Black Ops Returns
Following the Xbox Games Showcase and Black Ops 6 Direct, all the initial details across every facet of the game have been revealed. Releasing on October 25, players can gain insight into the signature Black Ops Campaign, the massive Multiplayer offering with the return of Classic Prestige, global innovations like Omnimovement, and the return of Round-Based Zombies.
Call of Duty Black Ops 6 Campaign: Detailed Briefing
Development on the Black Ops 6 Campaign is led by Raven Software, in partnership with Treyarch. Following the events of Black Ops Cold War, expect a dynamic and intense spy thriller, a mind-bending story where you’re never sure who to trust, and what is real, all set against the backdrop of the early 1990s. With the Campaign occurring in the years after the Cold War, longtime fans will recognize that this timeframe is directly connected to the 1980s flashbacks revealed during Black Ops 2 – the aftermath of which has left our heroes in dire circumstances.
The Black Ops 6 Campaign takes place at a time of great change and turmoil. The Soviet Union was crumbling after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War. The US was the only remaining Superpower. The Gulf War dominated headlines. There was a growing mistrust in government – reflected everywhere across the music, television, and pop culture of the time.
A tangled web of illicit activities, clandestine operations, and off-the-record missions, all part of a gripping narrative where you never quite know who to trust. This is the return of Black Ops.
Rogue Elements: Campaign Characters
Black Ops 6 blends the rich and gritty history of previous Black Ops titles with both returning and bold new characters – and veteran Frank Woods acts as the through-line in our story. Across the Campaign, we see a different side of Woods following his traumatic injury at the hands of Raul Menendez. He’s been pulled from the field, and you’ll interact with him as he adjusts to a new role within the CIA.
His protege is Troy Marshall, who has been making a name for himself in the field. Marshall is a methodical leader, driven by a strong moral compass. With a single-minded focus in overcoming adversity and a stubborn streak that can sometimes border on recklessness, it isn’t surprising that Woods and Marshall share common ground. Both men are working with another new face in Black Ops 6, CIA handler, Jane Harrow. She is a born leader, fearless and brilliant, and helps manage their relationships within the agency.
Woods’ ability to operate in the shadows has always been hugely valuable to the CIA – whether they want to admit it or not. Meanwhile, Marshall can make tough calls in the field, as Harrow trusts him implicitly. However, when an operation goes wrong, Woods and Marshall are suspended and ultimately forced to go rogue.
They soon realize they must trust each other to get to the bottom of what’s going on, and this must be done without any of their usual resources. They must build their own team of rogue agents, recruiting two intriguing new characters in Felix Neumann, a technical genius, and Sevati Dumas, a mysterious assassin.
With a mixture of new and familiar faces, a legendary wildcard also returns to the fight – the infamous Russell Adler is back. While his allegiances and motivations remain unclear, this former ally may have become a new and daunting enemy.
Areas of Operations and Encounters
Mission variety is a key component in the twisted, covert world of Black Ops 6. Raven Software has created individual missions from the ground up, with each one also offering diverse methods in the way you approach and execute them.
For example, one mission involves you infiltrating an old sewer system underneath an opulent casino in southern Europe, and these catacombs are one of many locations that are more ideal for stealth, where only the muffled yells or crumpled falls of the enemy can be heard, before you tactically reposition topside to pull off an audacious heist in the casino itself. Other areas are more appropriate for large-scale battles, such as a full-force assault on a palace in the Iraqi desert.
Within every mission, the Black Ops 6 Campaign focuses on the methods you can employ to achieve victory as well as replayability, giving you the freedom to navigate through them as you see fit. This naturally extends to combat, but even affects the conversations you have, as operatives talk, barter, and manipulate their way into a variety of different outcomes, some drastically different and dependent on the choices you previously made.
These outcomes can also change depending on how you utilize and interact with the abundance of environmental obstacles. Black Ops 6 leans into the time period with era-specific interactions and equipment, from lock-picking and computer hacking to keypad code-solving and other puzzles to ponder.
This extends to the impressive collection of gadgets from the early 1990s, along with the Campaign-specific tactical and lethal equipment you can choose, always with the option to ramp up (or de-escalate) the action. Expect several brand-new items as well as some returning favorites from the Black Ops universe: the classic RC-XD (Remote-Controlled Explosive Device) is back, for when you need to cause an isolated explosion from a miniature four-wheeler. Or perhaps you want to drop a Tranquilizer Trap that chokes a foe out when they step near it. Then there’s the Adrenaline Stim for unexpectedly brutal takedown encounters. Drop an enemy with more than just an expert throw thanks to the Homing Knife. Or paralyze them in arcs of electrical discharge after lobbing in the Disruptor weapon.
