Why is that a problem? The Call of Duty App doesn’t just include Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, which launched last year to underwhelming reviews due to its campaign. It also tracks Black Ops 6, Warzone, the Modern Warfare series, and much more. Keep in mind that these player counts follow Holiday discounts and even a free week. The sad part is that this isn’t even the lowest in the past week, as it reached 39,015 peak concurrent players on January 8th.

Of course, none of this changes the fact that Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 topped last November’s US sales charts (even if Battlefield 6 emerged as the top-selling premium game of 2026). Engagement with the app on consoles in the region was also as strong as ever, only lagging behind Fortnite and eking out ahead of Grand Theft Auto 5.

Nevertheless, Activision has pivoted significantly by announcing that it would no longer release back-to-back Modern Warfare and Black Ops titles. “We will drive innovation that is meaningful, not incremental. While we aren’t sharing those plans today, we look forward to doing so when the time is right.” Its developers have apparently been building the “next era of Call of Duty,” and judging by the current release cycle, it may be Modern Warfare 4.

In the meantime, check out our review for Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 here. We gave it a five out of ten for the multiplayer (despite netcode and hit registration issues), and Zombies (despite the overtly safe gameplay loop). The campaign is an utter disaster, but at least Treyarch released an update to let you skip it and go straight to Endgame.

But what else differentiates this year’s entry from Black Ops 6? Let’s dive into 15 of the biggest factors, from new multiplayer modes and scorestreaks to their post-launch support.

Surreal Missions and Landscapes

It’s 2035. Raul Menendez, somehow evading the spectre of death, is back and threatens to destroy the world. Mason sans numbers and his team obviously want to avoid that, but something else is in the air. Some “fear” toxin that distorts everyone’s perception, resulting in surreal occurrences. Which basically translates into twisted versions of known locations, with spiraling highways, shifting corridors, floating islands, and giant machetes raining from the sky. Long story short, if you were fed up with the few missions that took this approach in Black Ops 6, that appears to be the same approach that Black Ops 7 takes for the whole campaign. Well, almost. We’ll get to that shortly.

Four-Player Campaign Co-op

Campaign co-op is nothing new for the genre, but Black Ops 7 is taking things a step further by incorporating, for the very first time, support for four players. The bad news? No difficulty, options, even if you wanted to play solo. In an interview with IGN, it was explained that developing a co-op campaign requires a different mindset. The goal was to ensure that each mission feels engaging for solo players while still delivering a social experience that’s fun and suitably challenging for groups of two to four players. Does it make the most sense? Not really, but at least Black Ops 6 still offers Recruit, Regular, Hardened and Veteran difficulties.

Avalon and “Endgame”

Look, you can say what you want about Black Ops 6’s mission board and how inconsequential it ultimately felt, but at least it wasn’t an extraction mode like Avalon. As the final mission of Black Ops 7, it’s also the “endgame.” Also, it supports up to 32 players. The goal is to drop in, either solo or with a squad, complete objectives, and then extract before the time runs out. Different areas offer tougher challenges and better rewards. You can curate weapons and customize loadouts to bring into Avalon while unlocking different abilities (including a grappling hook). However, you can lose them on death, effectively wiping hours of progress, and there are PvP elements. It feels like another crack at the controversial DMZ, but tied to the campaign, and right now, the jury’s out on the execution.

Launch Maps

“16” appears to be the magic number for both titles when it comes to the Core 6v6 maps, but it wouldn’t be a Call of Duty title without some remasters. Among the 16 multiplayer maps are Hijacked, Express and Raid, with the latter moving from Hollywood Hills to Tokyo. The biggest difference is in the other maps, namely…

Skirmish

Black Ops 6 took the contemporary formula of quick engagements and minimal downtime, and distilled it even further into four Strike maps. You had access to four at launch with accommodations for 12 players, but they can also be used in 2v2 matches. Black Ops 7, on the other hand, has decided to go in the complete opposite direction with Skirmish. Two teams of 40 players each. Multiple objectives. Vehicles. Wingsuits. Two maps at launch, which may end up feeling even smaller than Battlefield 6’s, but I digress.

