I Went To Call of Duty Next And Saw More Than Just Black Ops 6

Last month I traveled to Washington, DC for what can only be described as the most impressive and extravagant event built around a single game release I’ve ever seen. I’ve participated in many gaming preview style events that involved travel in my fifteen years covering the industry, even some built specifically around the Call of Duty franchise, but Call of Duty Next was something else.

The Washington, DC location of this event was a deliberate choice for promoting Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 with the game’s fictionalized story deeply rooted in the political intrigue of the ’90s. Even Bill Clinton is in the game. In the Black Ops timeline and canon, Black Ops 6 takes place after the ’80s settings of Cold War and Black Ops II. It’s impossible not to stare at the impressive monuments on the drive to and from the airport and hotel, and to and from the venue of the event, but more on that later.

What Is Call of Duty Next?

Call of Duty Next Has Become An Annual Must-Watch Event

The first Call of Duty Next event, not to be confused with the Call of Duty XP fan events of old, took place two years ago when publisher Activision gathered content creators together to be part of the reveal of Modern Warfare II, Warzone 2, and Warzone Mobile. Creators in attendance would play and livestream the game, while being a part of the official Call of Duty livestream where details and developer interviewers were shared with viewers. It’s since become an annual event, the largest in the promo cycle of the annual Call of Duty series where everything is revealed. Last year’s sophomore Call of Duty Next hosted the full reveal of Modern Warfare 3 alongside a new Warzone map.

For Call of Duty Next 2024, Activision moved the event location from Los Angeles to Washington and included media for the first time alongside the pool of content creators to participate and that’s where I come in, joined by select global media from a few dozen publications. We all stayed at the same hotel, watched the same presentations, and had our own game stations at the venue where we could also play the new Black Ops 6 content, stream, and record.

It was Treyarch’s turn to showcase Black Ops 6 multiplayer action ahead of the beta and Zombies gameplay on one of the mode’s two launch maps. For me, even more exciting, was that I would be among the first to see the reveal of the all-new Area 99 Warzone map and gameplay integration with Black Ops 6’s new features.

What The Call of Duty Next Experience is Really Like

The Biggest Event for the Biggest Game

Media and creators arrived August 25-26 and drivers shuttled us to The Watergate Hotel, yes, that Watergate Hotel. Its name is forever tied to the Watergate scandal of 1972. There are Richard Nixon photos and newspaper clippings all over the hotel, and it feels like we’re in an immersive Black Ops activation just being in these real-life locations.

At the hotel there are Black Ops 6 photo opps with signage and props, including an opportunity to step into a 360° image capture setup from Dopl to have a miniature crafted and mailed to you of your likeness. Mine involves a sledgehammer and tactical gear.

There’s a player lounge and a press lounge with snacks and beverages, and another gaming lounge in the basement where the photo opps are and where the presentation would later take place. There are Monster Energy mini fridges at each too, of course. We’re each given a branded duffel bag which included Black Ops 6 themed attire and snacks straight from ’90s, Gushers and Dunkaroos included.

It’s on Tuesday, August 27th, where the real fun begins. The day starts with a one-hour presentation featuring many of the team leads at Treyarch Studios and Raven Software. Some of the information shared we already know, but we learn a lot more, including the full reveal of Area 99, the exciting new Resurgence map coming to Warzone during Season 1 of Black Ops 6. We also get a look at the many new camos, quality of life improvements, and design tenants that include everything from how Prestiging will work in Black Ops 6 to how all attachments will be balanced to have obvious benefits (more pros, less cons).

After this pre-brief, we head to the buses to see the Call of Duty Next 2024 venue, and we do so in style. We’re told to be “camera ready” for the arrival.

We file onto buses that have been skinned with Black Ops 6 branding and, as one of the devs joked, it’s a full-on motorcade. There are over a dozen motorcyclists with Black Ops 6 flags that escort our convoy through town, Washington monuments in the background along the way. It was a smart marketing move as seemingly every pedestrian we passed had their phone out for photos. Official photographers were staged along the route as well and we followed a camera car the whole way in. It’s quite a production.

As we arrive at the The National Building Museum, the motorcyclists line up on each side of the carpet which is appropriately orange in keeping with the Black Ops branding. We also see The Replacer’s car which I’m able to sit in for photos. For those who don’t know, The Replacer, played by Peter Stormare, was an iconic and fan-favorite marketing campaign character from Black Ops 2 where Stormare would “replace” you, the gamer, in whatever job or tasks you have in real life so you can make more time to play Black Ops. He’s back for Black Ops 6.

Even more visually apparent is the giant Abomination closer to the entrance surrounded by actors dressed up as Zombies who are helping the undead beast appear to move. And then there’s the venue itself, host to over 200 dual-PC setups and mind-blowing set decor to convert the place into the ultimate space for playing, showcasing, and broadcasting all things Black Ops 6.