These few examples give you an initial understanding of the depth of gameplay the Campaign offers. But where does the Rogue Black Ops team go to ground, between these missions?
Welcome to the Manor
Your central base of operations between each Campaign mission is a remote and rambling manor house perched atop a granite cliff, overlooking a brooding, choppy ocean. This impressive edifice offers more exploration and character development opportunities than the Berlin Safehouse where you met during Black Ops Cold War. Intriguingly, the Safehouse itself has a secret history; it formerly served as a KGB Black Site which was operational during the 1950s and 60s, vacated some 30 years prior to your team’s arrival.
As the wind and waves batter against the stone walls of this stately mansion, you and your clandestine team have the run of the place. Step into the gardens for a spot of target practice, uncover secrets hidden in some of the mothballed rooms, and ensure you receive a briefing from the ever-acerbic Master Sergeant Frank Woods, who resides here after receiving serious injuries in the field.
After mansion explorations are complete, you’ll usually head toward the Evidence Board – last seen in Black Ops Cold War – now upgraded with additional intel and mission briefings integral to the Safehouse. Here players can view the Campaign Outline, gain deeper insights into missions, and analyze evidence collected throughout past operations. It’s at the Evidence Board where the tactical planning occurs, as you piece together the puzzles within the storyline, before deciding on your best course of action.
Multiplayer and More: Detailed Briefing
Multiplayer is a key ingredient in the DNA of Black Ops, and the frenetic, action-hero style of play is central to the series. For Black Ops 6, every single part of the Multiplayer gameplay experience has been innovated upon, from movement to weapon firing, footsteps, progression systems, takedowns, and more.
Across weapons, gear, Operators, maps, and every other aspect of the game, a huge push has been made to hit the highest visual and audio fidelity possible to allow full immersion.
Many of these features also span across the entire content offering – Campaign, Multiplayer, and Zombies – and one of the biggest innovations is Omnimovement, where long-established FPS constructs have been removed, allowing you to maneuver much more realistically, and unlocking a level of fluidity and fun that has never been reached before in a Black Ops game.
Omnimovement
With Black Ops 6, Treyarch is redefining movement across the entire game. That all starts with an entirely new global system called Omnimovement.
For the first time ever, players can sprint, slide, and dive in any direction (forward, sidestepping, and backpedaling) and move like a true Black Ops action hero. This innovation immediately allows the player to move like never before and seamlessly chain combat maneuvers together, like sliding, diving, and a newly enhanced supine prone, all with a full 360 degrees range of motion.
During development, Treyarch asked “What if you could sprint in any direction?”
If you can sprint in any direction, then it logically follows that you can slide and dive in any direction, too. This opened a world of new movement options. With a simple – and extremely engaging – prototype up and running, the team instantly knew this was much more than a modest improvement to the way you maneuver your Operator in combat.
This has been something that changes how you think and play the game.
With Omnimovement – and core player movement in general – it’s not just about making the player move faster, or tweaking how long it takes before you can slide cancel. This is a holistic approach to redefine what Black Ops 6 movement really means.
Intelligent Movement
Omnimovement isn’t the only movement innovation coming to Black Ops 6. There’s a new set of features known as Intelligent Movement, which is designed to drastically reduce how many buttons or keys you’re pressing to perform various movements.
The spark of the idea behind Intelligent Movement was wanting players to focus on what they wanted to achieve with movement, rather than how to achieve it. Every player, regardless of skill level, input, or experience with Call of Duty, can engage in Omnimovement and become an action hero in Black Ops 6. There are three categories that you can enable (or disable) in the Player Options:
- Sprint Assist
- Mantle Assist
- Crouch Assist
Designed with both Omnimovement and player expression in mind, you also have the freedom to fine-tune these settings depending on your style of play.
However, Intelligent Movement may not be for everyone or for every in-game circumstance. Fortunately, with a robust and purely optional set of setting menus, players can decide whether to use these innovations and play around with combinations of actions to enable or disable a related command to make it their own experience.
Enemy Hit Zones
In past Black Ops games, when you eliminated an enemy, they reacted to taking damage based on the Hit Zone you struck them in, and depending on where that was, you observed an animation based on both the location of the shot, and the deadliness of the damage. With the return of Black Ops 6, the number of Hit Zone regions has more than doubled, from four to nine.