Overload

Another new mode is Overload, which is like Capture the Flag mixed with Destiny’s Rift. An overload device spawns at a certain point in the map, and both teams must compete to pick it up and deliver it to one of two drop points on the opposing side. The device carrier can fight back, but is constantly shown on the map, so some escorts are ideal. It’s 6v6 and first to eight points wins, complete with switching sides at half-time.

16 Brand New Weapons

There are 30 new weapons at launch for Black Ops 7, a slight drop from the 33 that Black Ops 6 offered, but that total includes 16 never-before-seen additions. The Echo 12 shotgun, which fires off two shots in semi-automatic fashion; the bolt-action VS Recon sniper rifle; the XR-3 Ion sniper with its three-round burst; and the Dravec SMG, which actually first appeared in Black Ops 6 as a PP-919 blueprint.

New Perks

Combat Specialties are the big new thing, but Perks remain the backbone of your loadout. Slipstream, which increased your base sprinting speed while removing Tactical Sprint, is gone, but in a roundabout twist, Tactical Sprint is now a Tier 1 Perk which also reduces your normal sprinting speed. Furthermore, some Perks have been combined since the beta, like Quartermaster being folded into Gearhead for two Field Upgrade charges and equipment recharge over time. No longer will you have to choose one over the other like in Black Ops 6.

New Scorestreaks

Blame – or praise – the futuristic setting for the scorestreaks in Black Ops 7. Several of the classics carry over from last year, including the Scout Pulse, RC-XD, UAV, Care Package and whatnot. However, you can also send out a Deployable Armor Weaponized Groundcraft, otherwise known as D.A.W.G. (yes, really) or commandeer a hulking robot with a minigun known as Rhino. Perhaps the most awe-inspiring is Legion, a drone cluster that swarms the map, attacking opponents willy-nilly.

Weapon Build Sharing

Finding a broken combination of attachments for weapons is part of the fun in Call of Duty, and in Black Ops 7, it’s easier to share it with others than before. Upon creating your own version of a weapon, it generates a Build Code. When another player imports it into their game, the custom weapon is automatically assembled (assuming they have it and the attachments unlocked). No more having to follow each step of a custom weapon guide exactly. Just import the code and you’re good to go.

New Movement Options

Black Ops 7 is set in the future, which is why there’s wall jumping but not wall-running. The Omnimovement introduced in Black Ops 6 carries over, but there are some new movement options, including a combat roll (which strangely transitions to third-person and back) and the ability to move while mounted up. Not the most revolutionary of changes, but they still ensure that the action remains mostly boots-on-the-ground.

Return of Weapon Prestige

Classic Prestige, with its multiple levels, Permanent Unlock Tokens, icons, themes, and more, returns from last year. However, for the first time since Black Ops 4, there’s Weapon Prestige with two Prestige levels and a 250-level grind through Prestige Master. The rewards range from unique Prestige attachments and camos to charms. Multiply this by 30 weapons and you’ll be busy for quite some time.

Open Matchmaking and Persistent Lobbies

When the Black Ops 7 open beta went live, there was a surprisingly strong sense of apathy from all quarters. Skill-based matchmaking was one of the major factors that turned fans away, so Black Ops 7 introduced the unthinkable: Open matchmaking, prioritizing connection quality over skill after years of complaints. The experiment was apparently a success because the full game will have open matchmaking. If that wasn’t enough, persistent lobbies are making a comeback, so those comfortable in a specific lobby and wanting to keep matching the same players can now do so.

TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot Required

Cheaters may never fully be gone from multiplayer titles, but like Battlefield 6, Black Ops 7 is definitely making it tougher. Secure Boot will be required to play alongside Trusted Platform Module 2.0. The standard Activision account requirement remains, and if you’re playing through Steam, you need to link a phone number (which was a requirement for Black Ops 6 as well).

