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Windows Central

Technology

Cole Martin

The Black Ops 6 beta was the biggest in Call of Duty history

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A Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Operator wearing a neon green jacket and a respirator. The character, Squish, is running with an assault rifle at the ready.

What you need to know

The Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 beta spanned two weekends. Weekend 1 was geared toward players who had preordered the game on any platform or had a subscription to Xbox Game Pass. Weekend 2 was an open beta across all platforms, with no preorder necessary.
Treyarch Studios has shared that the beta was the biggest in Call of Duty history, ranking #1 in total players, hours played, playtime per player, and most matches played across early access and the open beta period.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 launches on October 25 on Xbox, PlayStation, and PC via Steam, the Microsoft store, and Battle.net. It is available day one with an Xbox Game Pass subscription on Xbox and the Microsoft Store.

Treyarch Studios and Activision have taken to the official Call of Duty Twitter account to announce that the Black Ops 6 beta was the biggest ever for the franchise.

While no official player counts were revealed, the announcement did declare that Black Ops 6's beta was #1 in total number of players, #1 in hours played, #1 in playtime per player, and #1 in most matches played when compared to the betas of its predecessors.

Thank you, Call of Duty Community 🫡The dev team at @Treyarch is going through all the data and feedback to make launch even better. There’s so much more to come on October 25th! #BlackOps6 pic.twitter.com/33mt65cudhSeptember 10, 2024

At least some excitement surrounding the Black Ops 6 beta can be attributed to its close proximity to the Call of Duty: Next showcase. The showcase highlighted Black Ops 6's new omnimovement system, offered a curious player base their first sneak peek at multiplayer, and even showcased the upcoming Warzone resurgence map called Area 99. During the open beta, players were given access to a pared-down Black Ops 6's multiplayer experience, with a limited run of the upcoming game's 16 map roster on a mosh pit playlist. The playlist mashed together Hardpoint, Domination, Kill Order, and Team Deathmatch game modes.

The Black Ops 6 beta spanned across two weekends at the end of August and the beginning of September. Unlike previous Call of Duty titles, the Black Ops 6 beta was not staggered across various platforms, limiting who could access the game during the event and making data collection for cross-platform play difficult. The first beta weekend was limited to those with Early Access, whether by having preordered Black Ops 6, acquiring a code for early access, or subscribing to Xbox Game Pass. The second beta weekend was open to all users on all platforms.

The Black Ops 6 beta gave players their first chance to go hands-on with Omnimovement. (Image credit: Activision)

During Call of Duty: Next, I sat down to a group interview with Treyarch Studios, with Director of Production Yale Miller and Associate Director of Design Matt Scronce. Miller spoke briefly about the importance of the beta experience—not just for players to get their hands on the game, but also for feedback on bugs and potential issues with gameplay mechanics. "I think the thing that keeps me up is 'What are the things we didn't even think about that we missed,' right?" Miller said. "That's why the beta is so important for us."

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(Image credit: Harish Jonnalagadda / Windows Central)

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Players got to witness changes to Black Ops 6's gameplay experience firsthand between the two weekends, as Treyarch's team made adjustments to the in-game audio based on player feedback. Feedback from the early access period led to the audio for damage impact being decreased, footstep audio being increased, and changes to audio cues when an enemy is sliding around within earshot.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 releases on October 25 on Xbox, PlayStation, and PC via the Microsoft Store, Steam, and Battle.net. Players with a subscription to Xbox Game Pass or PC Game Pass can play the game on day one at no additional cost as part of their subscription. Unlike the latest entries from the Modern Warfare series, Black Ops 6 will not feature an early access period for the campaign nor any other game modes ahead of launch. The game's development is being led by Treyarch Studios, with narrative support from Raven Software. Additional Activision studios are also supporting development.