Activision Says It's Doing Almost No Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 Pre-Promotion: 'We're Setting This Up More Like a Beyonce Album Dropping'

Microsoft announced Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 astatine its Xbox Games Showcase June 2025, a uncover that came aboriginal successful the twelvemonth than is accustomed for the series. And the debut trailer, below, gave fans small to spell connected beyond a communicative tease and confirmation of the twelvemonth successful which the crippled is acceptable (2035) and its protagonist: David Mason.

It turns out, this is each portion of Activision’s selling strategy for Black Ops 7, which is each astir not revealing overmuch astatine each earlier the crippled comes retired aboriginal successful 2025. To what end? Activision wants Black Ops 7’s motorboat to consciousness similar a astonishment Beyonce medium drop.

Speaking to Variety, Activision selling main Tyler Bahl explained what the institution is trying to execute with Black Ops 7:

“Usually astatine this constituent successful time, we would person teased everything that’s coming out. And I deliberation successful a batch of ways we’re mounting this up much similar a Beyonce medium dropping; nobody’s going to cognize astir it, oregon nobody’s going to spot it coming.

“The full extremity was to truly bash thing different, and for america to zag and amusement up successful a unsocial way. And 1 mode of doing that is astir not doing immoderate pre-promotion and giving it to players successful a truly unexpected way.”

While Activision promised a bigger uncover for immoderate constituent successful the summer, possibly it won’t uncover overmuch astatine all, and fans volition person to hold until the merchandise day to get a existent consciousness of what Black Ops 7 is each about.

Black Ops 7 is retired aboriginal successful 2025. Image credit: Activision Publishing.

So, what bash we know? Black Ops 7 is acceptable successful 2035, much than 40 years aft the events of Black Ops 6, astatine a clip erstwhile the satellite is connected the brink of chaos pursuing the events of Black Ops 2 and past year’s Black Ops 6. Co-op run returns for Black Ops 7 aft 6 skipped it (you tin inactive play the run solo). Expect to usage near-future weaponry successful Multiplayer, with brand-new maps. Meanwhile, there’s the adjacent section of Round-Based Zombies successful the bosom of the Dark Aether.

Here's the authoritative blurb:

Wielding cutting-edge technology, David Mason and his squad indispensable combat backmost against a manipulative force who weaponizes fearfulness supra each else.

According to Variety, Black Ops 7 sees This Is Us prima Milo Ventimiglia play David Mason (the quality is recast with a caller face), Kiernan Shipka arsenic a caller quality called Emma Kagen (CEO of The Guild), and Michael Rooker, who reprises his relation arsenic Mike Harper from Black Ops 2.

Milo Ventimiglia plays David Mason successful Black Ops 7. Photo by Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images.

Also confirmed is that Activision is sticking with last-gen consoles for Black Ops 7, which is owed retired crossed Xbox Series X and S, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and PC via “Xbox PC,” Battle.net, and Steam. As you’d expect, you tin play day-one connected Game Pass Ultimate oregon PC Game Pass. There was nary notation of Nintendo Switch 2 successful the announcement. It’s a co-development betwixt Treyarch and Raven Software.

Black Ops 7 marks the archetypal clip the Black Ops sub-series has seen back-to-back releases, and comes conscionable a twelvemonth aft Black Ops 6’s launch. Some fans are already saying this makes Black Ops 7 consciousness similar a stop-gap, arsenic 2023’s Modern Warfare 3 was considered by immoderate wrong the assemblage fixed it followed 2022’s Modern Warfare 2 conscionable a twelvemonth later. Activision, however, has insisted Black Ops 7 “delivers the afloat Call of Duty bundle for our players.”

The anticipation is Infinity Ward volition instrumentality with a caller Modern Warfare crippled successful 2026, resetting the Call of Duty rhythm erstwhile again.

For more, cheque retired everything announced astatine Xbox Games Showcase June 2025.

Photo by Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images.

Wesley is Director, News astatine IGN. Find him connected Twitter astatine @wyp100. You tin scope Wesley astatine [email protected] oregon confidentially astatine [email protected].