Activision confirms Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 for 2025 launch

Activision confirmed rumors that Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 will be this year’s game for the top-selling franchise.

And the company said: Welcome to 2035 and prepare for the most mind-bending Black Ops ever. And so they’re asking fans to embrace the madness. As it is set in the future, there’s a lot of AI-driven robots in the military future.

In Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, Treyarch and Raven Software are promising to bring players the most mind-bending Black Ops ever. Developed as the next evolution of Black Ops, this is the first-ever consecutive release within the series, set more than 40 years after the events of Black Ops 6.

We’ll see if having the same major studios doing back-to-back games is a good thing when it comes to adequate preparation and quality — without burning out the team. Once upon a time, one studio made Call of Duty games. Then it was two. Then three. There was a big lawsuit that disrupted things. Then as the franchise found its legs, it dispensed with the tired WWII settings and moved on to Modern Warfare and Black Ops. Now we’ve got 10 studios or so working on it, and Black Ops for two years in a row. There are a few thousand people working on it.

And the old system of having one studio doing a game every three years has turned on its head. Sledgehammer Games did a couple of games in three years. Then Infinity Ward did two games in a row with Modern Warfare 2 and Modern Warfare 3. Then now it’s Treyarch’s turn to do Black Ops 6 and Black Ops 7 back to back.

It feels like we might be at some kind of significant transition point, if I am any kind CallofDutyOlogist.

For this year’s game, the year is 2035 and the world is on the brink of chaos, ravaged by violent conflict and psychological warfare following the events of Black Ops 2 and Black Ops 6. Wielding cutting-edge technology, David Mason and his team must fight back against a manipulative enemy who weaponizes fear above all else.

Matt Cox, general manager of Call of Duty, talks more about the planning behind Black Ops 7’s full package of content.

“The Black Ops universe is amazing,” Cox said in a statement. “The creativity and imagination that goes into the storytelling, the rich character depth, and the incredible moment-to-moment gameplay across all modes is really exceptional. As a team, our vision from the start was to create a back-to-back series experience for our players that embraced the uniqueness of the Black Ops sub-franchise.”

Prepare to squad up with friends or play solo in a thrilling and innovative Co-op Campaign, harness near-future weaponry in a signature Multiplayer experience packed with brand-new maps and descend into the next twisted chapter of Round-Based Zombies in the heart of the Dark Aether. 

Players have a lot to look forward to later this year when Black Ops 7 releases, Matt Cox continues, “It delivers the full Call of Duty package for our players, and we can’t wait to show the community more of what the studio teams have been working on when we reveal later this summer.”

The road to Black Ops 7’s reveal starts today with the Official Teaser Cinematic (shown above). Tyler Bahl, head of Activision Publishing Marketing, provides more details: “The team is looking to build on the incredible community enthusiasm and excitement we’ve seen within the Black Ops universe. This is the first time we’re staying within the Black Ops series with back-to-back releases, so we’re excited to give players a bit more time to enjoy all the live seasons and provide players more of what they want across Black Ops 6 and Call of Duty: Warzone before we turn the page to Black Ops 7.

“Our official teaser sets the tone for players to embrace the madness that’s incoming with Black Ops 7’s story,” Bahl continues. “Delivering consecutive Black Ops games also allows our teams the tremendous opportunity to tap not only into our own creativity but also embrace the shift from a ’90s setting to the new 2035 future setting within our marketing.”

The Guild

The trailer opens with a robot saying, “Welcome to the Guild….You already know us as a global tech leader.”

The robot claims it is designed to save lives. The esteemed visionary is Emma Kagan, CEO of the Guild. “The Guild is safeguarding the future now.” She claims her advancements are designed to enhance everyday life. There’s a butterfly that lands on a screen. A visitor touches it and it cracks, revealing a city of the future in 2035.

It goes into a nightmare world of robotic warfare. The butterfly flies around. And captures and crushes it, and it’s revealed to be an old Raul Menendez, the villain of Black Ops 2 and a cartel leader. We see lot of stealth, drone, robot and other weapons of the future.

Bahl added, “Today is only the beginning with this first teaser. The full reveal of Black Ops 7 is coming later this summer, so the community should be on the lookout for teases, clues and the surprises that the Black Ops series is known for. It’s an exciting time as we prepare for a new Call of Duty reveal, and the next great experience to come.”

We’ll see how this vision of the future lines up with the sci-fi combat of MindsEye, the new game coming on Tuesday from Grand Theft Auto co-creator Leslie Benzies.

Here’s last year’s trailer that led to Call of Duty: Black Ops 6.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is scheduled for release on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and on PC via Xbox PC, Battle.net and Steam. Also, play on day one on Game Pass Ultimate or PC Game Pass. Interestingly, it’s not coming to the Nintendo Switch 2.