The second Call of Duty title to launch under the Xbox umbrella, following Microsoft’s record-setting acquisition of Activision Blizzard King, is set to launch this fall. Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 was officially teased with a three-minute trailer that rounded up the end of the Xbox Games Showcase during Summer Game Fest.
The game marks the first time in Black Ops history that lead studio Treyarch has released a sequel back-to-back with its predecessor, a change that was ushered in previously for the Modern Warfare series in 2022 and 2023.
Surprisingly, little has been confirmed by Activision on Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 to date. However, it is confirmed that a full reveal of Black Ops 7 will hit the Gamescom stage during Geoff Keighley’s Opening Night Live ceremonies. While there are still plenty of gaps in what we know about Black Ops 7, let’s take a moment to break down what we do know for certain.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 first look teaser
Call of Duty’s release timeline is typically so reliable that you can set a watch to it. But 2025 has been unique, and the release timeline we often rely on for what’s coming to the multi-billion-dollar-earning franchise has been completely tossed out the window. Rather than a full reveal during late spring like we normally see for COD, it wasn’t until mid-June that Activision bothered even to confirm that a Call of Duty title was on the way this year.
The confirmation we did get was in the form of a three-minute teaser trailer and a brief blog post from the Call of Duty team confirming that COD 2025 is, in fact, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7. Following the reveal teaser, there was a lot of talk on social media by people who thought the trailer was for a Remedy (Control, Alan Wake) adjacent title.
In reality, Black Ops 7 is taking a stroll down the psychological horror route, embracing the series’ history of flirting with mature themes like conspiracies, torture, and brainwashing. The teaser trailer was packed full of hints and Easter eggs for the eagle-eyed Black Ops fan. So many that we made a list of seven details you might have missed in the Black Ops 7 trailer.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 reveal at Gamescom
CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS 7 worldwide reveal at Opening Night Live kicks off @gamescom in a massive way.Tuesday, August 19.Streaming live everywhere at 2p ET / 11a PT / 8p CEST. pic.twitter.com/6HfSTirTzeJuly 14, 2025
The details about what we can expect from Black Ops 7 have been scarce, but it doesn’t look like we’ll have to wait too much longer to learn more. Gamescom Opening Night Live host Geoff Keighley has shared via social media that we can expect to see more from Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 on August 19, starting at 2 pm ET/11 am PT/8 pm CEST.
While the traditional Call of Duty marketing schedule has seemingly gone out the window for Black Ops 7, Activision has previously taken to the Gamescom Opening Night Live stage to showcase a mission of the upcoming Call of Duty campaign. We can likely expect the same for this year’s reveal, possibly with a release date or a tease for when we can expect COD Next and an open beta.
Black Ops 7 is also expected to be a part of the Xbox @ Gamescom stream on August 20.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 release date
Activision has yet to confirm a release date for Black Ops 7. However, there have been plenty of rumors swirling around that have pointed toward a possible release date of November 14. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 released on October 25, 2024, but a mid-November launch window is the norm for Call of Duty titles.
Only a couple of games in the franchise’s history have launched in October.
The November launch window would allow Black Ops 6 a little more breathing room and the opportunity to close out the sixth and final season of post-launch content with the much-anticipated annual Halloween-themed event, The Haunting.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 campaign gameplay
While Call of Duty as a whole is notorious for its awful naming convention and mixed-up release schedule, nothing holds a candle to the convoluted Black Ops series’ timeline. Black Ops 7’s predecessor, 2024’s Black Ops 6, was set in the 1990s and followed a sequence of events that occurred in a flashback originally shown in 2012’s Call of Duty: Black Ops 2.
Following the Xbox Games Showcase teaser for Black Ops 7 and an interview with Treyarch associate creative director Miles Leslie on an episode of the COD POD, we learned that Black Ops 7 will time-jump the franchise back into the near future. Black Ops 7 will take place in 2035 — 44 years after the events of Black Ops 6, but only a decade after the events of Black Ops 2.
There are only a handful of characters confirmed for Black Ops 7 so far. From the teaser trailer, we know we’ll get a chance to learn more about David Mason, the son of the ill-fated CIA Operative Alex Mason. The teaser also introduced Emma Kagan, portrayed by Chilling Adventures of Sabrina’s Kiernan Shipka, and the return of series antagonist Raul Menendez.
Menendez’s appearance in the trailer is significant, as there are two potential endings for Black Ops 2, and one resulted in the character’s death. However, his appearance is also marked by the red butterfly, which may serve as a clue to players that what they are seeing is not reality.
We do know for certain that the campaign for Black Ops 7 has been crafted by Raven Software, which was also responsible for the campaign narratives in both Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War and Black Ops 6. It is likely we will see a full reveal of the campaign with a more in-depth trailer during Gamescom Opening Night Live on August 19 and additional details during the Xbox livestream from Gamescom on August 20.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 multiplayer gameplay
At the time of writing this, we know almost nothing about Call of Duty: Black Ops 7’s multiplayer. I say “almost” because the rumor mill had spun up pretty hard with the notion that Black Ops 7 would feature wall-running and futuristic movement built on top of Black Ops 6’s omnimovement.
Videos reportedly showed wall-running features already programmed into Black Ops 6. There was speculation that the feature was a leftover from omnimovement’s development, or that it may have been added in preparation for Black Ops 7.
However, Treyarch quickly poured cold water on the futuristic movement and wall-running theories, declaring that while Black Ops 7 takes place in 2035, it is still too far removed from the futuristic tech seen in Black Ops 3 and 4 for those abilities to be present.
