Will Black Ops 7 cause the downfall of Call Of Duty?

It is undeniable that Call of Duty is not just one of the most influential franchises within the shooter genre, but also one of the most influential video games series of all time. For nearly two decades, the first-person shooter military video game series has dominated the market, with instalments like Black Ops 3 selling over 43 million copies worldwide, and the reboot of Modern Warfare (2019) similarly selling 41 million copies. Therefore, when Activision released Call of Duty Black Ops 7 on November 13 2025, the game had high expectations, especially so from its competitor, Battlefield 6, whose beta testing period (unlike BO7) had proven to be an enjoyable experience.

On release day, however, most of the player base had their expectations dashed with the final product. Lambasted for having “aesthetics like a mobile game” and “egregious use of AI“, BO7 has been heavily criticized from multiple angles.

Solo players are left without the ability to play entirely

An example of BO7’s failings is the recycling of many old maps, leading to the game feeling repetitive. BO7 brings back four different maps from previous CoD games, leading to an underwhelming map pool, even considering the game’s new offerings. Alongside this, BO7‘s emphasis on seasonal events to launch new content creates a slow drip-feed of new weapons and maps, resulting in the gameplay experience at launch being highly narrow and scarce in content.

Furthermore, the game’s rampant microtransactions serve to sour players to the game even more. The in-game purchases and bundles are advertised to players every time you open the game, not unlike a mobile game with its predatory advertisements and tactics to get you to open your wallet. Players will quickly realize that their gameplay experience was not the priority of the developers. Instead, the developers put all of their programming time into fleshing out the cash shop and season passes. The developers were focused so acutely on releasing skin bundles that they ignored the requests of the player base to expand the drought of maps and weapons – and it shows.

Even in terms of the single-player campaign, BO7 is being regarded as the worst the franchise has ever seen. To pinpoint the main problems that players have with the campaign, the lack of authenticity within the narrative as well as lack of crucial quality-of-life features are evident.

For starters, the storyline of the campaign feels remarkably dull. Tracking down and bringing to justice weapons-manufacturing CEO Emma Kagan should conjure the hallmark of intrigue, but without any insightful personal background, or stakes present in the plot, the main antagonist fails to leave any lasting impact. Treyarch’s attempts to appeal to nostalgia, such as bringing back the iconic character Raul Menendez from Black Ops 2, also do not help to relate us to the new cast. Furthermore, due to the baffling decision to restrict the campaign to co-op mode only, solo players are left without the ability to play entirely, drawing further ire from the player base. Other small details, such as the lack of a pause button, or the ludicrously inflated health bars of enemies, are emblematic of the game’s unacceptable lack of polish and quality assurance testing.

A boss fight where you avoid being squished to death by a giant comes off as unrealistic and downright immature

By far the most ridiculed portion of the game are the boss fights. One appears towards the end of every mission, and some jump the aesthetic shark so dearly that they would not seem out of place in a Lego game. The most infamous example is the fight against ‘Harper’, a bomb-spewing, acid-spraying giant man. For a series which previously prided itself in grounded storytelling and gameplay, a boss fight where you avoid being squished to death by a giant comes off as unrealistic and downright immature.

It feels like the game has lost its identity in every aspect possible, and was certainly not what long-time fans were expecting. As one TikTok content creator known as “Lunchb0xGaming” put it: “This is like The Division mixed with Borderlands, but worse – it’s just hordes of enemies, non-stop.” All in all, the campaign showed not only a significant downgrade in quality compared to previous entries, but a sacrifice of the franchise’s identity, feeling more like a sci-fi boss shooter than the realistic war simulator that fans had grown to love.

Not everything was a catastrophic failure regarding the game, as it had a few positive additions, such as the removal of the Tactical Sprint mechanic from normal gameplay. Allowing you to move faster at the cost of a slower readying speed for your gun, this feature was moved to be an optional perk, simplifying the base gunplay for newcomers and casual gamers, while also keeping the option for those who enjoyed the strategic positioning it provided. Furthermore, the introduction of wall jumps in the movement system is a unique touch to the game that altered gameplay dynamics. Treyarch also attempted to change these dynamics by refining the skill-based matchmaking according to the player base’s request.

In conclusion, Black Ops 7 marks the clear moment when the developers lost sight of its community’s needs. The heavy reliance on recycled maps, an aggressive push for microtransactions, and a campaign that felt both hollow and dull left players feeling disconnected from a franchise they once trusted. Rather than delivering a complete product, the game leans on seasonal updates and cosmetic bundles, signalling to fans that revenue rather than an enjoyable gameplay experience was the bottom line. In failing to meet its expectations, the game highlights the franchise’s growing distance from its community, and raises serious questions about its future direction and (possibly) inevitable stagnation.