Image: Activision
Here’s everything you need to know about Call of Duty: Black Ops 6’s open beta.
Activision Blizzard has unveiled the open beta dates for Call of Duty: Black Ops 6’s multiplayer modes. Players will get to take the game for a spin before it launches this September, but anyone who pre-orders the game will get to hop into its early access beta one week beforehand. Xbox Game Pass subscribers will also get to join the early access beta.
Here are the open beta dates you’ll want to keep track of:
- August 30 - September 4 (early access)
- September 6 - September 9 (open beta)
How to join Call of Duty: Black Ops 6’s open beta
Call of Duty Black Ops 6 is hosting an early access beta one week before its open beta, exclusively for players who have either pre-ordered the game or subscribed to Xbox Game Pass. If you fit the bill, you’ll be able to hop into the early access beta on August 30 until it ends on September 4. The beta starts two days after Activision hosts a Black Ops 6 game showcase called Call of Duty: Next, which will presumably go over this beta’s contents in more detail.
For now, here’s how Activision describes the beta:
Experience the game-changing Omnimovement and other gameplay innovations for yourself across a variety of brand-new maps built by Treyarch, as well as building your own loadouts, accessing a variety of weapons, equipment and Perks, and dropping in with your squad across a number of modes.
It’s a little vague, but it sounds like there will be plenty of content to keep players busy during the beta’s two-week period. On September 6, the beta opens up for all players across all platforms and lasts until September 9. All of the game’s pre-order exclusives, like the Hunter vs. Hunted pack’s four Operators and five Mastercraft weapons, will also be available for use during both weeks of the beta period.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 launches on October 24 on Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 and PC. If you’re an Xbox Game Pass for Console subscriber, you should know that Microsoft’s recent changes to the service have made Day One additions like Black Ops 6 a thing of the past. If you want to play the game when it launches, you’ll either have to buy the game at full price, subscribe to Game Pass Ultimate or stack a few months of Game Pass for Console subscriptions in advance.
If all of that sounds unnecessarily complicated, that’s because it sadly is.