Call of Duty: Black Ops

Call of Duty: Black Ops is a sub-franchise within the broader Call of Duty series, developed primarily by Treyarch and set across a connected narrative spanning Cold War espionage, near-future warfare, and covert operations. Beginning with Call of Duty: Black Ops in 2010, the sub-series has produced seven entries through Black Ops 7 in November 2025, distinguishing itself from the mainline Modern Warfare entries through its more explicitly science fiction and conspiracy-driven storytelling, its Zombies cooperative mode, and a consistent focus on shadowy government operations and unreliable narrators. Black Ops 7, a direct sequel to Black Ops II from 2012, released November 14, 2025.

Call of Duty: Black Ops has always been my favorite version of COD. It’s not because of the multiplayer, but because of the zombie mode. Call of Duty: World at War started it and ever since then, it’s been a blast to play the mode.

Black Ops (2010)

Call of Duty: Black Ops released November 9, 2010, developed by Treyarch. Set during the Cold War from the 1960s through the Vietnam era, the game follows CIA operative Alex Mason through missions spanning Cuba, the Soviet Union, Vietnam, and Hong Kong, with the overall narrative built around a brainwashing program called Nova 6 and a numbers broadcast that Mason cannot stop hearing. The unreliable narrator structure, in which Mason’s memories and hallucinations blur the line between mission playback and psychological breakdown, gave Black Ops a tonal distinctiveness that other Call of Duty entries had not attempted. Zombies mode, introduced in World at War in 2008, was expanded into a full cooperative mode with its own narrative mythology beginning here.

Black Ops II (2012) and the Future Setting

Black Ops II released November 13, 2012, the most narratively ambitious Call of Duty entry and the only one with branching story outcomes determined by player choices and success or failure in specific challenge missions. Set across 1980s Cold War flashbacks and a 2025 near-future primary timeline, the game introduced David Mason, Alex’s son, alongside villain Raul Menendez, a Nicaraguan cartel leader whose manipulation of technology and global conflict was planned decades in advance. Multiple endings, including Menendez’s death, survival, and various outcomes for key characters, emerged from how the player performed and what choices they made across the campaign. Black Ops II is the entry most frequently cited by the franchise’s audience as the best Call of Duty campaign ever made.

Black Ops III and Black Ops 4

Black Ops III released November 6, 2015, in the most technologically advanced setting the sub-series had used, following augmented soldiers with neural interface technology in a 2065 world where the line between organic humanity and mechanical enhancement had broken down. The campaign’s narrative, involving an AI called the Corvus and a team whose memories were not their own, divided the audience between those who found its ambition compelling and those who found its execution confusing. Black Ops 4 in October 2018 removed the single-player campaign entirely, replacing it with solo specialist missions and launching Blackout, a Call of Duty battle royale mode that preceded Warzone’s arrival in 2020.

Cold War and Black Ops 6

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War released November 13, 2020, returning to the Cold War era of the original game with a 1984 setting and a customizable protagonist called Bell whose gender and backstory the player defined. The campaign involved CIA operative Russell Adler hunting Soviet agent Perseus across multiple countries, with a late-game reveal about Bell’s true allegiance that offered multiple ending choices. Black Ops 6 released October 25, 2024, set during the Gulf War of 1991 and following Troy Marshall and a CIA team operating outside official channels. The game launched day one on Xbox Game Pass and achieved the biggest launch day in franchise history by player count.

Black Ops 7 (2025)

Black Ops 7 released November 14, 2025, developed by Treyarch alongside Raven Software, High Moon Studios, and Beenox. The game is set in 2030, five years after the events of Black Ops II, positioning it as the most direct sequel in the sub-series to the most beloved entry. The antagonist organization is the Guild, led by Alden Dorne following a coup against CEO Emma Kagan. The campaign features co-operative play from the start rather than as a separate mode, and Zombies received the biggest round-based map in the sub-series history as a launch feature. Season 3 Reloaded in April 2026 brought new Zombies content and the return of Black Ops III’s Free Run mode to Warzone.