The Call of Duty franchise has released a new installment without fail every year since 2005. For loyal fans and gamers of the CoD games, the next big thing to look forward to this year after the conclusion of the 2024 Call of Duty League (CDL) season is Call of Duty: Black Ops 6. Ahead of Black Ops 6 beta weekend, this marks the first time in the series that the game won’t be giving exclusive early access beta to PlayStation players. Instead, the game, set in the Gulf War era, will arrive simultaneously on all platforms, including Xbox and PC, in August.
Announced on the Xbox website and the Call of Duty podcast, the latest sequel will soon be playable and help confirm or debunk numerous fan theories, speculations, and expectations in the past few months. It seems this is a year of many firsts for the Call of Duty franchise, as aside from giving up the PlayStation-only early access beta, the previous installment, Modern Warfare III, recently announced its Game Pass launch, as confirmed by Microsoft, in commemoration of Season 5 of the game. Adding to the official confirmation and announcement is a new trailer to hype up the new season’s launch. Likewise, the upcoming Black Ops 6 has also been confirmed to launch on the Game Pass service as a day-one game for subscribers.
If you’re feeling giddy about hopping in the newest CoD lobbies soon, you’ll be pleased to know this latest CoD entry is bringing in some of the biggest changes to the franchise’s gameplay that fans have seen in years. Below, we’ll look at some key things to expect for Call of Duty: Black Ops 6:
Introducing Omnimovement
Perhaps one of the biggest changes and potential upgrades developer Treyarch has teased, announced, and shown from Black Ops 6 is the all-new Omnimovement system. Aptly names, the redesigned movement system is set to take Call of Duty’s run-and-gun shtick to a whole new level, allowing players to sprint or dive in any direction for the first time. While players typically had to point their player models at the direction they’d like to move, the Omnimovement system means you can now jump, dive, or slide backwards and sideways all while still keeping your crosshair trained on the enemy.
Aside from the added freedom of moving in whatever direction you’d like, Treyarch also introduced “intelligent movement”, which will automate movement techniques like sprinting, mantling, and sliding through crouch-height holes to minimize potential friction in moving from point to point in a CoD game. Call of Duty has long been a dynamic and frantic shooter, and introducing this new movement system will likely birth a new generation of viral trickshot clips.
Black Ops 6 and Call of Duty Esports
As mentioned in our introduction, the 2024 Call of Duty League Season recently wrapped, crowning OpTic Texas as world champions after their win against the New York Subliners in the Texas-hosted grand finals. Every CDL season takes place on the latest CoD game release, so for Call of Duty esports fans, it may be worth taking the time to consider how new upgrades and features in Black Ops 6 will impact the next CDL season outcomes.
For fans and viewers who bet on Call of Duty players and teams for the CDL and other tournaments, it always helps to refer to past season outcomes and winners to inform your betting decisions. Each CDL season starts with the pre-season Kickoff Classic, which will also play a significant role in helping fans and bettors determine which teams and players will perform well in the new Omnimovement meta. In the meantime, bettors may also look to off-season events once Black Ops 6 releases in October to get an early look at how the new game translates to competitive play.
Round-based zombies
Aside from the introduction of new features like the Omnimovement system, Black Ops 6 will also mark the resurgence of round-based Zombies mode. This includes the launch of two brand-new maps — Terminus and Liberty Falls — and a continuation to the Dark Aether narrative the franchise introduced in 2020’s Black Ops Cold War. Another zombie mode feature making a comeback to the franchise is the GobbleGums. These are earnable power-ups that offer unique in-game effects to players. The GobbleGums were last seen in Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 over nine years ago.
Earlier this year, a slew of alleged Zombies Cryptic teasers made their rounds on the Internet via the game’s known content creators and streamers. Shortly after, however, Activision was able to remedy this alleged “leak” by confirming them to be fake and made by a third party. In fact, the convincing teasers ended up having no affiliation with Activision or the Call of Duty brand. One of the factors fueling the fake Zombies Cryptic teasers was the use of an image of Harper’s Ferry, believed to be the location for the upcoming Liberty Falls zombies map.
Black Ops 6 and Warzone
Finally, another pressing question CoD fans are sure to have about the upcoming release of Black Ops 6 is its potential impact on Call of Duty’s battle royale game, Warzone. So far, details about what the new installment will bring to Warzone remain sparse. However, developers have confirmed that the all-new Omnimovement system is to be incorporated into Warzone, which is sure to impact playstyles and pace-of-play for fans of the battle royale mode.
Warzone has also joined in the Black Ops 6 marketing campaign, introducing an onslaught of Easter eggs in the game. This includes a cutscene showing Frank Woods in a wheelchair following the events of Black Ops 2 (where he was shot in the kneecaps). In the cutscene, Woods directly addresses players about new “key information” that leads to a bunch of other Black Ops 6 Easter eggs. Warzone’s rewards section also showed new challenges related to the new game’s upcoming release. One of these rewards is a calling card called The Truth Lies — Black Ops 6’s prominent tagline.
