August 21, 2025 — This article has been updated to reflect new information revealed about Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 following the official reveal during Gamescom Opening Night Live and subsequent interviews during the official COD POD Podcast.
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 drop later 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 before receiving an official reveal headlining Geoff Keighley's Opening Night Live ceremonies.
The game marks the first time in Black Ops history that lead studio Treyarch has released a sequel back-to-back with its predecessor. The change was ushered in previously for the Call of Duty franchise with the launch of the Modern Warfare 2 and 3 games in 2022 and 2023, respectively.
We now have a ton of exciting details on Call of Duty: Black Ops 7's campaign, multiplayer, and Zombies modes following the Gamescom reveal and follow-up COD POD episode, as well as my own interview with Treyarch's Matt Scronce and Yale Miller from a recent press briefing. 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.
Introducing The Guild ahead of Gamescom
While it seemed like Activision was mostly radio silent about Black Ops 7 following its Xbox Games Showcase teaser, the team did start to drip out some teasers ahead of the full reveal during Gamescom.
The first teaser to release appeared to be an advertisement for the in-game entity, The Guild. Activision went above and beyond just teaser ads, though, instead opting to release several billboards around San Francisco on August 11, 2025, followed up with an additional sponsored ad on the official Forbes Instagram account. A website at https://theguild.io and Instagram account named wearetheguild also appeared online.
On August 12, The Guild's website was updated to showcase new equipment dubbed "innovations" that included the D.A.W.G, the GR-5, the HKD, the Legion Drone, and the Guild QuadCore. Some of these "innovations" have been confirmed to be earnable scorestreaks in Black Ops 7.
Tucked away between posts about Mr. Beast and Ryan Reynolds on the account Pubity was yet another ad for The Guild, this time declaring that the company would be launching a public IPO complete with a statement from The Guild CTO Victor Thane.
The post included a video that showed a worried police officer as The Guild robotics drew crowds in populated areas of New York City.
At the same time, the newly official Instagram account for The Guild was hosting a trading poll as part of a promotional partnership between Activision and prediction market/financial exchange Kalshi.
This partnership included a poll asking if the U.S. military would use robotic soldiers in active combat by 2035 — a notion that makes up at least part of the premise of the Black Ops 7 campaign.
A second teaser also dropped on YouTube, during the ARG, building upon the previously posted mentions of The Guild celebrating its IPO. The live action teaser featured a man in a suit with an American flag pocket square giving a passionate speech about how tech companies had lied to the public, and that only The Guild could provide protection.
The speech continues by saying that in 2035, robots would make up the armies of countries globally, stating "Your enemies won't be human, and neither will your defenders."
The Forbes article showcased on Instagram also appears in the "Don't Fear Tomorrow" trailer.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 reveal at Gamescom
The details about what we can expect from Black Ops 7 have been scarce up until recently, but we finally have a full reveal trailer courtesy of Opening Night Live.
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. Interestingly enough, we didn't see a full campaign mission this time around — only a proper trailer.
The trailer opens with Emma Kagan (portrayed by Kiernan Shipka) saying, "They want you afraid. Fear makes you easier to control. It is time to wake up." A variety of chaotic scenes flash on the screen along with the intro, until we see broken screens with classic Black Ops villain Raul Menendez giving a speech.
In Black Ops lore, Menendez has carried out a series of terror attacks across America, hitting major cities like New York and Los Angeles. We see Emma Kagan calling him a terrorist before being greeted with images of The Guild's GR-5 robotic soldiers. "We're bringing peace and security to the world," Kagan continues.
The next scene shows David "Section" Mason (portrayed by Milo Ventimiglia) strolling through a cemetery with a much older Troy Marshall than we last saw in Black Ops 6. Marshall gives Mason some advice, "Stop looking backwards, David. What matters is what we do next," as we see a Vtol score streak hovering in the sky.
The camera cuts again, and we see Mason and his crew prepping for a mission. This is the first time we get a proper look at Mason's squad, and the characters we see here are the ones that we'll be playing as when we jump into the campaign at launch. The squad consists of returning Black Ops 2 characters Mike Harper (portrayed by Michael Rooker), Eric Samuels (voiced by John Eric Bentley), and Leilani "50/50" Tupuola (portrayed by Frankie Adams.)
Tupuola is of particular note because the operator features bionic prosthetics on one of her arms and one leg. According to Treyarch and Raven Software, Tupuola was diagnosed with a degenerative disease and opted to have her limbs replaced with prosthetics as part of an experimental new program that aimed to enhance soldiers with robotics.
That concept probably sounds familiar to anybody who has played Black Ops 3 and 4.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 release date
Activision has confirmed a release date of November 14, 2025 for Call of Duty: Black Ops 7. 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 several 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.
As mentioned previously, the trailer also featured additional characters from the JSOC team for the campaign. David Mason will head up the "Sector One" squad and the "Spector Two" division is led by Slade "Razor" Barrick.
The campaign for Black Ops 7 has been crafted in tandem with Black Ops 6, of which it is a direct sequel, by Raven Software in partnership with Treyarch. Raven Software also took the lead on the campaign narratives in both Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War and Black Ops 6. I
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 multiplayer gameplay
Prior to any information being released about BO7, 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.
That was a bit of a half-truth on Treyarch's part, though, and we know now that Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 will feature "wall jumping", a boost jump, grapple hooks, and a combat roll to minimize fall damage as part of its advanced movement. The tactical sprint option has been removed as a default setting and will now require a perk.
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 we can expect to see in multiplayer as scorestreaks.
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 concrete information on what we can expect from the integration of Warzone and Black Ops 7, although 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 is confirmed for September 27.
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 been confirmed for Black Ops 7, but according to leadership at Treyarch the details of what will and won't move forward are still being hammered out.
We do know for certain that Double XP Tokens and GobbleGums will carry forward from Black Ops 6 to Black Ops 7 at launch — a change in the policy following the launch of Black Ops 6, which left players' tokens behind in MW3 initially, only to bring them over post-launch due to backlash.
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.
Treyarch has also confirmed that additional items will move over with Carry Forward in Season 1, but did not specify if Operator Skins would be among them. 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 come November.
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. Black Ops 7's Zombies mode is a unique twist on Black Ops 2's Tranzit model, which featured a massive map that players traversed via a bus driven by a robot zombie. Listen, it was a different time, okay?
Black Ops 7 won't have the zombie bus driver (that we know of, anyway), but players will be tasked with building a Wonder Vehicle instead of a Wonder Weapon, which will effectively serve as the "fifth squad mate" according to Treyarch. The Wonder Vehicle will be used to travel the massive racetrack-like map that features multiple dangerous corridors connecting larger zones.
If, like me, Tranzit wasn't exactly your favorite version of Black Ops Zombies, that's okay — you can still enjoy some round-based undead action set within the dark aether with your besties on Survival maps. Each of the main zones will be available as a standalone map that you can jump into with your crew. The decision to bring back Survival maps was based on the success of Black Ops 6's Liberty Falls. The smaller map offered a bite sized zed-slaughtering opportunity that was easy to get in and out of for many, and Survival aims to feel similar.
One of the best, and most easily skipped over, parts of Zombies is also coming back — Dead Ops Arcade 4, a game-within-a-game-within-a-game will also be a part of Black Ops 7 at launch complete with all the four-player, multi level, top-down, twin-stick shooting chaos that the former Easter egg is known for.
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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