With more than twice the number of regions to target, you can expect a much wider variety of visual takedowns across Campaign and Multiplayer modes. Now it can be determined, for example, if an enemy was shot in the left or right leg and play a bespoke death animation related to the shot. Or, if an Operator takes a high caliber sniper round to the right arm as they’re sprinting, that appendage will snap back and spin them around as the weight of the body carries forward as they collapse to the ground.
World Connectivity
Another innovation is World Connectivity, a much more subtle but recognizable set of animation overhauls based on the concept that the player’s movement and reactions are connected to the in-game world in a dynamic way and based on the player’s choices.
This is related to the overarching idea of keeping the player in a “flow state,” minimizing the jarring between different animations, for example. Take this a step further, and you have an example feature known as Corner Slicing. As you round a corner or go through a doorway, your weapon dynamically rotates in that same direction. Since this is dynamic, the rotation becomes more dramatic if you’re slowly sneaking through, clearing a room, whereas it won’t affect you at all if you’re barreling full speed around that same corner. This doesn’t affect gameplay as it’s purely a visual adjustment, but when real-world Operators were observed clearing a building, they always moved with anticipation of that next firefight.
Operators
Visual fidelity – including the smallest of details on each character – goes next level with Black Ops 6. Through the process of photogrammetry, authentic gear was acquired, scanned, and incorporated onto each of our operatives. This brings every subtle nuance and life that each piece is legitimate.
Each Operator’s face features dynamic real-time analysis of scripted as well as spontaneous performances that were captured and processed to make moments more emotional impactful, and expressions that are true to life. The development teams have paid attention to every single detail, down to the dirt between a player’s fingernails and the sweat and oil on their palms as they work through various settings and situations.
Gear Up: Equipping Your Operator
Expect Black Ops 6 to deliver an incredible lineup of weapons. There are some familiar arms, with a real emphasis on the gritty world of clandestine operations in the 1990s, while also including many that are new to the franchise. The team took a “tool for every job” approach, with a wide variety of weapons and gear. As the characters who employ this armory usually operate outside of the normal playbook and procure gear by any means necessary, the weapons team leaned into this plan, resulting in an amalgamation of armaments from the military as well as armaments more extemporaneous in nature.
This continues into the Gear selection as well. You’re able to choose a variety of off-the-shelf military issue equipment to field fabricated and makeshift gadgets, all intended to continue that unique signature Black Ops feel and immersion into this world.
Graphics and Visual Effects
Visually, Black Ops 6 strikes a balance between a “real” and “hyper-real” look, the latter of which is recognizable from anyone watching a high-octane action movie. Visual effects were created to be an inherently unmistakable phenomenon, and Treyarch gathered masses of real-world references so that the overall visual behavior – wind influence, gravity, weight, scale, et al – felt natural.
Heads Up Display Optimization
For Black Ops 6, the player experience is all about focusing on what you need, when you need it. Advancements in HUD (Heads Up Display) design echoes this mantra, with a variety of changes you can make based on established presets. From the minimap, to the ammo widget, to in game notifications, the Black Ops 6 HUD combines exceptional designs in a clean, streamlined experience. As always, the Multiplayer medal acquirement notifications hit hard and the scorefeed makes eliminations even more gratifying, along with plenty of new innovations.
For the first time in a Black Ops game, players will be able to change their HUD in dramatic ways to suit their needs. For example, you may want your HUD centered so you don’t have to look at the corners of your screen as often. Perhaps you plan to play Hardcore mode anywhere and want all the HUD elements removed accordingly. Has the mini-map been in the top-left corner of your screen for far too long? Then move it. Streamers have a layout optimized for their setup. These are all options, and everything connects you to the in-game world, from the Lobby, into combat, and back again, where your player progress and achievements are celebrated in a big way.
Optimizations also extend to the Lobby. Accessing the Lobby will become more straightforward, and the time it takes to go from hitting the Lobby to a match will be shortened, and this streamlining continues between matches.
This is all part of the “time to engagement” vision that has remained unchanged throughout the game’s development process; to craft an approachable and engaging step-change of the signature Black Ops Multiplayer experience.
Multiplayer Maps: Initial Intel
Black Ops 6 will feature 16 all new Multiplayer maps at launch, including 12 Core 6v6 maps, and four entirely new Strike Maps that can be played 2v2 or in Face Off 6v6. “Strike Maps” are generally more compact and offer constant chaos.
