Activision has confirmed that the next Call of Duty game will be Black Ops 6. The publisher updated the website for the military shooter franchise to reveal the title, promising that “official lines of communication have begun,” which essentially means the game’s marketing is shifting from teaser mode to slow-trickle reveal mode.
Xbox’s X (Twitter) account posted in late April that a “[REDACTED] Direct” event would follow the Xbox Showcase on Sunday, June 9. It was never much of a mystery that it would be a Call of Duty reveal: The logo matched the franchise’s military art style, and it had already been reported that the next installment in the long-running series would arrive this year.
On Thursday, a short teaser video on Xbox’s X account removed the redaction to reveal Black Ops 6. So you can look forward to a hype session for the first Call of Duty game unveiled under Microsoft ownership.
The Call of Duty website shows additional teasers that capitalize on conspiracy theorists’ worldviews. A shadowy video shows law enforcement body cam footage, building up to the (fairly corny) reveal of Mount Rushmore (Six Grandfathers Mountain before it was carved up) with blindfolds covering each of the four US Presidents’ eyes, reading “The Truth Lies” followed by a logo. Other videos on the website show vandals (also in found-footage style) placing posters with the same slogan around a city.
In other words, marketers are marketing.
Microsoft apparently plans to use the new installment to boost Game Pass subscriptions. The Wall Street Journal reported this month that the title will be the first Call of Duty installment to appear on Game Pass on launch day. We’ll have to wait to see whether that strategy provides enough much-needed lift for the service to justify the (potentially enormous) loss of direct sales to Xbox console owners.
You can hear about Black Ops 6 on June 9, immediately following the Xbox Games Showcase, which starts at 1 PM ET. Engadget will have full coverage of all the day’s reveals.