In adding to the ever-growing list of evidence that they have truly become one of, if not the most anti-consumer video game developers on the planet, Activision Blizzard has confirmed that Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 will not only require a constant internet connection in order to access its single player campaign, but that it will also bar all accounts which have previously been banned from any of the franchise’s most recent entries from accessing the new game’s online multiplayer modes.
These new, first-of-their-kind-for-the-franchise user terms were first unveiled on June 9th courtesy of a blog post from Activision Blizzard detailing the upcoming Call of Duty title’s various retail offerings.
Therein, the developer revealed that in addition to coming to Xbox Game Pass – no doubt thanks to Microsoft’s recent purchase of Activision Blizzard – the game would be sold in four distinct editions:
- Vault Edition: In addition to the game, players will gain access to the ‘Hunter vs. Hunted Operator Pack’ of four skins, the first battle pass (as well as some bonus premium currency and tier skips), a special ‘Mastercraft’ weapons collection and an-of-yet-to-be-detailed GobbleGums pack for use in the game’s Zombies mode.
- Digital Cross-Gen: Allows players access to the base game on both the previous and current Xbox and PlayStation console generations (Xbox One and Series X|S, PlayStation 4 and 5).
- PC Standard: A digital license which grants PC players access to the base game.
- Physical Console: Available in PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4 Cross-Gen (which includes a physical PS4 disc and a PS5 upgrade code), or Xbox-Cross Gen versions (A single disc which can be played on both Xbox One and Xbox X|S consoles), the physical release of the game grants players access to the base game.
Further, not only will all pre-orders of the game come with free access to the game’s upcoming open Beta and the Woods Operator Pack for use across the franchise’s recent entries (Modern Warfare II, Modern Warfare III, Warzone, and Mobile), but those who wish to upgrade their standard order to the Vault edition will be able to do so post-launch for $30.
Following this break down, the very end of the blog post saw Activision Blizzard detail three ‘less-than-exciting’ pieces of information about Black Ops 6:
- In an attempt to “deliver the highest-quality visuals while also reducing the game’s overall storage space on your hard drive” via “texture streaming”, the game will require “a continuous internet connection to play any game mode, including Campaign.”
- To “ensure performance integrity”, while split-screen play will be available for players on current gen consoles, those on playing on Xbox Ones or PlayStation 4s will not have access to this feature.
- All Activision ID accounts “permanently banned from previous Call of Duty titles starting with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019) and Call of Duty console and PC titles released thereafter as well as Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile” will “not be eligible to play Black Ops 6”.
Additionally, “Battle.net accounts that have been permanently banned from Modern Warfare III, Modern Warfare II, or Warzone” will be digitally barred from buying the game through the Blizzard Digital Store. To this end, said players “may have the ability to purchase Black Ops 6 digitally on Xbox and PlayStation, as well as on Microsoft Store and Steam”, but “will not be eligible to play online modes in Black Ops 6 in those versions.”
It should be noted that, in layman’s terms, the third and final entry in the above list confirms that going forward a ban in a single Call of Duty game will now also result in a total franchise ban for the offending player.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is currently set to deploy on October 25th.