Many feature innovations on the classic three lane map design, with quick time to engagement, sized in the small to medium-sized range for the right amount of complexity for meaningful player choice, and to keep the action flowing and the pacing optimal. Maps intentionally support gameplay diversity, as supporting different playstyles is the foundation of how the studio builds these maps, even up to professional levels of Ranked play.
Multiplayer maps each have their own story and all take place after the Campaign, so players will be able to further explore maps with a Multiplayer lens after they’ve played through.
The Rank Up Report: Classic Prestige and Theater Mode
Early on in Black Ops 6’s development, a goal was set to ensure leveling and XP mattered more than ever, resulting in a deep and rewarding progression journey for players, starting at launch. Current and past Progression systems throughout Call of Duty’s history were studied, and within the Black Ops series, there was a particular fondness – both across the community and internally at Treyarch – for a more classic Prestige system.
Black Ops 6 will mark the return of traditional Call of Duty Prestige.
The development team is bringing back the very best parts from past Call of Duty Prestige integrations and are going bigger and better with more rewards than ever before, along with some new surprises you may not be expecting. Here’s an overview of what to expect:
Players can look forward to experiencing some classic, recognizable aspects of Prestige once you reach your maximum player level. At this point, you have the optional choice to enter Prestige. This essentially starts your ranking up afresh, relocking the gear you grinded through from levels 1-55, enabling you to go through the leveling journey again.
Black Ops 6 will have 10 of these Prestiges, each with a valuable set of rewards to earn and equip to showcase your impressive in-game status. But you aren’t done yet, as those completing Prestige 10 will graduate into Prestige Master, with 1,000 additional levels to climb through, and a classified reward to uncover if you’re dedicated enough to make it all the way to the end.
The full Prestige system is available at launch in Black Ops 6 so players can play at their own pace without ever being slowed down by seasonal level caps.
Of course, it wouldn’t be a Black Ops game if you couldn’t relive all the action in Theater Mode, which is also returning with Black Ops 6.
Zombies: Initial Briefing
Round-Based Zombies is back. Black Ops 6 will launch with two brand-new Round-Based Zombie maps – Terminus and Liberty Falls – and a continuation of the intriguing and terrifying Dark Aether narrative that was started in Black Ops Cold War. Hordes of the undead are set to rampage through these brand-new locations, each offering countless hours of fast-paced action where power-ups are plentiful, but you’re never more than a few seconds away from being overwhelmed and devoured.
For newcomers, Zombies is Treyarch’s unique take on a cooperative player experience where you face off against vast mobs of zombified creatures, with the bulk being the recently deceased, now animated due to strange, eldritch forces. Expect every location you visit to be packed with powerful weapons, new and returning power-ups, a pantheon of revolting entities to face, and a host of secrets and easter eggs to discover.
Many of the previously revealed innovations in movement, visual fidelity, audio, and weapons will all be coming to Zombies as well. That’s not including the many additional Zombies-specific features, both new and returning. Expect more information to come in the following weeks.
Additional Comms Incoming
Mark your calendars for the Worldwide Multiplayer Reveal event at Call of Duty NEXT, on August 28. Stay tuned for more details to prepare to jump into the MP Beta and experience the incredible Omnimovement and additional innovations.
There is still an extensive amount of Black Ops 6 information to share across all three game modes before the Open Beta later in the year, and the official launch on Friday, October 25, 2024.
Call of Duty Black Ops 6 is shaping up to be an immersive and engaging experience across Campaign, Multiplayer, and Zombies modes.
Carry Forward Content & Black Ops 6
To ensure that everybody starts fresh together with the launch of Call of Duty Black Ops 6, previous Modern Warfare II and Modern Warfare III content will not carry forward to the Black Ops 6 Premium experience.
The one exception is the Black Ops 6 Vault Edition Woods Operator Pack preorder benefit. It is currently available in Modern Warfare III and will carry forward into Black Ops 6.
Carry Forward content for players of Call of Duty Warzone will continue, with Modern Warfare II, Modern Warfare III, and Black Ops 6 content being integrated with the arrival of Season 1.
