Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 won’t offer early access to its campaign mode, breaking a new trend set by the latest Modern Warfare games

Black Ops 6’s campaign will launch at the same time as multiplayer and zombies

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

It’s bad news for anyone eager to dive intoCall of Duty: Black Ops 6’s campaign mode, asActivisionhas confirmed that for the first time in two years, players won’t be offered early access to the single-player story ahead of the first-person shooter’s multiplayer launch.

Looking at Call of Duty’s recent releases, both Modern Warfare 2 and 3 (the 2022 and 2023 versions, respectively) offered fans who pre-ordered the gamesaround a week of early access to their campaign modes. This was a move that went down well with many at the time, as it gave players the time to enjoy the story without feeling the need to rush into the multiplayer mode to make sure they didn’t fall behind with their PvP skills. However, publisher Activision has now confirmed that this won’t be happening this year for Black Ops 6.

In astatement sent to Charlie INTEL, Activision says that the “team is fully focused on October 25,” and is “excited about all the game has to offer across Campaign, Multiplayer and Zombies.” It continues: “This year, we made the decision to ensure the community gets to dig in to any and all modes that they want at the same time, so we are back to one massive global launch moment October 25. As such, there is no Early Access beat this year for Black Ops 6, just the countdown to launch.”

It’s not that there’s been no early access to Black Ops 6 at all, as the FPS recently wrapped up amultiplayer betaperiod, allowing players across all platforms to get stuck into the action and try out the fancy new omnimovement options. However, with that beta window now closed, it’s back to the countdown for the game’s full release next month, which may now feel even further away than ever for those who were banking on an early campaign launch.

For more games like Call of Duty, be sure to check out our roundup of thebest FPS games.

Sign up to the GamesRadar+ Newsletter

Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more

I’m one of GamesRadar+’s news writers, who works alongside the rest of the news team to deliver cool gaming stories that we love. After spending more hours than I can count filling The University of Sheffield’s student newspaper with Pokemon and indie game content, and picking up a degree in Journalism Studies, I started my career at GAMINGbible where I worked as a journalist for over a year and a half. I then became TechRadar Gaming’s news writer, where I sourced stories and wrote about all sorts of intriguing topics. In my spare time, you’re sure to find me on my Nintendo Switch or PS5 playing through story-driven RPGs like Xenoblade Chronicles and Persona 5 Royal, nuzlocking old Pokemon games, or going for a Victory Royale in Fortnite.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6’s hottest new XP farming trick has players flashbanging their allies for a measly 15XP

A staggering 52% of US Xbox Series X|S players launched Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 the Monday after release, analyst says: “Bonkers engagement”

Former GTA 6 designer says the open world sequel will “blow people away” and “people will be talking about it for ages” because Rockstar has “raised the bar again”