The Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 gameplay trailer indicates that Activision will do good on its previous promise to deliver the “most mind-bending Black Ops ever.” In what appears to be a divergence from realistic combat simulation in favor of sci-fi trippiness, the reveal shows reality-twisting visits to famous CoD locales reimagined with Inception-recalling messes of roads that are out of an MC Escher illustration, human-dwarfing swords, morphing buildings, and plenty of weaponized robots presumably manufactured by the The Guild, a fictional tech company that’s central to the plot of Call of Duty: Black Ops 7. Notably, the trailer, which is scored to an industrial remix of Metallica’s “Master of Puppets,” features very little gameplay—check it out below:
The gameplay reveal arrives after Activision fired off a huge marketing campaign for Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 featuring fake magazine covers and an IPO for The Guild. As Variety points out, said campaign included real-world ads that appeared throughout San Francisco—passersby who scanned the QR code were directed to a full-fledged website featuring a mission statement and an “Innovations” product page for several robots, including a canine-like “D.A.W.G,” “G-R5” droid, and a “Legion Drone.”
“For over three decades, The Guild has shaped the systems that safeguard our world—from disaster response to home defense, consumer goods, and AI-driven humanitarian tools,” the mission statement reads. “The Guild has delivered consistent returns with a market model serving both public and private sectors and with a growing portfolio of consumer security products, it continues to expand its global footprint. In a world facing rapid change, rising uncertainty, and increasing risk, The Guild builds a future free from fear with what others can’t: tech you can trust. You’re not just investing in the future of protection, you’re investing in the future of humanity.”
Activision even went so far as to purchase sponsored content covers of Wired and Forbes for The Guild before dropping the latest Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 trailer, which features footage of one of its executives ringing the opening bell on the New York Stock Exchange to commemorate The Guild’s IPO: “By 2035, your enemies won’t be human, and neither will your defenders… Evolution waits for no one, and together, we won’t fear tomorrow.” Shawn Ryan, a real former U.S. Navy SEAL, Blackwater contractor and podcaster also appears in news segment-style clip, saying, “Will robots replace soldiers? I think that’s already started.” The buzziest part of the trailer comes at the end, which teases an August 19 gameplay reveal trailer.
The official Black Ops 7 synopsis reads, “The year is 2035 and the world is on the brink of chaos, ravaged by violent conflict and psychological warfare following the events of Black Ops 2 and Black Ops 6. Wielding cutting-edge technology, the Black Ops team led by David Mason”—the son of the franchise’s original protagonist who spent most of 2012’s Black Ops II pursuing terrorist leader Raul Menendez—”must fight back against a manipulative enemy who weaponizes fear above all else.”
Developed by Treyarch and Raven Software, Black Ops 7 marks the first time Activision is releasing back-to-back Black Ops games. The game has been confirmed for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC but will also be available on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Black Ops 7 will launch day one on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass. According to widely reported leak, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 will release on November 14, 2025.