Call of Duty: Black Ops 7
The trailer for Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 had everything. Automatic doors that made a futuristic swish sound when they opened. A bipedal robot butler. TV screens that revealed themselves when gestured to. A hologram of a tech «visionary.» Cyberpunk neon signs. Menacing red CRTs. Milo Ventimiglia.
Most importantly, it had a mission statement for the future of Call of Duty, as that holographic CEO provided a meta-commentary on the current state of the franchise. «For too long, we have been bound by outdated systems, accepting limitations, instead of redefining them.» Now, to be clear, the so-called «visionary» is using that language to sell advanced robotic weapons. But Call of Duty has faced the same stagnation, stuck within limitations that prevent it from evolving.
The Swamp Of Fan Expectations
Much of that stagnation dates back to the reception of the last sci-fi Call of Duty game, 2016’s Infinite Warfare. Though the Black Ops series leans into techno-thriller aesthetics and tropes, the games don’t fully cross into science fiction territory. Certainly not to the same extent as Infinite Warfare, which included interplanetary travel and jetpacks. The CODs of the last nine years have studiously avoided anything too sci-fi because Infinite Warfare was the subject of intense backlash. Its reveal trailer was one of the most disliked video in YouTube history at the time, and its commercial performance came in below expectations, too.
The immediate -up to Infinite Warfare, Call of Duty: WW2, showed that Activision knew that it was getting a bit far afield of what the series’ most vocal fans wanted, shifting hard back to the «boots-on-the-ground» action that the series is known for.
Given that these games take multiple years to develop, that pivot was planned long before a single YouTube comment was penned.
Personally, I like both approaches. Infinite Warfare’s setting is right up my alley, but WW2 is the best story that COD has ever told. I’m happy to get both. And, with Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, Activision is taking the bet that I’m not alone. Will that end up being the case? I’m not sure. But there’s reason to believe that COD players will be more receptive in 2025 than they were in 2016.
The multiplayer landscape has shifted a lot in the past nine years. When Infinite Warfare launched in 2016, Overwatch was a few months old, Fortnite and PUBG hadn’t been released yet, and Apex Legends and Valorant were still years away. Players were annoyed that COD went sci-fi, but nine years later, a whole new crop of players will pick COD up, and they’re players who have been introduced to gaming through games that are far more outlandish than a sci-fi shooter. There’s an AI Darth Vader in Fortnite. Conan the Barbarian is in Mortal Kombat 1. Call of Duty has hosted Snoop Dogg, Rambo, and the Shredder. When your franchise is joining every other major multiplayer game in bringing in characters from other universes — one of whom is known for fighting four human-sized talking turtles — worrying about a jetpack is like rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.
Additionally, the games have, increasingly, played with more ‘out there’ visuals and gameplay. Last year’s Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 took the series in some interesting new directions, with a Doom-inspired level that had the player tracking down key cards while fighting demonic hallucinations. Black Ops Cold War’s climax had the character remembering their lost memories through a series of hallucinatory walking sim rooms. The series can be more than grounded, it can contain multitudes.
We got a new WW2 COD back in 2021. Now it’s time for a new sci-fi COD.
