While Activision usually announces the new Call of Duty game by May of every year, it took its sweet time with Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War. The highly-anticipated game just got its first proper reveal trailer, mainly giving fans a look at the campaign while offering a brief glimpse of multiplayer. However, an avalanche information came alongside the Black Ops Cold War reveal trailer, and it may be difficult for fans to keep it all straight.
Activision confirmed many details about Black Ops Cold War, including more specific gameplay features in the campaign, pre-order bonuses, and more. And even more information is expected to come later today, as Black Ops Cold War will be at Gamescom Opening Night Live.
Here is everything that has been confirmed about Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War since the reveal trailer.
Bundles
As is typical of most triple-A video game releases, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War will have multiple editions for players to buy come it launch on November 13. The Standard Edition current-gen version of the game will cost $59.99, and it includes the game as well as the Confrontation Weapons pack for multiplayer. The Cross-Gen bundle is a little more expensive at $69.99, but includes an upgrade to the next-gen version of the game once it's available. And finally, the Ultimate Edition of Black Ops Cold War is $89.99, and it includes everything available in the Cross-Gen bundle plus the Land, Air, and Sea Pack that includes a new multiplayer operator, vehicle skins, and three weapon blueprints, along with the Season 1 Battle Pass and 20 tier skips.
Now, there's some other important things to note about the different Black Ops Cold War bundles that will be sold on November 13. Those that get the standard edition and want to upgrade to the next-gen version will have to spend an additional $10 to do so. It's also worth pointing out that the physical Xbox One version of Black Ops Cold War can't be upgraded to the next-gen version at all, but the physical PS4 version can be upgraded to the PS5 version.
It's been confirmed that Black Ops Cold War will be a launch title for both the PS5 and Xbox Series X, so it may be best to just wait for that version to be available to make things simpler, if one is planning to get either next-gen console at launch.
Campaign
The Black Ops Cold War reveal trailer was primarily focused on the campaign, and so many details about what the campaign will entail were released. The Black Ops Cold War campaign will take place in the early 1980s, and as its name suggests, it will center around Cold War conflicts. Familiar faces from the Black Ops series will appear in the new game, including Frank Woods and Jason Hudson. Players will also have the chance to interact with a variety of historical figures, including President Ronald Reagan.
While Alex Mason was the main character in the original Black Ops, Black Ops Cold War is changing things up by letting players make their own character. They will be able to customize a variety of details about their character's background and appearance, which should lead to a much more personalized Call of Duty campaign experience.
Besides character creation, the Black Ops Cold War campaign is changing things up in other ways as well. For example, like past Black Ops games, Black Ops Cold War will have multiple endings for players to unlock, not to mention side quests to complete. Players will also be able to select their own dialogue choices at certain points, as well as make decisions that will in turn influence what ending they get.
And finally, it's been confirmed that while Treyarch is working on the multiplayer, Raven Software is handling the Black Ops Cold War campaign. This is notable because Raven Software hasn't developed a single player FPS experience since 2010's Singularity, so it will definitely be exciting to see what it can deliver.
Cross-Play and Progression
A big feature in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and the Warzone battle royale is cross-play and cross-progression across multiple platforms. It's been confirmed that Black Ops Cold War will be retaining these features, which should ensure that the game has a healthy community despite it coming out on so many platforms.
Development Studios
Black Ops Cold War is going to be available on virtually every modern gaming platform, minus Stadia and Switch, and it also has plenty of different development studios as well. Treyarch is working on multiplayer and Raven Software is working on campaign, but the studios are being assisted by a variety of other companies that fall under the Activision publishing umbrella. It's been confirmed that additional work on Black Ops Cold War is being done by Activision Shanghai, Beenox, High Noon Studios, and Sledgehammer Games.
Free DLC
With Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Activision changed gears significantly from its previous post-release strategy. Instead of selling DLC packs that split up the community, it decided to give away all of Modern Warfare's post-launch maps and modes for free, while still selling cosmetic bundles and Battle Passes. The result is that Modern Warfare has been a massive financial success for the company, and so it's no surprise to see this strategy continue with Black Ops Cold War.
The Black Ops Cold War free DLC will include all major multiplayer content, just like in Modern Warfare, as well as Zombies maps. As long as the post-launch support for Black Ops Cold War is comparable to what Infinity Ward has done with Modern Warfare, it's safe to say that fans will have a virtually endless stream of new content for the upcoming game.
Future Announcements
While the Black Ops Cold War reveal answered a lot of lingering questions about the new game, it also set the stage for future announcements as well. It was confirmed that Black Ops Cold War will have its multiplayer reveal on September 9, with a Zombies reveal coming at a later date. More information on the open beta will be revealed at a later date as well, though it's been confirmed that it will be available early to those that pre-order, and earliest to those that pre-order on PS4.
Multiplayer
Very little was revealed about the Black Ops Cold War multiplayer experience, but fans were given a brief glimpse of it at the end of the reveal trailer. It seems as though the Black Ops Cold War multiplayer will include vehicular combat, as well as a large desert map, but more information will come to light on September 9.
Next-Gen Exclusive Features
The next-gen version of Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War costs $10 more at $70, but it will have some exclusive features that won't be available in the older versions of the game. Activision hasn't revealed all of the PS5 and Xbox Series X exclusive features for Black Ops Cold War, but it has confirmed that the next-gen version of the game will have a higher framerate, ray-tracing, and shorter load times. Just how significant these upgrades are remains to be seen, but fans will get a better idea closer to launch.
Pre-Order Bonuses
So far, a couple of different Black Ops Cold War pre-order bonuses have been confirmed by Activision. Anyone that pre-orders the digital version of the game will get early access to the open beta, and those on PS4 will get even earlier access. Unfortunately, specific dates and times for the Black Ops Cold War open beta aren't available at this time, but more information is expected to come during the September 9 multiplayer reveal.
Meanwhile, those that pre-order now will get instant access to the Frank Woods operator bundle for use in Modern Warfare and Warzone. This bundle includes fan favorite Black Ops sub-series character Frank Woods, along with a special weapon blueprint.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War has been confirmed for release on Friday, November 13 for PC, PS4, and Xbox One. The game will also be available for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X when those consoles launch.