Will you be able to play Black Ops 7 early?
The official release date for Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is Nov. 14, 2025, and that has been fully confirmed by Activision as of the multiplayer beta that took place in early October. However, due to some strange occurrences in Black Ops 6 and rumors from Call of Duty insiders, there's a feeling in the community that Black Ops 7 might just do the unthinkable and release a week early.
Will Black Ops 7 be released early?
It's important to note that Activision has not taken any concrete action that would indicate Black Ops 7 is going to move up from its current release date of Nov. 14. In all likelihood, the game will still launch in mid-November as planned.
With that disclaimer out of the way, though, let's get into why some players in the community believe Activision is possibly going to release Black Ops 7 on Nov. 7 instead of Nov. 14. Right now, the hardest piece of "evidence" we have about this possibility is industry insider @TheGhostOfHope claiming that there's a slight chance Black Ops 7 could have its launch date moved up.
The insider reported on this back in September and then stated this week that they believe there's currently a "20%" chance that the game actually does release early.
In TheGhostOfHope's tweet above, they reference "evidence of a potential release date change for Black Ops 7." What evidence are they referencing exactly? Well, it could either be nothing or a real indication that Activision is planning a new release date.
First, the Black Ops 7 depots, which are basically the files for the game, were deployed on Steam late on Sunday night (Oct. 19). These depots don't actually have public files in them yet, so they're still only meant for private testing purposes. However, the X/Twitter account that noticed this has stated that the depots deploying a month away from a Call of Duty's release date could mean anything at this point. It certainly doesn't rule out a potential Nov. 7 release date, though.
In addition to that nugget of information, Black Ops 6 saw a major update come through late last week. This update brought the Chucky Event to the game, which was originally planned for Oct. 24-25. Many fans have expressed the opinion that this event being pushed out one week early means that Activision must be planning for Black Ops 7 to be released a week early.
It's worth noting that the Chucky Event was originally supposed to end one day prior to Black Ops 7's current release date (Nov. 13). However, with the event being released early, it's now slated to end one week before Black Ops 7's release date (Nov. 6). This could all mean nothing, but it's interesting that Activision changed up one of the last major events in Black Ops 6 so suddenly and without warning.
All of this is to say that there's definitely some evidence that Activision might have an earlier launch for Black Ops 7 in mind. Of course, the logistics of pushing out a game a week early might sink this pipe dream more than anything else. It would likely be incredibly difficult to get retailers ready for a Nov. 7 launch when the plan has been Nov. 14 for months.
Still, the potential does exist, and we'll have to wait to find out if Black Ops 7 sticks to its Nov. 14 release date or if it's launched a week early.
If you're interested in more Call of Duty news, make sure to check out our piece on Activision removing SBMM and disbanding lobbies in Black Ops 7.
