Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 release date, gameplay details revealed

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 will be released on Oct. 25, Activision and developers Treyarch and Raven Software confirmed Sunday during Microsoft’s Xbox Game Showcase and Call of Duty Direct. This year’s Call of Duty promises to deliver “the most breathtaking and spectacular Black Ops action to date,” Activision says, with an increasing scope that will span a globetrotting campaign, robust multiplayer offerings, and the return of round-based Zombies gameplay.

As previously announced, Black Ops 6 will be set in the aftermath of the Cold War era, in the early 1990s. The game’s campaign will be an “epic spy thriller,” Activision said in a news release, that blends stealth-based gameplay with blockbuster action in locations across Russia, the Middle East, southern Europe, and the United States. Black Ops series mainstays Frank Woods and Russell Adler will be joined by newcomers, including Troy Marshall and Jane Harrow, in the narrative.

In the first screenshots released for Black Ops 6, we get a tease of some of that action and a look at the franchise’s new characters. We also get to see Adler do a sick motorcycle jump off of a cop car in what appears to be Washington, D.C. under siege.

Here’s what else we know about this year’s Call of Duty:

Black Ops 6 multiplayer

Activision promises a new, refined movement model called Omnimovement, which the company says will let players “move realistically and seamlessly chain movements like a real action hero.” Omnimovement will let players sprint, slide, and dive in any direction, and new Supine Prone positioning will let them rotate while prone. Black Ops 6 will also include other new movement options, including “corner slicing” abilities, “where as you round a corner or go through a doorway, your weapon is going to dynamically rotate in the direction that you’re rounding that corner.”

Image: Treyarch, Raven Software/Activision

Treyarch promises 16 new maps when Black Ops 6 launches, including 12 core 6v6 maps and four Strike maps that can be played as 2v2 or 6v6 . Black Ops 6 will also see the return of Classic Prestige, with “always something to progress toward.”

Black Ops 6 will also include HUD presets, which will let players move the minimap and remove HUD elements for a minimalist interface.

Black Ops 6 Zombies

Image: Treyarch, Raven Software/Activision

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 will see the return of round-based Zombies mode, in which players battle increasingly difficult waves of undead enemies. Treyarch promises two new maps at launch with Liberty Falls and Terminus, and all the associated secrets that Zombies players have come to expect over the past 15 years.

Black Ops 6 platforms and Game Pass release

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 will be available on Oct. 25, on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC (via Battle.net, Microsoft Store, and Steam), Xbox One, and Xbox Series X. The game’s open beta will be available on all platforms.

Game Pass subscribers will get access to Black Ops 6 day one. On Xbox, subscribers will get access to the Digital Cross-Gen Bundle (for Xbox One and Series X), while PC Game Pass subscribers will get access to the standard edition of the game. Game Pass subscribers will also get the Woods Operator Pack and open beta early access pre-order benefits.