Black Ops 7 Nonetheless Is not Celebrating

Yearly, Activision places out a brand new Name of Responsibility. And yearly, shortly after that Name of Responsibility comes out, Activision shares some form of celebratory announcement about how a lot cash it made or how many individuals performed. This 12 months, per week has come and gone because the launch of Black Ops 7 with out a peep from Activision about the way it’s truly carried out. This comes amid stiff competitors from Battlefield 6 and a Metacritic score of just 69. 

Does this imply Activision isn’t all that pleased with Black Ops 7’s gross sales efficiency? Is the annualized blockbuster beginning to slip after years of potential fan burnout? 

As identified by Twitter user NerosCinema, a put up celebrating 2022’s Fashionable Warfare II hailed it as “the number one Call of Duty launch of all time,” whereas 2023’s put up mentioned Fashionable Warfare III had the best engagement within the new Fashionable Warfare trilogy.” Last year’s Black Ops 6 launch earned a celebratory post calling it the “biggest Call of Duty 2-day opening ever.” The November 17 Black Ops 7 post affords no such accolades, simply that the crew has seen “a great response” throughout “opening weekend.” 

That’s a far cry from how Activision spun Name of Responsibility Black Ops Chilly Conflict‘s reputation again in 2020, simply two days after it got here out: “Friday’s release of Black Ops Cold War set a new record as the highest first day digital sales worldwide in franchise history.” 

Thanks to our neighborhood and builders. That is simply the beginning #BlackOps7 🔥 pic.twitter.com/dWDt6Jvpx0

— Name of Responsibility (@CallofDuty) November 17, 2025

Requested for remark, Activision referred Kotaku again to its preliminary November 17 put up. 

Possibly it’s too quickly for Activision to begin celebrating—or perhaps the tide has turned on the franchise, which was just lately referred to as out (once more) for using generative AI for in-game art. The Game Business reported on November 21 that Black Ops 7’s weekend launch gross sales had been 63 p.c decrease than Battlefield 6’s in Europe, and had been down by greater than 50 p.c when in comparison with final 12 months’s Black Ops 6. 

Black Ops 7 definitely tries to deviate from final 12 months’s installment, although the 2 video games had been developed in tandem. It’s technically a sequel to 2012’s Black Ops 2, and stars some Hollywood people like Milo Ventimiglia (This Is Us), Michael Rooker (Guardians of the Galaxy), and Kiernan Shipka (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina), however its marketing campaign takes so many huge, absurd swings that it’s largely leaving gamers bewildered. 

Then there’s the truth that it’s up in opposition to Battlefield 6 this 12 months, which was the best-selling game in October in the United States, and produced the “highest single month US physical and digital full game tracked dollar sales total in three years,” according to Circana’s director of game research, Mat Piscatella. The final recreation to promote that nicely? Fashionable Warfare II.

If Black Ops 7 isn’t the runaway hit Activision hoped it could be, perhaps meaning we will get a break from the Name of Responsibility Annual Launch Hamster Wheel. Possibly the builders at Infinity Ward, Treyarch, Sledgehammer, and Raven can take their time making one thing really distinctive and particular that redefines the sequence and defies expectations. Possibly they’ll repair the rattling launcher and make it simpler to obtain a recreation with out two dozen further packs. 

Or perhaps they simply announce Name of Responsibility: Black Ops: Remastered: Revamped subsequent 12 months and everybody loses their minds. Can I even decide? I’m taking part in Black Ops 7 multiplayer proper now…