Call of Duty Black Ops 6: System requirements, pre-loading info and release times

Image: Activision

Here’s everything you need to know to prepare for Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 at launch.

Activision Blizzard’s next mainline Call of Duty game, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, launches this week with a campaign set during the Gulf War packed with action and espionage. This will also be the first game in the franchise to launch on Xbox Game Pass, following Microsoft’s costly $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard.

Black Ops 6 will feature the usual slew of campaign, zombies and multiplayer modes - but it won’t have an early access period, so everyone's going to be able to play it at the same time. If you’re trying to figure out its system requirements and pre-load times, however, we’ve got you covered. Here’s everything you need to know to prepare for the next big Call of Duty launch:

PC and console pre-load and launch times

Anyone who has pre-ordered Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 can already start pre-loading the game on their platform of choice, and immediately start playing when it launches. This means that you’ll be able to download all three of the game’s major game modes - Campaign, Multiplayer and Zombies - in advance of their official release. Pre-loading is now open on all platforms, including PC via Microsoft Store, Battle.net and Steam, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S.

As for launch times, one should note that those using the Microsoft Store on PC, or PlayStation and Xbox consoles, will be able to play at midnight on October 25, local time. That means the game will be available to play sometime between 7 pm GMT+8 on October 24 and 2 pm GMT+8 on October 25 - depending on when the clock strikes midnight in your region.

However, Battle.net and Steam users on PC will only be able to play the game starting from noon on October 25. Here’s a handy launch map to illustrate those pre-load and launch times:

Official system requirements on PC

Now you know when Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is launching - but will your PC be able to handle the game when it’s out? Thankfully, the game asks for some pretty reasonable technical specifications this year, likely due to its cross-gen release. Here are the game’s system requirements:

Minimum