Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is barrelling at us like a freight train. The marketing hype and general excitement for the upcoming premium release has been at a fever pitch since Call of Duty: Next and the subsequent beta. Developed by Treyarch Studios and published by Activision, Black Ops 6 is the first Call of Duty to launch following the end of PlayStation's marketing agreement with the publisher and Xbox's acquisition, which closed just weeks before the launch of Modern Warfare 3 (2023).
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 also marks the first time the franchise has launched Day One as part of the Xbox Game Pass subscription service and Xbox Cloud Gaming. It's a momentous occasion, and passing the time to launch has been seemingly unbearable. The game's launch is being staggered across time zones, leading to a few players jet-setting off to New Zealand changing their Xbox's location to gain earlier access. I'm not going to tell you how to do that, because changing your console's region to get early access is a violation of the Xbox Terms of Service, and I don't want to be the one responsible for getting anybody's account suspended on Black Ops 6 Eve.
What I will do is give you a handy dandy list of 7 things you can do to help pass the time until you can side-dive your way in.
1. Check the launch times for your region.
Waiting to launch Black Ops 6 is rough, and that's why the best course of action for getting through the hours until you can play (without risking your Xbox account, at least) is to obsessively check the launch times image to determine when the game will be available for you. Access has already gone online in some parts of the Eastern Hemisphere, with New Zealand and Australia among the first to play the game. For more info on when the game will be available in your region, check out our guide to Call of Duty: Black Ops 6's launch times.
2. Catch up on The Replacer's antics.
For Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, Xbox has pulled out the big guns and brought back Peter Stormare to reprise his role as The Replacer, a dedicated agent who takes the place of every day people so they can spend more time playing Call of Duty. The character was a fan-favorite in past Black Ops marketing campaigns, but was suspiciously absent from the trailers and campaigns for Cold War. Xbox and Activision seemingly felt they've had some time to make up for, and The Replacer's marketing campaign for Black Ops 6 has really put its blockbuster marketing budget to work.
The Replacer has been a firefighter, the Pope, the Joker, and even your new daddy. He also took over the offices at Treyarch Studios, going live on Twitch and Instagram and taking the reins of the Call of Duty socials for a day. The Replacer has declared October 25, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6's official launch day, as National Kick Ass in Call of Duty Day. If you hit the Call of Duty social account with your Activision ID, you can earn some Double XP to help with your race to Prestige Master.
A vote for me earns Double XP!Reply below up to 3 times to earn 3 Double XP tokens available for Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 launch!Each reply (max 3) will earn 1 Hour of Double XP for Player, Weapon, and BattlePass at launch.💥 #BlackOps6 🎮 Activision ID🔥 @CallofDuty pic.twitter.com/ktK9nPd0nZOctober 23, 2024
If you did happen to travel to New Zealand for the launch of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, don't worry. There's a Replacer there for you, as well.
3. Check your system specs and preload.
Nobody wants to hold up the squad by not having Black Ops 6 preloaded and ready to go at launch. Before you even hop into that Discord call or Xbox Party with your besties, go ahead and check that your PC's specs are battle-ready. If they're not, you can still pick up a Corsair x Call of Duty collection PC, but I doubt it will be here before launch. In that case, you may want to consider cloud streaming Black Ops 6 with NVIDIA GeForce NOW or Xbox Cloud Gaming.
Don't forget to update to the latest drivers, too. You can see the PC specs for Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 in this handy guide.
If you're playing on Xbox, you're likely to be good to go with just a preload. You will need 102 GB of storage space, however.
4. Spam the group chat with Replacer gifs.
Everybody who forgets to preload is going to get the Condescending Wonka meme with the Replacer today. Everybody. Don't let that be you.
If you are safely preloaded, though, you can proceed with spamming those in your squad's group chat to torment the ones who didn't prepare. If your whole squad has their act together and is all ready for launch, you can proceed with the other memes. Activision and Xbox teamed up with GIPHY to recreate a dozen of the internet's favorite and most popular memes, starring Peter Stormare as The Replacer, and I honestly won't be using any others anymore.
5. Brush up on Call of Duty lore.
Call of Duty: Black Ops has some pretty unwieldy storytelling that is non-linear at best. The events of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6's campaign are interwoven with story missions, flashbacks, and side-stories that were originally introduced in early titles, taking place as far back as the 1970s and as far forward as—uh, 2025. Okay, maybe not that "far" forward, anymore.
Some popular characters, both in Zombies and the Campaign, are canonically dead, while others are wounded, imprisoned, or otherwise MIA. It's worth checking out the Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 FAQ to get a refresher on how the story got to where it is when you load up the campaign.
6. Plan your attack for Zombies.
Black Ops 6 will have classic round-based Zombies at launch, and there are a few things you should probably know to plan your attack. GobbleGums, a handy power-up that can be purchased with Call of Duty points or unlocked via in-game progression, make their return to the popular third-mode where hordes of the undead ambush a squad of four for cooperative gameplay action. Two maps, Terminus Island and Liberty Falls, will be available for Zombies at launch, and there are now 108 augments to familiarize yourself with before diving in. The changes to perks and augmentations give players the chance to create unique loadouts for Zombies mode, but listen—somebody else has to be the healer this time, guys.
7. Order snacks.
Mountain Dew and Doritos? Brother, ew! Call of Duty players will be ordering Little Caesars and washing it down with a Monster energy drink, like professionals. And also because we want the sweet, sweet rewards.
Call of Duty is once again partnering with Little Caesars for a unique Operator skin—this time featuring Black Ops 6's Russell Adler packing an orange pizza cutter and a Hot-N-Ready hat—as well as some other rewards like a Hot-N-Ready weapon charm and a Little Caesars x COD emblem and calling card. To get your hands on these limited rewards, you need to first make a purchase from Little Caesars worth at least $3 or more (MXN 50 if you are in Mexico, or $4.99 if you are in Canada). Your receipt will feature a unique promo code, which you need to plug in on the Little Caesar's promotional website. Each receipt will randomly unlock one of the available rewards and also enter the redeemer to potentially win a code for Black Ops 6, Season 1 Battle Pass, or Call of Duty points.
If all else fails...
No! NO! Do not take an immediate flight to New Zealand! 😡
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 releases October 25 (at midnight for the East Coast. It's not that much longer, guys. C'mon!) on Xbox, PlayStation, and PC via Steam, Battle.net, and the Microsoft Store. Black Ops 6 will also be available on select Xbox Game Pass plans and via cloud streaming from NVIDIA GeForce NOW and Xbox Cloud Gaming. Today is the final day to preorder and receive preorder benefits.