Comparing Post-Launch Plans

With three Core maps, three Strike maps, seven weapons and two modes among tons of other additions, Season 1 of Black Ops 6 was pretty packed. However, the first season of Black Ops 7 will be the biggest ever with seven Core 6v6 maps, seven additional weapons (including the Maddox, Ballistic Knife, and Crossbow), and much more. It begins on December 4th, but for those who can’t wait, Nuketown will drop less than a week after launch.

Overall, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is shaping up to be a much meatier offering than last year’s, but what are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments.

According to Circana senior director Mat Piscatella, it ranked seventh in the weekly active player charts for PlayStation and sixth for Xbox. This is for the week ending October 18th – before this, it ranked in 12th and eighth places respectively. By comparison, Call of Duty HQ, which is where you go to access all things Call of Duty (including Black Ops 6 and Warzone), ranked second on both platforms.

Compare this to the weekly active players on Steam for the same week in the US and Canada, where Battlefield 6 ranked first and Call of Duty HQ is nowhere to be seen. It only echoes Piscatella’s previous report about how its sales are “among the best seen for a premium game” in the region.

However, with Battlefield: RedSec, a standalone free-to-play battle royale experience, going live today, we may see a week where Call of Duty bends the knee. In the meantime, check out our review for Battlefield 6, which has sold over seven million copies in three days.

Of course, fans can also access all the multiplayer and Zombies maps, but Ranked Play isn’t available. The trial coincides with the release of Season 6, which adds three new maps, a Halloween variant of Nuketown, new limited-time events, and more.

For those who never played the campaign, it’s not the worst deal, especially given its length. Check out our review for more details, though keep in mind that several updates and changes have been released for other modes since.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 launches on November 14th for Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS4, PS5, and PC. Its open beta is live until 9 AM PT today with six maps, the new Overload mode, and a Zombies Survival map.

With several premium titles in October and November, it makes sense for Microsoft to want the maximum possible revenue. However, Bloomberg’s Cecilia D’Anastasio reports that the service still hasn’t generated the desired revenue. Furthermore, titles on the service have allegedly begun “cutting into sales of higher-margin games like Call of Duty.”

A former employee revealed that Xbox reportedly sacrificed over $300 million in console and PC sales last year for Call of Duty. Before Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 launches in November, these Game Pass changes could mark the company doing everything possible to limit revenue losses without backtracking on day one access.

Of course, that includes Game Pass Premium subscribers no longer receiving new Call of Duty titles on day one of their release. Other Xbox-published titles will arrive on the service within a year.

With extensive backlash to the pricing, it remains to be seen how Microsoft will respond. Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 launches on November 14th for Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS4, PS5, and PC. The beta is currently live on all platforms.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle

When Indiana Jones and the Great Circle was announced as a first-person title, many fans would have understandably been skeptical as to how such an action-adventure-focused title would work within the context of a first-person game. But those skepticisms were pleasantly washed away when the game actually came out. In addition to a very engaging story with memorable characters, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle features intriguing puzzles and a great deal of flexibility in how you choose to go about quests.

As the game gets closer to release, Scronce has also noted that the developers are aiming for a TTK that makes sure that players don’t die either too fast or too slow, while also making sure that there is enough room in the gameplay department for a variety of weapons to be effective.

“Currently sitting around Black Ops 6 [time to kill],” wrote Sconce. “We like where that has settled as not too fast and not too slow, giving enough time to react and room for weapons to have diversity without targets feeling overly spongy.”

The Call of Duty is known for its fast-paced multiplayer, and over the years, various developers have tried experimenting with the TTK metric to find the perfect balance between damage and player life. While the series has traditionally focused on quick run-and-gun gameplay, titles like Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, for instance, tried their hand at slowing the pace of gameplay down a bit.