Detailed Preorder Information
Call of Duty Black Ops 6 is now available for preorder on the following platforms:
- Xbox Series X|S
- Xbox One
- PlayStation 5
- PlayStation 4
- PC (Microsoft Store, Battle.net, Steam)
- Game Pass (Xbox Consoles and PC Microsoft Store)
Editions and Benefits
Here is a detailed breakdown of the different editions and their associated benefits:
Vault Edition – $99.99
- Open Beta Early Access (Preorder Benefit)
- Woods Operator Pack (Preorder Benefit)
- Digital version of Call of Duty Black Ops 6
- BlackCell
- Hunters vs. Hunted Operator Pack
- Mastercraft Weapon Collection
- GobbleGum Pack
Cross-Gen Bundle – $69.99
- Open Beta Early Access (Preorder Benefit)
- Woods Operator Pack (Preorder Benefit)
- Cross-generation access for both Xbox and PlayStation consoles
Standard Edition (PC) – $69.99
- Open Beta Early Access (Preorder Benefit)
- Woods Operator Pack (Preorder Benefit)
Game Pass Subscription Details
Black Ops 6 will be available at launch for subscribers to select Game Pass plans (Game Pass Ultimate, Game Pass PC, Game Pass Console). Subscribers will have access to the Digital Cross-Gen Bundle (Xbox) or PC Standard Edition (Microsoft Store) of Black Ops 6, which includes the Woods Operator Pack and Open Beta Early Access preorder benefits.
Game Pass Plans and Benefits
Here’s a detailed overview of the Game Pass plans that grant access to Black Ops 6 and their associated benefits:
Game Pass Ultimate
- Access to Black Ops 6 Campaign, Multiplayer, and Zombies modes on both Xbox consoles and PC.
- Digital Cross-Gen Bundle on Xbox consoles.
- Standard Edition on PC Microsoft Store.
Game Pass PC
- Access to Black Ops 6 Campaign, Multiplayer, and Zombies modes on PC.
- Standard Edition on PC Microsoft Store.
Game Pass Console
- Access to Black Ops 6 Campaign only on Xbox consoles.
- Digital Cross-Gen Bundle on Xbox consoles.
- Note: Game Pass Console subscribers need Game Pass Ultimate or Game Pass Core (sold separately) to access Multiplayer and Zombies modes.
Game Pass Core
- Includes online console multiplayer access required for Black Ops 6 online modes (Multiplayer and Zombies) on Xbox consoles but does not grant access to the full game.
- Note: Game Pass Core benefits are included in the Game Pass Ultimate plan.
Preorder Benefits Breakdown
Open Beta Early Access
- Available for all game editions.
- Digital edition preorder customers automatically gain access without needing a Beta Code.
- Physical edition preorder customers receive a Beta Code at the point of sale.
Woods Operator Pack
- Available instantly in Modern Warfare III and Warzone upon preorder.
- Includes Classic Woods Skin, Zombie Woods Skin, and Numbers Woods Animated Skin.
Hunters vs. Hunted Operator Pack (Vault Edition)
- Includes Rogue Black Ops and Zombies Operator Skins.
- Operator Park (“Oblivion” Skin): MI6 operative Helen Park, fully recovered and ready for duty.
- Operator Adler (“Umbra” Skin): Former leader of a covert CIA Strike team, known as ‘America’s Monster.’
- Operator Brutus (“Warden of Alcatraz” Skin): Reanimated warden from Black Ops 4’s Blood of the Dead, hunting inmates.
- Operator Klaus (“Reborn” Skin): Elizabeth Grey’s unsettling automaton.
Mastercraft Weapon Collection (Vault Edition)
- Five unique Mastercraft weapons, each with distinct, animated designs.
- Includes:
- “Plague Doctor” Blueprint for the AMES 85 (Assault Rifle)
- “Mind’s Eye” Blueprint for the Combat Knife (Melee)
- “Scourge” Blueprint for the Jackal PDW (Submachine Gun)
- “Brainstorm” Blueprint for the LR 7.62 (Sniper Rifle)
- “Unrepentant” Blueprint for the Marine SP (Shotgun)
GobbleGum Pack (Vault Edition)
- Includes 12 single-use GobbleGums with unique in-game effects.
- GobbleGums return from Black Ops 3, providing players with special consumable powers.
Black Ops 6 Season 1 BlackCell (Vault Edition)
- Full Battle Pass with over 100 rewards.
- 1,100 COD Points unlocked instantly.
- 20 Battle Pass Tier Skips.
- BlackCell-exclusive content, including special Operator Skins and Weapon Blueprints.
Physical Console Editions
Available for preorder at preferred gaming retailers, with the following versions:
- Xbox Series X and Xbox One: Physical Cross-Gen Bundle
- PlayStation 4: Physical Cross-Gen Bundle
- PlayStation 5: Physical Edition (does not include PlayStation 4 version)
Prepare for the launch of Call of Duty Black Ops 6 on October 25 and secure exclusive benefits by preordering now.
Platforms: Microsoft Windows, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5
