The Xbox Games Showcase has unveiled this year’s new Call Of Duty game and as rumoured it’s a direct sequel to 2012’s Black Ops 2.
Last year the big showcase reveal for Xbox, that got half an hour all to itself at the end of the main livestream, was Call Of Duty: Black Ops 6. This year It’s The Outer Worlds 2 and Grounded 2 that was given the slot, but that didn’t mean that this year’s Call Of Duty wasn’t announced anyway.
That implies that from now on each year’s new game will probably always get unveiled at the Xbox Games Showcase, although the reveal for Black Ops 7 was mostly just a pre-rendered trailer and for most of the time it wasn’t obvious it was Call Of Duty at all.
The fact that this year’s game is Black Ops 7 was leaked some time ago (as was next year’s game) with insiders suggesting that it’s a direct sequel to 2012’s Black Ops 2. Activision has now confirmed that, with the trailer showing that you’re playing as David Mason from that game, with villain Raul Menendez also making a return.
Black Ops 2 was set in both the 1980s and 2025 (which was the near future at the time) but Black Ops 7 takes place in 2035, which is 40 years after the events of last year’s game.
It’s not entirely clear what’s going on with the plot but apparently you, as David Mason, are fighting ‘a manipulative enemy who weaponises fear above all else.’ Black Ops 2’s plot revolved around deadly cyberattacks, which has only become more relevant as time has gone on.
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There’s very little concrete information on the gameplay, with a full reveal promised for later this summer. However, it’s confirmed that the story mode will feature campaign co-op and that there’ll be a lot of ‘near future weaponry’ and brand new maps in ‘a signature multiplayer experience’.
A new round-based version of Zombies will also be included, continuing the Dark Aether storyline – which means little hope of a revamp for the mode this year.
There’s no real explanation for why we’re getting two Black Ops games in a row, other than it’s being developed by Treyarch and Raven Software, who also made Black Ops 6. Usually, Activision’s developers take it in turns, so the real rarity here is the same studio releasing any game back-to-back.
What’s also interesting is that there’s no sign of a Nintendo Switch 2 version. Not that fans have ever been desperate for one, but Microsoft made a big fuss about bringing Call Of Duty back to Nintendo formats, when making their argument as to why thy should be allowed to buy Activision Blizzard.
Thus far though, they haven’t announced anything for the new format, with Black Ops 7 only confirmed for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and PC.
There’s no release date but new Call Of Duty games are usually released around late October. Since Activision do now belong to Microsoft, the game will be available day one on Game Pass.
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