Everything We Know About Call Of Duty: Black Ops Cold War

At long last, we finally have more concrete information about Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War after its official reveal and trailer drop inside the battle royale game Warzone and, more recently, its big multiplayer reveal. In this post we're rounding up everything we know about the game so far, including its November release date, more on multiplayer, upcoming open beta, preorder details and editions, Zombies, and more.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Release Date And Next-Gen Versions

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War's release date is set for November 13 on PS4, Xbox One, and PC. You can also expect to play the game on PS5 and Xbox Series X, but those versions are expected on a date yet to be confirmed during this upcoming holiday season. You can pre-order the game in the meantime.

According to early product listings of the game, there is a system in place to upgrade your current-gen version of Black Ops Cold War to next-gen, which involves purchasing either the Cross-Gen Bundle or Ultimate editions of the game. Unfortunately, those who purchase the standard edition will not get free access to the PS5 or Xbox Series X versions of the game. Regardless, those who pre-order the game get early access to Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War's open beta.

It's From Treyarch and Raven Software

Treyarch is known for developing the Call of Duty: Black Ops series, which has included five games thus far and predecessor Call of Duty: World at War. It will be leading the development of this year's game with support from Raven Software. The latter studio has never led development on a Call of Duty game but has assisted with the series for a decade.

This puts a halt to the three-year development cycle Activision has stuck to for Call of Duty over the last generation. Developer Sledgehammer Games last released a game in 2017.

Debut Trailer

The big centerpiece during the Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War reveal in Warzone was the debut trailer, which offers a first look at the upcoming game. Watch it below!

It's a Direct Sequel to Black Ops 1

Black Ops has been one the Call of Duty series' biggest brands since its inception, and Treyarch's games are known for their tremendous multiplayer and, with the exception of the campaign-free Black Ops 4, exciting storytelling. That continues this year with Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, which is a direct sequel to Black Ops 1.

Unlike last year's Modern Warfare reboot, Black Ops Cold War goes back to the series' early narrative history during the Cold War when superpowers Soviet Russia and the United States were caught up in tensions of nuclear war, playing dangerous spy games with each other through covert ops.

What's New in Single-Player?

As the subseries' return to the first Black Ops' Cold War espionage and intrigue, Black Ops Cold War's single-player campaign has you joining up with familiar faces Mason, Woods, and Hudson for a globe-trotting story during the 1980s with some sections back in 1968 during the Vietnam War. Given the time period, expect to see notable historical figures; one of the most notable we've seen thus far is 40th US president Ronald Regan.

Aside from historical figures and the return of familiar characters in the single-player campaign, new faces will also appear, most notably the progotanist you create. Unlike previous games in the franchise, you will be playing as your own character that you build and customize. You'll choose your personality traits, gender (with a "classified" option that uses gender-neutral pronouns), and appearance.

Gallery

If you've played Call of Duty before, you'll once again get a dose of first-person action and over-the-top set-pieces, but dialogue options and open-ended mission objectives will also be a part of the experience. Similar to Black Ops 2, your actions subsequently impact the conclusion of the story as the game has multiple endings, which is something that Treyarch says is back for good reason.

Keeping with tradition, Black Ops Cold War's single-player campaign will be about the same length as recent entries in the series. And with the multiple endings, it's likely you'll have reason to revisit the campaign, further adding onto the playtime count.

If you're curious about the writing process around single-player, check out what Dark Knight trilogy writer David Goyer brought to the table working on the campaign's script.

Multiplayer Details

Black Ops Cold War will also be bringing with it the latest iteration of the franchise's classic multiplayer. While it wasn't the main focus of the first reveal presentation, the big multiplayer reveal stream that followed a few weeks later showcased tons of new Cold War-era maps, water-based vehicular combat, a few new game modes, plus a brief glimpse at Zombies.

• Read our hands-on impressions of Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War multiplayer

Activision also confirmed that multiplayer will offer cross-generational support and cross progression to accommodate players from all platforms. This means Xbox One players can play with PS5 players, or any mix of the game's five platforms.

Like many recent shooters, you'll be working your up and earning rewards via a battle pass system. It seems like the game will receive similar post-launch support as Modern Warfare with a steady stream of free updates that add new maps and modes, as well as community events.

It's worth noting that Black Ops Cold War will not have its own dedicated battle royale mode. Instead, it shares content and progression features with Warzone, adding inventory items that can be used across both games. Expect to learn more about multiplayer on a future Call of Duty stream broadcasting on September 9.

Zombies is Coming Back (Again)

We only got a brief look at Zombies mode in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War during its September 9 multiplayer reveal livestream event, but a full reveal was then shown on September 30. This showed the return of the original map from World at War's Zombies mode, albeit with some 80s updates. It also confirmed certain past characters would return, but this is a new story and not a sequel to previous Zombies modes.