Where Does Black Ops 6 Fit Into the Series’ Lore?

As another year draws near its end, it’s time yet again for another Call of Duty game. For 2024’s iteration, Activision is taking fans back to a fan-favorite sub-series with Black Ops 6. However, if you’re new to the franchise or a lapsed fan looking to return after years away, the Call of Duty landscape may be a bit confusing. 

Unlike most games, Call of Duty has ditched individual applications and adopted a centralized hub, kind of like how Fortnite offers multiple game modes in a single ecosystem. When you launch the game, you’ll see multiple options to choose from, including Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, Modern Warfare III, and Warzone in addition to Black Ops 6. Players only have access to the respective games they own, which are purchased piecemeal. It can be convenient if you’re regularly going back to different versions of the game, but might be off-putting if you’re just looking to pick up and play.

Even though they’re lumped together in the same app, Black Ops and Modern Warfare are vastly different games — despite what some fans may suggest. Not only do they feature different characters, stories, and tones, but they offer very different styles of gameplay too.

What Are the Differences Between the COD Sub-Series?

For the better part of a decade, Call of Duty was more or less a World War II anthology series. It was less focused on characters or big story arcs and more about allowing players a way to experience historical battles/military operations by way of an interactive take on Saving Private Ryan. In 2007, that all changed with Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. The game was inspired by real life conflicts ripped straight from the headlines and would result in the franchise’s first direct sequel with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2009). 

That sequel was the first time the series had reinvested in its characters and given players people to attach to. Modern Warfare would become known for its bombastic, contemporary stories with Michael Bay-sized set pieces and bravado, with larger than life characters defined by thick accents, bushy mustaches, and cool masks. After both games became monstrous hits, it was clear that fans wanted more serialized entries. However, for the sake of the developers (as well as the audience’s attention) it would be difficult to roll out a Modern Warfare sequel every year.

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Activision opted to produce a semi-sequel to Call of Duty: World at War (2008) that would help launch another sub-series: Black Ops. This sub-franchise is far less focused on all-out warfare and more interested in espionage, honing in on conspiracy-laden takes on history and fictional shadowy operations carried out by the government. Call of Duty: Black Ops tackled all kinds of brainy subject matter such as Russian sleeper agents, the surgical role of the CIA in major world events in the Sixties, and even the assassination of John F. Kennedy. 

Both sub-franchises would continue to further develop their own identities as the years went on with Black Ops going to the far flung future to battle robots while the original Modern Warfare trilogy wrapped up in the early 2010s. Modern Warfare developer Infinity Ward would go on to try a few other new ideas for the series, such as Ghosts (2013) and Infinite Warfare (2016), but ultimately circled back to Modern Warfare to cash in on nostalgia.

In 2019, Infinity Ward released a Modern Warfare reboot that offered a more realistic take on its initial premise. If the original Modern Warfare trilogy was like an over-the-top Michael Bay film, the rebooted trilogy is more akin to grounded films like Zero Dark Thirty and Sicario. As such, Modern Warfare has become more of a casual military-sim that tries to balance realism with fun while Black Ops is the more “arcade-y” shooter that’s a bit easier to pick up and play.

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It’s obviously a bit confusing for newcomers to keep track of the differences between the two Modern Warfare trilogies, as they literally shared the same name aside from a set of roman numerals. However, it’s understandable why Activision chose to keep using the Modern Warfare name. It’s an incredibly strong brand, synonymous with making Call of Duty a pop cultural juggernaut.

Similarly, Treyarch has never even attempted to ditch the Black Ops brand because of the power it holds for the series. It’s something fans trust and hold in high esteem.

Where Does Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Fit In?

The Call of Duty: Black Ops timeline is a bit chaotic as it takes place across roughly 100 years and also features a branching storyline. In Black Ops 2 (2012) and Black Ops Cold War (2020), the player can make choices that allow critical characters to live or die, nuke countries, and let the villains win or lose.

On top of that, the rebooted Modern Warfare (2019) series exists within the same universe as the Black Ops games. A lot of these connections have been made in seasonal post-launch cutscenes tied to the multiplayer of these games, but a key character from the Modern Warfare series also appeared in a cameo in the campaign for Black Ops Cold War.

With all of that said, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is more or less right in the middle of the timeline. Black Ops 6 is a sequel to Black Ops Cold War and the Eighties-set levels of Black Ops 2. Black Ops 6 picks up in the early Nineties and follows Cold War character Russell Adler on the run after being framed as a mole in the CIA. Sometime later, he sends a cryptic message to Frank Woods — who is now wheelchair-bound following the events of Black Ops 2 — to warn him of a dangerous group that has infiltrated the CIA. 

