Call of Duty fans, it’s almost time to get hands-on with Black Ops 6. In just a few days, the Black Ops 6 beta will be opening its doors, and it’s just been confirmed during the Call of Duty Next showcase exactly what you’ll be able to play. We already knew that, at launch, BO6 will have 16 multiplayer maps, but now we know their identities and that half of them are going to be playable during the beta.
While only 12 of the Black Ops 6 maps are able to host the FPS game’s core 6v6 action, there are also four Strike maps which can host 6v6 Face Off modes and smaller, 2v2 experiences as well. Unlike its predecessor, MW3, there are no remasters of old maps and the whole lineup is fresh and original – although the Strike map Sandstorm is, admittedly, a variant of Nuketown.
“Our Black Ops 6 maps were made with Treyarch’s signature three-lane design and tailor-made to be proving grounds for Omnimovement,” Treyarch says in a social media post. Omnimovement is of course the new advanced movement system that allows for 360-degree strafing and diving to create some amazing action movie moments. You can see the full list of launch maps in the image below.
In terms of what you’ll be playing specifically in the Black Ops 6 beta, there will be eight maps in total – five core 6v6 maps (Skyline, Rewind, Scud, Derelict, and Babylon) and three small Strike maps (Stakeout, Gala, and Pit). This is an extremely generous offering for a beta, and is a real statement of intent from Treyarch.
As a reminder, the Black Ops 6 multiplayer beta will have an early access weekend between Friday, August 30 andWednesday, September 4 followed by a totally open beta weekend between Friday, September 6 and Monday, September 9. Those that pre-ordered the game, or those that are subscribed to Game Pass, are eligible for the first early access weekend.
There’s more good multiplayer news coming from Call of Duty Next too, aside from just the map lineup. Treyarch has confirmed that Ranked Play will be introduced earlier than ever for this year’s game. Typically, in past iterations of CoD, fans have had to wait until two or three months into the game for Ranked to drop. In Black Ops 6, however, it will be arriving “as part of Season 1.” This is huge news for competitive-minded players and has been one of the biggest pain points of recent CoD titles.
So, with a dozen original core multiplayer maps, some experimental small-scale maps, a new movement system, and less of a wait for Ranked, things are looking rather excellent for Black Ops 6 multiplayer ahead of launch. This is of course on top of a new campaign and what is sounding like the best, most complete Zombies experience ever.
While you wait for the Black Ops 6 release date, here are some other amazing multiplayer games that you can challenge yourself with in the meantime.
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