Everything you need to know about Black Ops 7

By Jesse Lennox Published September 1, 2025

If you think you know what to expect from a Call of Duty game in 2025, think again. Black Ops 7 might sound like a quick iteration on last year’s entry, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Despite being owned by Xbox, this is still a cross-platform game and facing stiff competition from the likes of Battlefield 6, so the pressure is on for the king of FPS games to hold its crown. And based on everything we know so far about the reworked and expanded campaign, changes to multiplayer, and iteration on Zombies, this is shaping up to be the most experimental CoD game in years. I’ve gone undercover and declassified all the information out there about Black Ops 7 just for you.

Call of Duty games love that November release window, and Black Ops 7 is no different. The game will launch on November 14, 2025.

It might come as a shock, but Black Ops 7 isn’t abandoning last-gen consoles. As of now, the game is slated to release on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.

The one glaring omission there is the Nintendo Switch 2, despite Microsoft and Nintendo having agreed to a 10-year agreement to bring the franchise to Nintendo consoles back in 2023. According to Gamespot, who spoke to a spokesperson for Activision, “We’re committed to getting the franchise on Switch. Both teams are working on it. Will share details when ready.”

For now, Switch 2 players shouldn’t expect the game to arrive at launch.

The initial teaser for Black Ops 7 didn’t look anything like a typical Call of Duty game. It was nearly all GC, so not much gameplay, but established the near-future setting that we now know is 2035 and main character of David Mason. What is most interesting is all the reality/mind-bending imagery. What tipped us off to this being not only a Call of Duty game, but specifically in the Black Ops timeline, is the appearance of Raul Menendez.

The proper reveal trailer kicked off Opening Night Live 2025 and introduced us to the team that we will be following on this globe-trotting campaign. Still, almost all the plot details are kept a secret except for the fact that there’s a new threat that is able to weaponize fear, which explains all those bizarre sequences we’ve been seeing.

For those who want to get fully caught up with the backstory, Black Ops 7 is said to be a direct sequel to both Black Ops 2, which bounced between the 1980s and 2025, and last year’s Black Ops 6, set in 1991. It is said that complete newcomers will still be able to understand what’s going on in Black Ops 7, but I highly recommend playing at least those two entries first.

The gameplay of Black Ops 7 is an evolution on what we got with Black Ops 6, but with some notable changes.

Every CoD game has several modes, with the campaign typically being the one people either ignore or run through once and never think about again. For Black Ops 7, the campaign is getting a huge upgrade to encourage replayability on the same level as multiplayer and Zombies. Besides offering 4 player co-op, the final mission of the game is essentially an extraction shooter mode where players build loadouts and drop into a map with various challenges, unlockables, and more. This mode has its own progression system, too, and failing to extract in a run will wipe that progress.

The core multiplayer is still here and looking as polished as ever. There are a few new tweaks to be excited for, however. One is the new Skirmish mode, which features 20 players on a map broken up into squads of four with rotating objectives to complete. But for those who still enjoy your traditional modes, there will still be 16 maps at launch for the various 6v6 modes.

Prestige is back and again sticking to the old style, but with new rewards to grind. Weapon builds are also getting a nice quality of life upgrade with the ability to share builds with friends.

Zombies will have one map at launch and stick to the round-based structure that fans adore. This map, though, is unique in that it is based on the Tranzit map and will have players shuttling between unique locations to complete objectives. For those who love the convoluted and crazy storyline of the Zombies mode, you will be glad to know that Black Ops 7 will be the next chapter in the ongoing Dark Aether story.

With the release date of November 14 approaching, now is the best time to preorder Black Ops 7, especially if you want to join in on the open beta early. Preorders are open for Black Ops 7 via the official site on all platforms now. Here’s a breakdown of what each version of the game costs and gives you:

Cross-gen/Standard Edition – $70

Vault Edition – $100