Key franchise characters like Alex Mason and Jason Hudson will not return in Black Ops 6 due to some choices players can make in Black Ops 2 now being officially canonized in the overall narrative. Below, you can find a chronological timeline of the Black Ops franchise’s story which should hopefully make things a bit easier to follow. The bolded entries on the list are the ones that you should play before Black Ops 6 if you want to have the best understanding of the story.

What to Expect from Call of Duty: Black Ops 6?

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 has had the longest development cycle of any Call of Duty game to date with Treyarch and Raven Software leading the charge on production. The series has historically allowed its different studios two to three years to make new games, but Black Ops 6 was afforded the luxury of four years. Ideally, it could result in a more polished, content-rich game than previous years.

2023’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III was reportedly made in 16 months and was heavily criticized for its painfully short campaign (roughly three hours long) and a multiplayer that launched exclusively with content from previous games such as maps from Modern Warfare 2 (2009).

Of course, there will be a robust campaign with missions that allow players to choose the kind of playstyles they want to utilize. Raven Software, the campaign developer for Black Ops 6, has also confirmed this year’s single player component will be longer than Black Ops Cold War’s which was under 6-hours long.

Zombies also returns with two new round-based maps, including one giant map set in West Virginia. Black Ops 6 will introduce a plethora of new features including a mech suit for players to utilize, new GobbleGums (a perk system exclusive to Zombies), and all kinds of whimsical weapons and gadgets to slay the undead with. To really sweeten the deal, a third Zombies map will also be released for Black Ops 6 by the end of 2024 at no extra cost.

The fan-favorite mode was introduced in World at War (2008) and has allowed the series to have a radically different co-op mode in addition to its single-player and PvP offerings. It became popular for its simplicity of surviving hordes of the undead, but evolved to become a campy experience that saw players as President John F. Kennedy, going to the moon, and fighting an undead version of horror director George Romero across different games.

Needless to say, it would seem like the chaos of this mode is kept in its own self-contained universe and doesn’t directly impact the campaigns of the Call of Duty games.

The co-op mode has grown substantially since its initial days of being a simple wave-based shooter and now touts elaborate puzzles, progression systems, and an ongoing storyline. For some fans, Zombies is the meat and potatoes of Call of Duty and they don’t really dabble in the other modes. There are even entire YouTube channels with millions of subscribers that are dedicated to covering Call of Duty’s Zombies mode.

And it wouldn’t be Call of Duty without multiplayer. The classic 6v6 action returns with 16 maps (including a remake of fan-favorite map, Nuketown) and all kinds of new mechanics. Most notably, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 boasts a new movement system which allows players to run, slide, and dive in any direction, giving them more precise control over their character. This “omnimovement” also results in much faster, more frenetic combat with more opportunities to make slick plays. 

Later this year, this system will also be implemented into Call of Duty: Warzone, a free-to-play battle royale spin-off, which should dramatically overhaul how the beloved battle royale plays. After releasing in 2022, Warzone has become something of the connective tissue between games, continuously updated each year to reflect some of the major gameplay changes introduced in the annualized entries.

Both the mainline entries and Warzone are iterating upon each other as Warzone takes on mechanical innovations such as movement changes while titles like Modern Warfare III have utilized the battle royale’s maps and armor system within their campaigns. 

For those that have heavily invested in Call of Duty over the last few years by purchasing skins and aggressively leveling up their gear, there’s some bad news. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 does not feature the “carry forward” system that was introduced in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III. The system allowed players to bring their skins, guns, and relevant gear from Modern Warfare II to Modern Warfare III.

This was partially done because Modern Warfare III was more like Modern Warfare 2.5 rather than a full-fledged sequel, making it easier for the developers to include content from a previous game.

However, Black Ops 6 plays a lot different from Modern Warfare III and features a different art style, so it wouldn’t make sense for all of the stuff from the last two games to be accessible here. Modern Warfare III featured some a ton of contemporary crossovers with skins for real life celebrities like Devin Booker and Nicki Minaj as well as characters from big films like Dune: Part Two.

Naturally, it would be weird for a game that’s set in the Nineties to feature characters like this, though there will probably be some other crossovers in Black Ops 6’s post-launch content. Thankfully, all content from past games will still be usable in Call of Duty: Warzone. Similarly, Black Ops 6 skins and weaponry will also be usable in Call of Duty: Warzone.

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While all of that is certainly a lot to take in, you’re ready to play Call of Duty: Black Ops 6. It may be overwhelming at a glance, but Call of Duty is popular because it is first and foremost very accessible. It’s meant to be a shooter that anyone can pick up and play. While you may be a bit fuzzy on some specifics if you’ve never played another Call of Duty or you’ve taken some years off, just sit back and enjoy the ride. 

Whether you’re looking for a quick dopamine hit in multiplayer, wanting a high-quality, blockbuster-level story, or want to mindlessly mow down Zombies with your friends, Black Ops 6 has something for just about everyone.