For the first time ever, a Call of Duty beta will include Zombies - as Survival has been confirmed for the Black Ops 7 beta
Black Ops 7’s Zombies has been fully revealed, and Treyarch has one big surprise for players looking to jump into the beta.
Image credit:Activision, Treyarch.
Now that we’ve been acquainted with pretty much everything in multiplayer in the upcoming Black Ops 7 , it’s naturally time for Zombies, the co-op, undead-clearing mode that’s been a staple of the series for years.
Treyarch has now revealed a whole lot of information about the map, challenges, Wonder Weapons, GobbleGums, the new Wonder Vehicle and more.
Much like the multiplayer blog post from earlier in the week, the Zombies blog is also very extensive, offering a deep dive into almost the entirety of the mode’s different facets. Even more Zombies gameplay will be shown off at Call of Duty: Next next week , so there’s that to look forward to there as well.
Ashes of the Damned is the big new map for Zombies, and it’s the one that will be available at the game’s launch in November. It’s made up of several areas, each of which you can unlock and explore.
It’s large enough that you’ll need a vehicle to traverse between the main locations, which is where the pickup truck comes in. You’ll have to get it working first, of course, because nothing in Zombies works when you first find it. The vehicle can be upgraded throughout the journey, and the blog post talks about “some ways” to repair it when it gets damaged.
One of the more interesting new additions is the Necrofluid Gauntlet Wonder Weapon, which we see a glimpse of in the gameplay trailer above. Normal and armored enemies return, but Black Ops 7 is also throwing a couple of new misshapen beasts into the mix - including a mutated bear.
Even going beyond the new additions, Treyarch is making several key changes to Zombies. For one, the number of super sprinter zombies will be lower, and they won’t spawn as often. Armored zombies will no longer be able to sprint in higher rounds, and their armor can now be more easily destroyed - though they will take less damage from explosives.
Zombies in Black Ops 7 has four modes: Standard, Directed, Survival, and Cursed. Standard is the base style, offering no guidance for main and side quests. Directed - introduced with last year’s Black Ops 6 - is more streamlined and designed for players looking to experience the core story content. Directed won’t be available at launch, so you can expect it a few weeks afterwards.
BO7 brings back Survival, which offers smaller, more focused experiences that take place in wardened off areas of the Ashes of the Damned map. Survival is designed for maximum carnage, with no quests or anything except trying to stay alive as long as you can. Finally, Cursed is designed for veteran players, hiding side quests for them to uncover, which in turn unearth cursed Relics. When activated, they spawn harder challenges for everyone to face.
Image credit:Activision, Treyarch.
The biggest news out of the blog, however, has to be the fact that Survival mode will be playable in the upcoming Black Ops 7 beta. This is the first time Zombies content has been playable in a Call of Duty beta, so it’s a big deal.
Black Ops 7 arrives November 14 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. The game’s beta kicks off next week, split across two stages and featuring a whole lot of content.
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Watch Call of Duty: Next here for the big Black Ops 7 multiplayer and Zombies reveal
Image credit:Treyarch, Raven Software, Activision.
Though this continues to look like it may not be another year of total Call of Duty domination, there’s definitely a lot of excitement for Black Ops 7 . This year’s game is bringing a lot to the table, even if you can clearly tell the 2025 shooter mindshare belongs to Battlefield 6 .
If you’re a diehard Call of Duty player, however, few occasions command the same level of anticipation as Call of Duty: Next , the big everything-will-be-revealed event Activision hosts almost every year.
Call of Duty: Next returns this month to deliver the one-two punch of finally revealing Black Ops 7’s multiplayer , as well as its Zombies mode . Both modes are changing this year, which is all the more reason to tune in and see how Treyarch and Raven will be able to sell us on the upcoming game.
What is Call of Duty: Next and what to expect?
As with every CoD: Next, the event will feature dozens of content creators who will all be livestreaming their Black Ops 7 gameplay to the world. This goes for multiplayer, as well as Zombies. Before content creators get to run around the maps and play with the new movement and weapons of Black Ops 7, however, the developers will walk us through what’s on offer, and go deeper into this year’s game than any of the previous reveals .
How to watch Call of Duty: Next
On Tuesday, September 30 , all of us will be swimming in several hours of Black Ops 7 content. If you don’t tune in to your favourite YouTube or Twitch streamer, you’re probably going to have the main broadcast on.
Like last year, tonight’s event will kick off at 9am PT, 12pm ET, 5pm BST . This is the usual time slot for major Call of Duty reveals, so that’s not surprising.
As for where you’ll be able to catch it live, you can do so on Call of Duty’s official YouTube and Twitch channels - and we’ve embedded both below.
What comes after Call of Duty: Next
Once CoD: Next wraps up, the next major event to look forward to is, of course, the Black Ops 7 beta . The beta’s Early Access portion kicks off October 2, just two days afterwards. A lot - if not all of - the beta content will be part of Next, so we’re going to get a much better idea of what we can expect when the beta goes live during Next.
While Activision hasn’t said whether tuning in to Next will offer players a chance to get an Early Access beta key, it’s worth keeping the livestream on in the background, as you may even earn some in-game rewards, if not a beta key.
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Black Ops 7 blows the doors wide open on its multiplayer mode ahead of Call of Duty: Next
Black Ops 7 has shown off all 18 of its launch multiplayer maps, the weapons and Scorestreaks you can expect to play with, and more.
Image credit:Activision, Treyarch.
Black Ops 7 is a little far off still, but if you thought next week’s big Call of Duty: Next multiplayer reveal event was going to be where most remaining information would be revealed, you’d actually be a little off base this time.
That’s because Treyarch and Raven have unveiled practically all details about the game’s multiplayer mode ahead of Next, showing off the hardware, the multiplayer arenas, and even going deep on movement and map design.
The blog post has to be one of the largest I’ve ever seen for a Call of Duty game. It’s split into several different sections covering all aspects of multiplayer, essentially leaving very little a mystery.
The post walks us through all 18 maps coming to Black Ops 7 at launch - 16 core (6v6) multiplayer maps, and two Skirmish maps. Of those 16, three are Black Ops 2 remakes; those being Express, Hijacked, and Raid.
Skirmish is the new, big-player-count mode in Black Ops 7, offering 20v20 matches on two large maps that include team objectives, vehicles, and more. It’s nothing you haven’t seen before, and it’s actually one of the least discussed in the blog post. The other new addition to the mode gallery is Overload, which is a riff on Capture the Flag.
In terms of loadout-building, the big new feature this year is Overlock. It lets you modify tacticals, lethals, Field Upgrades, as well as Scorestreaks. You can have up to two Overclock abilities, which offer upgrades that could boost the damage of equipment, the way it interacts with the world, its cost (such as for Scorestreaks), how quickly it charges up (Field Upgrades) or give you the ability to carry more of it.
There’s also a section on progression in the post, which covers how the camo grind is going to work this time around, alongside several other details about the return of Weapon Prestige, and how progression is being tweaked in the game across the board.
We’re getting a similar deep dive into Zombies this week, but you can catch up on what’s been revealed so far about multiplayer at the link at the top of the post. Black Ops 7 arrives November 14 on PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7
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