Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War player progression detailed, shares across Warzone and Modern Warfare

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Prestige that lasts, even across games.

Call Of Duty Black Ops Cold War Screenshot
Call Of Duty Black Ops Cold War Screenshot (Image credit: Activision)

What you need to know

  • Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is the next entry in the long-running first-person shooter franchise.
  • The game brings the franchise back in time from the last title, but still has some new tricks and changes up its sleeve.
  • Progression through the Prestige System, a staple of Call of Duty, is getting a major change that should benefit veterans and newcomers alike.
  • There is more Prestige than ever before, with progression that tracks across Black Ops Cold War, Modern Warfare, and Warzone.

Every year brings us a new Call of Duty title, and the winner for this year is Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, a very convoluted name for a Call of Duty that does its best to appeal to Call of Duty veterans and potential new players alike with some small tweaks and changes to the formula. Today, Activision detailed player progression for Black Ops Cold War, including how the infamous Call of Duty Prestige system will work in the newest game coming in a few days.

Before, Prestiging in Call of Duty meant resetting your levels, and losing all of your gun progression and Create-a-Class unlocks, which deterred a lot of players from bothering just for the exclusive emblems. Now, Prestiging means going beyond Lv 55, with new levels being added with every Season that comes to Call of Duty. A new Prestige level happens every 50 seasonal levels, up to 200 levels, with an addition 800 levels beyond that just for the players who want that challenge and grind. Even better, new Seasons doesn't mean Prestiging is reset either, with players able to progress at their own rate, and catch up when they're able to.

One of the biggest changes coming to Call of Duty's progression however is the introduction of a new Global Levelling System, which means Seasons (and progression) will be the same across Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, Modern Warfare, and the Warzone battle royale spin-off. This means you won't lose your rewards and unlocks from last year's Call of Duty, and you won't immediately be missing out if you don't buy into Black Ops Cold War day one.

Overall, these changes seem like good ones, adding new challenge for grind-happy players without the frustrations, and making it even easier for more casual players to progress and build up their own collection of Prestige levels.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War releases November 13, 2020, and is coming to the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S, with next-gen enhancements for the pair.

Next-gen shooter

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Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War

Cold War era.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War takes players to the 1980s with a thriller-esque campaign at the height of tension between superpowers. There is a standard edition of the game, while the cross-gen version is $70 and includes the digital Xbox Series X version of the game. The ultimate edition includes the cross-gen version and extra digital goodies.

Xbox Series X/S

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Zachary Boddy
Zachary Boddy

Zachary Boddy is the Minecraft Expert and a News Writer for Windows Central, Android Central, and iMore. They have been gaming and writing for most of their life, and have been freelancing for Windows Central and its sister sites since 2019, with a focus on Xbox and PC gaming. You can find Zachary on Twitter @BoddyZachary.