You might want to wait a bit to play Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 on Steam

1 month ago 4

It’s Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 launch day, which means potentially millions of players are hopping into the new single-player campaign, the updated multiplayer mode, and Zombies. While posts online about the performance of the game seem to be minimal, there have been reported issues on PC, specifically via Steam.

It’s been a common story lately about players being mad at third-party launchers on Steam, and that remains the case for Black Ops 6. Call of Duty’s is called Call of Duty HQ (COD HQ), and it’s a hub for players to manage their game installs, whether they want to only download certain game modes or launch a specific game. It seems as if players can only switch between modes through the launcher and have to go through multiple menus to boot the game up. In the worst cases, they can’t launch the game at all.

“The COD HQ is the worst thing to ever happen to cod. I don’t want to navigate 10 menus to get to the single thing I want to see,” said one Redditor, who also mentioned that it’s “constantly just bugging out.” Multiple people in this thread say the the HQ crashes at launch.

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Vault Edition owners on Steam are also having an issue where they can’t equip the Woods Operate Pack. The team is currently working on a fix.

Still, Black Ops 6 is currently sitting on Steam at a “Mostly Positive” rating. It’s likely you won’t run into any problems, but if you wanted to immediately hop in and play, you might have to wait a bit longer.

Beyond those issues, Black Ops 6 is still shaping up to be another uber-successful Call of Duty release. Analysts told GamesIndustry.biz that while the game coming to Xbox Game Pass will reduce overall sales, it could bring 2.5 million to 4 million new subscribers to the service.

Carli Velocci

Carli is a technology, culture, and games editor and journalist. They were the Gaming Lead and Copy Chief at Windows Central…

Don’t skip Call of Duty: Black Ops 6’s great new mode during its beta

Black Ops 6.

The beta for Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 begins tomorrow, and it features eight different modes for players to check out. While I'm guessing most will want to play iconic modes like Team Deathmatch (TDM) or Domination, I recommend you give Kill Order a shot.

Kill Order is a mode new in Black Ops 6 that finds a way to twist the core TDM formula to make it less chaotic. I spoke to developers at Treyarch about its creation and learned that Kill Order works as well as it does because it was built around the aspects of Call of Duty that players like best.
A high-value mode
At its core, Kill Order is TDM with a twist. The basics will be familiar as two teams of six compete to get the most kills, earn points, and win a match. To help focus the action, one player on each team is named the "High Value Target." This "HVT," as the game and developers call it, is powered up with extra armor, directional indicators for other players on the minimap, and the ability to earn more score with each enemy kill. They're not a juggernaut or anything, but in a one-on-one between an HVT and an enemy player, the HVT is more likely to win.

All Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 beta rewards

Black Ops 6 key art.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 will release in a couple of months, but you can dive into the beta to check things out before then. Preordering the game will net you early access beginning on August 30, while the open beta will kick off the following weekend on September 6. Whenever you decide to hop in, though, you'll want to be aware of what kind of rewards you can get your hands on for playing the beta. Luckily, we've got a list of them all for you.
All Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 beta rewards
The full list of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 beta rewards can be seen below. Note, however, that some of the rewards in the beta can only be unlocked during one of the two beta weekends, so be certain you note that when planning out your pathway to earning everything.

"Beta Tester" Emblem - Reach level 2 during the beta.
"No Bugs" Weapon Charm - Reach level 6 during the beta.
"Beta Tag" Spray - Reach level 11 during the beta.
"Quick Draw" Emote - Reach level 15 during the beta.
"Squash" Operator Skin - Reach level 20 during the beta.
"Squish" Operator Skin - Reach level 20 during the first weekend of the beta.
"The Truth Lies" Loading Screen - Reach level 23 during the second weekend of the beta.
"Beta Expert" Animated Calling Card - Reach level 27 during the second weekend of the beta.
"Bug Smasher" Weapon Blueprint - Reach level 30 during the second weekend of the beta.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Zombies is a welcome return to form

Black Ops 6's zombies mode.

Call of Duty: World at War was my first Call of Duty game, so I still remember the surprise when a friend showed me its secret zombie mode. I played so much Zombies across World at War and Black Ops that I actually got a bit burnt out by it. Most Call of Duty games since World at War have featured some sort of zombie mode, with some making a radical departure from the original formula. On the other hand, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6's Zombies mode feels familiar, but that's not a bad thing.

At today's Call of Duty Next event, Treyarch showed off what the Zombies experience in Black Ops 6 will look like in more detail. Beforehand, I went go hands-on with a solo game of Zombies at an event in Washington, D.C.

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