Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 — Official reveal date, Xbox Game Pass, and everything else you need to know

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

Experience the direct sequel to 2024's hit Black Ops 6, co-developed by Treyarch Studios and Raven Software. Black Ops 7 is expected to launch this fall on Xbox and PC Game Pass with a thrilling campaign, multiplayer, and zombies experiences.

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Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 first look teaser

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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

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

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