From Verdansk to new movement toys, Season 3 is packed with content across all modes.
📅 Season 3 Overview
- Start date: April 2
- Big beats: New 6v6 and small maps (mix of brand-new and remastered classics), a new 20v20 Skirmish map, Endgame goes free-to-play for a limited time, new Zombies survival and round-based content, Warzone map updates, new Gulag setups, and movement toys like Wall Jump and Grappling Hook, six new weapons, Battle Pass, BlackCell, events, and more.
🗺️ New Multiplayer Maps
Launch Maps
- Beacon (6v6, brand-new, medium) – A snowy Guild facility with a crashed helicopter outside and crates marked “Skyveil Array” offering strong cover. Inside, you’ll fight through Housing, Monitoring Station, and Storage, with the central Bridge and long Tundra sightlines rewarding both aggressive pushes and long-range play.
- Abyss (6v6 / 2v2, brand-new, small) – A tight, submarine interior where you brawl through Engine rooms, Torpedo Bay, and narrow corridors. Rope Ascenders let you reach the Forward and Aft Decks for flanks, while elevated walkways in the Silos give strong vantage points. Expect constant close quarters outplays.
- Plaza (6v6, remaster from Black Ops 2, medium) – The classic Mall-at-sea map returns, now with Wall Jumping and the Black Ops 7 movement sandbox. Fight across the outer Mall, Concourse, and iconic central stairwell, and push into the Colossus Resort, including Luna Nightclub, Red Bar, and high-end shops.
- Gridlock (6v6, remaster from Black Ops 4, medium) – A heist-torn freeway over a Japanese city, filled with overturned vehicles, rubble, and shopfronts. Control the Garden, Terrace, and long Street lanes, using delivery trucks and the Restaurant for powerful cross-map views and cutoffs.
- Mission: Trident (20v20 Skirmish, brand-new) – A large scale skirmish map set around the Old Arsenal Avalon point of interest. Patrol boats let you navigate waterways and shorelines, with harbor warehouses, medieval fortifications, ramped bridges, and a helipad on a cruise liner interior. Snipers will love the high rooftops and long sightlines.
Mid-Season Maps
- Onsen (6v6 / 2v2, brand-new, small) – A Japanese hot spring spa that’s anything but relaxing. The central steam bath will be a key hotspot, with an oni statue, flanking outbuildings, and elevated cover positions around the main structure.
- Summit (6v6, remastered classic from Black Ops 1, medium) – The fan favorite mountain research facility returns. Expect a three-lane design with labs, catwalks, a central control room, exterior walkways, and dangerous cliffside routes, all enhanced by Wall Jump and more verticality.
- Hacienda (6v6, returning from Black Ops 6, medium) – A luxury vineyard estate featuring a grand villa, vineyards, garage, and courtyard. The map blends tight interior fights with open outdoor lanes, now with extra Wall Jump routes for more creative engagements.
- Ascent (Freerun special map, brand-new) – A dedicated Freerun obstacle course built around high, vertigo-inducing jumps and tiny margins for error. It’s split into ten zones, designed to test advanced movement and parkour skills mid season.
⚡ Endgame: Free Access and New Toys
Endgame Goes Free to Play (Limited Time) – Endgame is going free-to-play for Season 3, for a limited window. New players start as one of four JSOC Operators from Specter One. Expect adjusted Loadouts and loss rules tuned to the evolving Endgame Avalon meta.
New Systems and Abilities:
- Operations: A new Operations system gives your Endgame violence more structure, starting with Operation Poison Pill, adding tactical objectives and progression to your runs.
- New Skill Track – Warband: Unlock a new Skill Track that lets you summon attack drones and convert enemies into allies.
- New Abilities: At launch – Aether Blade (a ricocheting projectile you can hurl to bounce between targets). Mid-season – Thermal Spike (unlocked via Weekly Challenge).
