The recent reveal trailer for Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 has caused quite a stir among the franchise’s community, with the pre-release routine for 2025’s CoD entry now being in full swing. This trailer came as the final announcement for the recent Xbox Games Showcase event, giving fans a brief glimpse into the world of Black Ops 7 while confirming its place on the wide-spanning and at times confusing timeline for Black Ops as a whole.
From the reveal trailer, it is known that Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 will act as a direct sequel to 2012’s Black Ops 2, with the cinematic showcasing past characters like David Mason and Raul Menendez, and the game itself being set in the 2030s. As expected, this near-future setting lends itself to some advanced technology compared to what fans have seen recently from Call of Duty, taking one step closer to the potential return of the kinds of fully futuristic CoD entries that have been so divisive in the past.
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Call of Duty Black Ops 7 Might Be Stuck Between a Rock and a Hard Place
Although Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 will likely be big, there are a couple things stacked up against this shooter that may hold it back from greatness.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7’s Futuristic Setting Could Be a Sign of Things to Come
The Call of Duty franchise has explored a huge range of settings over the years, with the franchise’s earliest roots as a series of WW2 shooters giving way to other distinct eras over time. The evolution into portraying modern combat was an ambitious but revolutionary change for the series. It only makes sense that Activision would go on to push the boat further and further with subsequent titles in the hopes of replicating this, or at the very least, keeping things fresh.
Away from the gritty and grounded gameplay of entries like World at War, Call of Duty would go on to dive headfirst into futuristic science-fiction settings. The likes of Advanced Warfare, Infinite Warfare, and even Black Ops entries like 3 and 4 were defined largely by their outlandish settings. While some of these games were well-received by sections of the CoD community, the futuristic era of the franchise is seen as quite divisive. With that in mind, the confirmed setting of Black Ops 7 could mark a big step in terms of Activision slowly returning to this gameplay premise going forward.
Black Ops 7 is also confirmed to have co-operative campaign functionality, as well as a round-based Zombies mode that will continue the Dark Aether storyline.
Black Ops 2 did extremely well to balance science-fiction alongside a grounded story with its at-the-time near-future portrayal of 2025. Black Ops 7 is set around the 2030s as a direct sequel to BO2. It seems as if Black Ops 7 can operate in the same zone of believability as Black Ops 2 originally did in 2012 through this kind of setting, although there are some signs to suggest that the game may be going a step further.
History Could Be Repeating Itself With Black Ops 7’s Near-Future Focus
For example, the end of the reveal trailer for Black Ops 7 includes an invisibility ability being used by a solider. Elements of Black Ops 6‘s code even suggest that wall-running may return to Black Ops 7 as a major movement mechanic. This should not be enough to bring back the same level of division that defined past futuristic Call of Duty entries, although it could get the ball rolling for full-future entries to once again stamp their mark on the IP going forward.
Current rumors suggest that 2026’s Call of Duty will be a direct continuation from 2023’s Modern Warfare 3, reportedly being set in South Korea, but the franchise’s future beyond this is a relatively open book, as things stand. Rumors were circulating about a sequel to 2014’s Advanced Warfare being in the works not too long ago, and with Black Ops 7 dipping its toes back into futuristic gameplay elements, it seems as if CoD could be bracing itself for another major thematic shift in the near future.