Activision has made a couple of announcements that seem to suggest the company is trying extra hard to encourage people to buy and play Call of Duty: Black Ops 7.
For starters, Activision has launched a new week-long free trial for Black Ops 7’s multiplayer mode. In the free trial, which runs December 16-22, players can access 20+ maps and try the Ashes of the Damned map for Zombies. In terms of modes, players can try out mainstays like Team Deathmatch, Hardpoint, Domination, and Kill Confirmed, as well as the Holiday Havoc mode and Prop Hunt.
Alongside this, Activision has discounted Black Ops 7 by up to 30%. This brings the price down to from $70 to $49 for the standard edition, or from $100 to $80 for the Vault Edition.
If you’re playing on Xbox or PC, you can access Black Ops 7 with Xbox Game Pass or PC Game Pass. Microsoft recently brought back the $1 trial, which means new subscribers can get Game Pass Ultimate for $1 for the first month.
Black Ops 7 launched in November and reportedly had a weak comparison to 2024’s Black Ops 6 in terms of sales. This could help explain why Activision is offering a discount on the game about a month after launch, though there could be other reasons as well.
In other news, Activision has said it will no longer release Call of Duty games in the same sub-series, like Modern Warfare or Black Ops, in consecutive years. While Black Ops 7’s initial sales may have been lower, the Call of Duty franchise remains the biggest franchise for Xbox Game Pass.
Battlefield 6 is 2025’s No. 1 best-selling game in the US so far. On December 17, we will find out from Circana how Black Ops 7 sold in the US, though the game’s availability on Game Pass will put an asterisk on its sales performance.