🎯 Multiplayer Modes & Loadout Additions
New and Returning Modes:
- At Launch: Demolition, Aim High, Snipers Only
- Mid-Season: Freerun, Heat Wave Havoc, Freeze Tag
New Scorestreak and Loadout Options:
- Ion Core Scorestreak: Deploy an area field of pulsing radioactive damage that penetrates walls. Upgrade with Plutonium Core or Chemical Catalyst Overclocks for extra lethality or utility.
- Ranked Play: New season of Black Ops 7 Ranked for Multiplayer. Win matches, climb Ranks, and earn new cosmetic rewards and badges for competitive play.
🧟 Zombies: Survival, Directed Stories, and a New Map
Core Zombies Content:
- Ashwood Survival Map: Fight endless waves of undead in the grounds of Ashes of the Damned. Try standard Survival or the tougher Cursed on Ashwood variant for a harder challenge.
- Paradox Junction – Directed Mode & Starting Room: Directed Mode gives a more guided Main Quest experience. Starting Room Mode lets you test your limits in the opening area only.
- Zombie Battle Mode: A new free-for-all Zombies mode where PvP and PvE collide. Last player standing wins, balancing survival and sabotaging others.
- Mid-Season Round-Based Map – Totenreich: Travel to “the cold place” when Totenreich arrives in Season 03 Reloaded. Expect a more traditional round-based experience with new secrets and challenges.
Legacy Weapons: Pack-a-Punch fan-favorite pistol returns. Mystery Box mid-season will feature powerful legacy weapons, bringing back some classics for longtime fans.
🪂 Warzone: Verdansk, Avalon, and Movement Upgrades
Verdansk & New POI: The southern hills now house the Launch Pad, a huge new POI with major construction and high value fights. Designed to be a hot drop at Season 3 launch.
Avalon & Gulag Changes: As Avalon rotates into the big-map Battle Royale playlist mid-season, multiple Gulags appear around the map. Players can preview these to learn layouts before fighting for redeploy.
Modes & Rotations: Battle Royale will rotate between Verdansk and Avalon in-season. Limited-Time modes include Launch Squad LTM, Hot Pursuit, Prop Hunt Royale, and Iron Gauntlet.
New Gameplay Features:
- Movement Tools: Wall Jump and Grappling Hook arrive in both Battle Royale and Resurgence.
- Flashpoint Public Event: Beware a launched missile during this event—adds chaos and area denial to matches.
- Spikes & Cluster Grenade: Spikes can be bought at Buy Stations; Cluster Grenade is a new lethal that damages enemy squads over an area.
- Resurgence Ranked Play: Season 2 now played on Haven’s Hollow and Rebirth Island. Climb Skill Divisions, earn exclusive rewards.
🔫 Global Content: Weapons, Battle Pass, Events, and Store
New Weapons & Attachments: Season 3 brings six new weapons across all modes:
- MK35 ISR Assault Rifle – Battle Pass at launch
- VST SMG – Battle Pass at launch
- Strider 300 Sniper Rifle – Via Events / Weekly Challenges
- 1911 Pistol – Via Events / Weekly Challenges
- Siren Special Weapon – Via Events / Weekly Challenges
- Katana Melee Weapon – Via Events / Weekly Challenges
New attachments include VAS Convergence Foregrip, Underbarrel Shotgun for the Shadow SK Sniper Rifle, Spear Gun for the X9 Maverick Assault Rifle, plus more tuning attachments.
Events, Challenges, and Battle Pass: New Events, General Challenges, and Weekly Challenges offering XP, cosmetics, and unlocks. A new Battle Pass with Weapon Blueprints, Operator Skins, and more. BlackCell adds the “Valkyrie” Operator and her “Scarlett” and “Ash” sisters, plus six BlackCell Weapon Camos. Over 80 Weapon Camos earnable in Season 3.
Store Bundles: New Ultra Skins, Reactive items, and Mastercraft Blueprints. Highlight bundle: Tracer Pack: Haptic Reign, featuring the “Maglev” Mastercraft for the new MK35 ISR Assault Rifle.