Interestingly, associate creative director Miles Leslie had previously confirmed that the development of Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 started at around the same time as Black Ops 6. In an interview, Leslie spoke about the challenges associated with developing both titles at the same time, especially since both titles take place at vastly different time periods.

“They were started at the same time,” said Leslie back in August. “So obviously, they have different production ramp-up times, but they were started in parallel and greenlit at the same time. That was a really unique challenge, but also fun to be able to know that you’re going to do that. Black Ops 6 is going to be 1991 rogue team, and now how do you flip the script on Black Ops 7 in 2035?”

Developers Raven Software and Treyarch had also announced back in August that they would be toning down some of the cosmetics available for Call of Duty: Black Ops 7. To achieve this, they confirmed that players will not be able to carry over their skins and Operators from Black Ops 6 into 7. In a statement, the companies acknowledged that there had been questions about the identity of Call of Duty as a franchise, and some of the skins from Black Ops 6 could be immersion breaking.

“We know there’s been a lot of conversation recently about the identity of Call of Duty,” acknowledged Raven Software and Treyarch. “Some of you have said we’ve drifted from what made Call of Duty unique in the first place: immersive, intense, visceral and in many ways grounded. That feedback hits home, and we take it seriously. We hear you.”

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is being developed for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S, and is slated for release on November 14.

In a new community update on the official website, the developers acknowledged the feedback that plenty of the skins that have been added to Call of Duty over the last few years might take away from a player’s sense of immersion in the game’s various multiplayer modes.

“We know there’s been a lot of conversation recently about the identity of Call of Duty,” acknowledged Raven Software and Treyarch. “Some of you have said we’ve drifted from what made Call of Duty unique in the first place: immersive, intense, visceral and in many ways grounded. That feedback hits home, and we take it seriously. We hear you.”

Noting that both studios want to create a spiritual successor to Black Ops 2 with the upcoming title, they have announced that Operators, Operator Skins, and Weapons will not carry forward from Black Ops 6.

Despite this move, other things that players might want to carry over, including Double XP tokens and GobbleGums will still do so into Black Ops 7. It is also worth noting that these changes only apply to Black Ops 7 itself. Call of Duty: Warzone will be completely unaffected by this move, with Black Ops 6 content still carrying over.

“Black Ops 7 needs to feel authentic to Call of Duty and its setting,” wrote the developers in the community update. “That is why Black Ops 6 Operator and Weapon content will not carry forward to Black Ops 7. Double XP tokens and GobbleGums will still carry forward, because we recognize your time and progression are important.”

In the community update, the studios also spoke about its anti-cheat system RICOCHET, and how it will be used to prevent cheating in Black Ops 7. The post mentions that the studios were able to shut down cheat makers faster and that developers were able to clean out the game’s leaderboards with reduced response times. The upcoming title will get new detection and mitigation systems designed to “kick cheateres earlier and harder”.

Treyarch had confirmed earlier this month that Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 will not allow players to choose between difficulty options in the single-player campaign. In an interview, associate creative director Miles Leslie said that this decision was made due to the game allowing players to play in co-op.

“For the difficulty, it’s baked in. We’ve built it for solo or four-player squads as well,” explained Leslie. “You cannot pick a difficulty like past games. We’ve baked it in because you have to approach a co-op campaign differently, and we wanted to make sure the missions felt right for solo players — we’re not forgetting about you, we love you — but also because it is a social experience we want to make sure it’s fun, but the right amount of challenging for two, three, and four players as well.”

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is coming to PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S on November 14. More details about the upcoming title’s multiplayer are slated to be revealed in September.

Original Story:

Activision has seemingly started advertisements to some new parts of the UI in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6. As caught by IGN, players have taken to Reddit to confirm that ads have started popping up in several different menus since the release of the Season 4 update for the game. Some of the menus where advertisements have been spotted include the loadout management screen, as well as the weapon-selection screen.