Black Ops 7’s skirting the line of modern and futuristic timelines gives the developers a little leeway in the tech we could see coming to multiplayer’s score streaks, though. There won’t be any exosuits, but the teaser trailer did show off some drones and quadrupedal robotic weaponry that could show up in multiplayer.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 and the COD HQ launcher
Call of Duty’s player base does not love the COD HQ launcher that was originally introduced with Modern Warfare 2 (2022) and Warzone 2.0. Since then, the launcher was expanded to include MW2, MW3, Black Ops 6, Warzone, and MW2’s DMZ mode. In an interview with Treyarch leadership at COD Next in 2024, the team told us that they were “on a journey” with the Call of Duty launcher and attempting to overhaul it to better suit the needs of the players.
However, Activision recently made the move to decouple Modern Warfare 2 (2022) and Modern Warfare (2023) from the Call of Duty HQ. The decoupling signifies that Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 may not be a part of the launcher when it releases this fall, either. That likelihood is further marked by Black Ops 7 being announced as an Xbox Play Anywhere title, an entitlement that was not included with any previous Call of Duty game.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7and Warzone integration
Of course, part of the reason for Activision and the Call of Duty team’s push to integrate premium Call of Duty titles with the COD HQ launcher is for Call of Duty: Warzone. There’s no real concrete information on what we can expect for the integration of Warzone and Black Ops 7, though it is likely that the games’ progression tracks and weapons will merge sometime around Season 1 in December 2025.
Warzone has had a rough year following the launch of Black Ops 6, due in part to ongoing woes with the proprietary anti-cheat system, RICOCHET. Black Ops 6 brought with it the launch of the Area 99 map for Warzone Resurgence, which was unceremoniously removed from the game, and the return of Verdansk as the official Battle Royale big map.
Season 5 of Black Ops 6 is changing up Verdansk with the removal of the roof of Stadium, and more changes could come along following the launch of Black Ops 7. We are unlikely to know much more about what to expect for Warzone and Black Ops 7’s merger before COD NEXT, which Activision has yet to confirm for 2025.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 FAQ
Does Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 support Xbox Play Anywhere?
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is the first title in the franchise’s 20+-year history to participate in Xbox’s Play Anywhere initiative. Microsoft purchased Call of Duty’s publisher, Activision, as part of a record-breaking merger that drew the ire of global regulators. After a lengthy legal process, the Xbox-Activision merger was closed, giving Xbox ownership of the Call of Duty titles.
Xbox’s Play Anywhere program is an entitlement that allows Xbox customers to purchase a title once — either on Xbox or via Xbox on PC — and then access that game title on all Xbox platforms regardless of hardware. This includes Xbox, PC via the Windows Store (which has been rebranded as Xbox on PC), and Xbox Cloud Gaming services.
Call of Duty fans have already enjoyed cross-platform progression that allowed for carrying the same combat record across PC, Xbox, Cloud, and PlayStation via a shared Activision account. Xbox Play Anywhere functionality shouldn’t change the way that works as of right now.
Is Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 DLC for Call of Duty: Black Ops 6?
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is its own standalone premium title, complete with a full-length campaign, multiplayer, and zombies modes. Call of Duty: Black Ops 7’s launch mirrors that of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, where a direct sequel was released in the year following its predecessor after having been developed in tandem.
Similar to Modern Warfare 3’s launch, this has led many to speculate that Black Ops 7 will not be a full title. Xbox’s marketing tactics for Black Ops 7 have not been particularly helpful in dispelling the myth, as Black Ops 6 was in full swing with its popular The Replacer marketing campaign by this time last year. Black Ops 7’s launch has been significantly understated in comparison, fueling the conspiracy.
Does Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 support Carry Forward?
With the launch of 2023’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 as a direct sequel to 2022’s Modern Warfare 2, Activision introduced the concept of Carry Forward. The Carry Forward policy allowed players’ purchased operator bundles, weapon camos, and bundles to transfer from MW2 to MW3 (although not from MW3 backward to MW2).
Carry Forward, as a concept, was viable because of the move to a shared Call of Duty engine and cohesive timeline linked together by Call of Duty: Warzone. The policy has not been confirmed (nor denied!) for Black Ops 7, but Activision and Treyarch’s decision to implement it could hinge on whether the franchise stays linked via the COD HQ.
However, the ESRB rating for Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 was recently revealed. The ratings summary did include mentions of drug paraphernalia, including a mention of a previously released weed-loving operator skin with an assault rifle equipped with a bong. That could be an indication that we will see those skins carry forward, or it could also just mean that Black Ops 7 will share the COD HQ launcher with Warzone, where those skins remain available.
We’ll just have to wait for more info on this one. If you plan to purchase any operator bundles at this point in Black Ops 6’s lifecycle, you do so with the knowledge that it may be obsolete for Multiplayer soon.
Does Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 have a Zombies mode?
Hell yeah, it does! The inclusion of Zombies was teased briefly in the montage of the Black Ops 7 reveal teaser. In 2024, Zombies mode for Black Ops 6 was shown during the COD NEXT reveal, so Activision is likely to follow suit and show off more of Zombies when and if we have a COD NEXT event this year.
Season 5 of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6’s post-launch content is set to usher in the finale of the current Dark Aether storyline.
Is Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 on Xbox and PC Game Pass?
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is a first-party title for Xbox following the acquisition of Activision Blizzard King. As a first-party title, Black Ops 7 will launch directly into Game Pass. Subscribers of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate or PC Game Pass can jump into Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 on launch at no extra cost as part of their subscription.
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