks at enemies when it's used
• The Wisp Tea feature lets you summon an ethereal companion
• You'll now hear a special round audio stinger when zombies’ strength increases as the rounds progress
• Fast moving zombies, which start to appear at higher rounds, will increase in frequency at a lower rate as rounds continue past 55
• Heavy and Light Armored Zombies are weighed down by their protective skeletal armor and are slower, but more durable
• Jumps Pads let you travel faster across the map
• Solo Save, pause, and Armory systems continue from Black Ops 6, and new additions include Firing Range loadout testing, expanded zombies Intel, Weapon Prestige, and weekly and mastery Badge challenges
• Now, when a Round completes, any player in a prone position to be auto-revived

And here's what's carrying over from Black Ops 6 to 7 in zombies:

• All Double XP Tokens (Level XP, Weapon XP, and Battle Pass XP)
• All GobbleGums
• All Augments and Augment Research progression
• The Black Ops 6 Zombies Dedicated Crew: Carver, Grey, Maya, and Weaver, along with any Operator Skin rewards earned from completing Main Quests in Black Ops 6 Zombies
• The Prestige Level 1,000 “New Orders” Operator Skin reward for Samuels, if earned in Black Ops 6

Wait, another Black Ops so soon?

By far the strangest aspect of Black Ops 7 is its timing. We just got Black Ops 6 last year, which makes this the second time in a row that Call of Duty has sequelized the previous year's game instead of following its usual pattern.

That pattern would typically dictate that it's Infinity Ward's turn to dazzle us with the next Modern Warfare, but instead we're getting another Blops helmed by Treyarch (which tends to focus on multiplayer and Zombies) and Raven Software (which has made the last few Blops campaigns).

There are obvious red flags here. The last time this happened was 2023's Modern Warfare 3, a sequel that reporting indicated was thrown together by Sledgehammer after Activision delayed Black Ops 6 a year. Because Activision wasn't about to skip an opportunity to release something for $70 in 2023, it pushed out a disjointed, shallow, and noticeably barren CoD that earned the series' worst reviews in history. Assuming it wasn't always the plan to double-dip on Blops in 2024 and 2025, we could be watching history repeat itself.

Black Ops 7? More like Call of Duty 22

No seriously. If we're only counting mainline games, Black Ops 7 is Call of Duty 22. Let that sink in, then expunge it from your aging body and let it wash over you.