These advertisements seemingly largely revolve around Activision trying to convince Call of Duty players to buy more gun bundles. Some of the screenshots posted by players feature ads for the Reactive: Peek Performance bundle, the Comic Bonanza Tracer Pack, and the Reactive: Bank Roll bundle. Players have also spotted ads for the game’s battle pass showing up in its events menu, where the game would traditionally reveal details about its ongoing events like special playlists and double XP events.

“One of the unwelcome changes I’ve noticed with Season 4 is that they’ve now inserted a new ad spot at the top of the list of your weapon specifics builds,” wrote Reddit user whambampl on the Black Ops 6 subreddit. “So now every time you toggle between weapon builds you get to stare at ads for $20-$30 skins. I’m sure the Activision developer who suggested this terrible feature is very proud of themselves.”

For understandable reasons, players have criticised this move quite harshly, with many complaining that a full-priced multiplayer title should not also feature advertisements. One Reddit user also notes that these ads would be more understandable in a free-to-play game like Call of Duty: Warzone.

However, the fact that ads are showing up in the multiplayer menus for Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, which requires players to pay $70 for the full game to access, has been the chief criticism by players.

“This game is still €80. I get that they make most of their money from the store, but I feel like the bare minimum for a premium product would be to not have ads clogging the menus right?” wrote one user on Reddit. “Just wait until they add pop up ads for bundles while you are playing the game,” wrote another.

While Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 has been out for some time now, rumours have already started swirling around the next game in the franchise. Reportedly slated to be another Black Ops game, recent rumours have also indicated that monetisation might go even further in the title. According to leaker The Ghost of Hope from earlier this month, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 might even end up featuring events that can only be participated in by players that have bought a battle pass.

While no official details have been revealed so far, these rumours indicate that there will be a greater emphasis placed on “more seasonal limited-time events,” with higher tier skins, loot and crossover operators that would usually be rewarded through these events being only available for those that buy the premium battle pass.

In the meantime, Activision has also announced the end of support for Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile.

The report cites Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 as being one of the key contributors to this success, bringing in 38 million monthly players in November. It also saw a lot of play on Christmas, with 20 million cumulative hours. The report also credits the fact that Microsoft has been focusing on bringing its first-party titles to platforms other than Xbox as well. For instance, 64 percent of the Microsoft titles being bought on PlayStation Call of Duty.

According to Ampere, Microsoft is followed by Electronic Arts, which made $366 million in December 2024, compared to Microsoft’s $465 million. EA’s performance was credited to EA Sports FC 25.

Aside from publisher stats, Ampere’s report also revealed data on free-to-play titles. Fortnite took the lead in this regard, with a cumulative 30 million hours spent in the game on Christmas. Among the new releases, the report cites four key titles published by Chinese companies that had large player bases in December: NetEase’s Marvel Rivals, the Path of Exile 2 (by the Tencent-owned Grinding Gear Games), Papergames’ Infinity Nikki, and Tencent’s Delta Force.

Path of Exile 2 has reportedly generated $148 million through its pay-to-play Early Access release as well as its microtransaction shop. Marvel Rivals, on the other hand, is estimated to have 29 million monthly players.

“The growing global scale of major Chinese publishers adds a new dynamic to the console and PC gaming markets, and inevitably means added competition in what is already a hyper-competitive industry,” said Ampere research director Piers Harding-Rolls talking about the performance of these titles in December.

Regarding hardware, however, Microsoft is trailing behind quite a bit. Even the current-gen Xbox Series X/S isn’t selling at the same rate as the Xbox One did, according to a recent report by Circana’s Mat Piscatella. The report did indicate, however, that console sales have been on a downward trend for all companies, with 2023 having been a better year for hardware sales than 2024 was.

Considering the success that Microsoft has seen as a game publisher recently, here are our thoughts on what we can expect to see from the company on the gaming front in 2025.