Activision said it will no longer ship consecutive Modern Warfare or Black Ops entries, confirming the 2026 title will not be Black Ops 8. Black Ops 7 will get a free Multiplayer and Zombies trial next week alongside a Double XP weekend, with the publisher pledging "unprecedented" seasonal support. The Call of Duty team acknowledged the franchise has "not met" some players' expectations and promised to deliver unique yearly experiences with meaningful, not incremental, changes. Reception and engagement have lagged recent entries, with "mostly negative" Steam user reviews, mid-60s Metacritic scores, and market trackers reporting sharply lower European launch sales and player movement to Battlefield 6, though Game Pass complicates sales comparisons. Black Ops 7 has drawn criticism over alleged use of generative AI assets, a concern publicly raised by U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna.
