Activision is back at it again with another installment of Call of Duty to continue its streak of yearly title releases. Black Ops 7 is officially announced, and it’s arriving hot on the heels of Black Ops 6. For the first time in CoD history, we’re getting Black Ops titles one after the other, and while that might sound like overkill, BO7 will be anything but more of the same.
Announced during the Xbox Games Showcase and teased with a cinematic trailer during Summer Game Fest, Black Ops 7 is upgrading on what makes the sub-series tick: espionage, political paranoia, mind-melting hallucinations, and of course, the return of fan-favorite characters, whether you thought they were dead or not. Here’s a full breakdown of everything we know about Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 so far.
What is the Black Ops 7 Release Date?
While Activision hasn’t given any hint or hard date, but based on the past decade of launches, Black Ops 7 is expected to release between late October and mid-November 2025. If Black Ops 6 Season 4 ends in early August and Season 5 wraps around early October, the BO7 campaign launch could drop in early-to-mid November, followed by Season 1 content in December like how Modern Warfare 3 was rolled out.
Regarding platforms, you can expect Black Ops 7 on about every system that isn’t a toaster:
- Xbox Series X|S
- PS5
- PC (via Steam, Battle.net, Xbox PC)
- Last-gen: Xbox One and PS4
- Game Pass on Day One for both console and PC.
Black Ops 7 Trailer and Story
The first cinematic trailer shows a glimpse of the game settings in 2035, a jump forward from the Cold War ‘90s setting of BO6. The world is a mess (no surprise), and stepping into the spotlight is David “Section” Mason, son of Alex Mason, who was last seen in Black Ops 2. This time, he’s tangled up with The Guild, a futuristic tech conglomerate that appears benevolent but might actually be a global threat.
The trailer shows Mason being led into The Guild’s high-technology headquarters by a humanoid robot and introduced to CEO Emma Kagan, played by Sabrina’s Kiernan Shipka. But things quickly go off the rails as Mason experiences reality shifts straight out of Inception, only to find himself in front of Raul Menendez, the guy who kidnapped him as a kid and tried to destabilize the world in BO2. In case that wasn’t dramatic enough, the appearance of a glowing red butterfly seems to hint at psychological manipulation or tech-induced hallucinations.
These are the returning characters and celebrity cast in BO7:
- David Mason (Milo Ventimiglia) – Now a hardened soldier, Mason must reveal The Guild’s secrets.
- Emma Kagan (Kiernan Shipka) – The technical CEO with shady motives.
- Raul Menendez – Fan-favorite Nicaraguan antagonist is back and more manipulative than ever.
- Mike Harper (Michael Rooker) – The famous character from BO2 returns voiced by the Guardians of the Galaxy star.
BO7 is also bringing back Zombies mode, and if the rumors are true, we will get a return to round-based play (goodbye open-world experiments) and the largest Zombies map ever, reportedly a revamped version of Tranzit from BO2. Further, there will be a difficulty slider for customized gameplay and story elements that connect to the original Zombies crew and the mysterious Dark Aether.
Gameplay Updates and Features
Treyarch and Raven Software are leading development again, and Black Ops 7 will evolve on the technical foundation of recent entries. Omnimovement from BO6 returns with additional wall-running. Carry Forward feature rumored to bring your Black Ops 6 weapons and operators into BO7, similar to Modern Warfare 2 to Modern Warfare 3, and the same polished unified engine across all platforms.
Preorders, Beta Access, and Game Pass
Preorders haven’t opened yet, but expect the usual bundles (Standard, Vault, maybe a $100 “Your Character Dies in the First Cutscene” Edition). Beta is likely to arrive in August 2025, following the pattern from BO6. Black Ops 7 will be available on Game Pass day one, a big shift thanks to Microsoft now owns Activision.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is a sci-fi thriller masquerading as a shooter. With psychological warfare, corporate tech overlords, legacy characters, and futuristic combat, it’s clear Activision wants to push the Black Ops sub-series into bold, narrative-driven territory. It may not reinvent the gameplay loop, but if the story can deliver on the “most mind-bending Black Ops yet” pitch, it would be a high point in the franchise’s recent history.