These hours at the Call of Duty Next broadcast venue were mainly to set up for the real show the next day but we did get time to play multiplayer. Every station includes two powerful rigs equipped with Elgato’s Facecam, Ring Light, and Capture Card and the Elgato team is on hand for technical support. I use all of these same devices at home with my own setup so I’m intimately familiar with using them with OBS software. The headset, gaming mice, and PC towers are all Black Ops 6 branded and it’s impressive that the teams were able to setup so many stations like this.

After a few hours we wrap up and are shuttled off to the Spy Museum for the evening where an unexpected surprise awaits…

Call of Duty Next 2024 Hosts… A Wedding?

The Black Ops 6 buses take us to the Spy Museum and Activision continues to impress with the overall theme of the festivities. The first thing you see upon entering the museum is one of James Bond’s Aston Martins, but we’re here for a mixer on the rooftop where everyone can meet and greet.

During the event we’re surprised when we’re all ushered into a corner of the rooftop just before sunset – Washington monuments visible in the background – for a wedding! Call of Duty players TheCallofDutyDJ and chloejagger tied the knot after having met in-game and building a loving relationship ever since.

After the mixer we were able to privately tour the Spy Museum and it was hard not to pick out some of the gadgets featured in the Black Ops franchise. The mixer, the event, and being at The Watergate Hotel allowed me to meet up with many creators I’ve only known from online interactions. I finally met up with streamers including ZLaner, DrLupo, and TimTheTatman and longtime Call of Duty commentator Goldenboy. Seeing the community of creators from around the world together, hanging out and being genuinely excited, highlighted how sizable and powerful the scene really is.

It’s easy to sense that Activision is confident in Black Ops 6 and part of that is no doubt due to this game being the longest-in-development release in the series. Part of it also is that it’s Black Ops returning built this time on the new engine, while also building upon that the learnings from the last few games. The community seems to feeling the hype is real, certainly moreso than last year’s release which saw mixed-to-bad early reviews. This year promises to be different.

What We Played of Black Ops 6

Hands-on with Black Ops 6 multiplayer, Zombies, and Warzone on Area 99

Wednesday, August 28th – It’s game day and we arrive earlier at the Call of Duty Next venue for the big show. As media we’re not part of the official livestream being broadcast, but we are able to stream and capture content on our own. We start with Black Ops 6 multiplayer and all the weapon attachments and perks are available from the get-go to experiment with. I seem to be the only one intentionally trying every weapon, yet I’m able to at least place and often times top the leaderboard. Journalists from WindowCentral, Forbes, and some international outlets are clearly hardcore players and know what they’re doing. You will see these maps, weapons, gear, and perks in the Black Ops 6 open beta to experience yourself, the only difference being is that you’ll need to level up to unlock the goods.

After a period of time with multiplayer we’re able to try a round or two of Zombies on the Liberty Falls map, one of the two maps shipping with Black Ops 6, and the one that’s set during daytime. Having seen Zombies gameplay already and attending two presentations on it – and having played multiplayer months earlier when visiting Treyarch for the first reveal of Black Ops 6 – what I was most excited about was the Warzone segment of Call of Duty Next.

The day prior during the pre-brief the all-new Area 99 map was revealed to us. It’s slightly smaller than Rebirth Island, the fan-favorite map for Warzone’s Resurgence mode that featured in both Warzone 1 and 2, and is played in three-player squads. 45 players total.

Black Ops 6’s Warzone Integration

New Map, New Weapons, Carry Forward, and Omnimovement

Area 99 has ten points of interest and includes all of the Black Ops 6 beta weapons. And it’s inspired by the franchise’s iconic Nuketown map. In the lore of this new Warzone map, Area 99 is in fact the “birthplace of Nuketown.”

An all-new map with new weapons, gear, and perks is exciting, but that’s not all Area 99 is bringing to players. Black Ops 6’s omnimovement system translates over as well, from diving and sprinting in any direction, to the corner slicing while aiming. That improved and faster fluidity and flow of movement from multiplayer is coming to Warzone when during season 1.

Other new features are coming with the Warzone updates as well, including the ability to shoot doors open and Black Ops 6’s global build system, which allows players to maintain their builds across multiplayer and Warzone. For current Warzone players, all of your skins and Modern Warfare 2 & 3 weapons carry forward as well although gone will be the backback inventory system, replaced instead with satchels that expand armor and ammo capacity. The goal here is the reduce time spent micromanaging inventory and loot mid-game.

A notable feature to consider is that Black Ops 6’s Wildcards are coming to Warzone which fundamentally changes how loadouts will be used. The familiar Overkill lets players bring in two primary weapons, but a loadout with Gunfighter lets you put eight attachments on a weapon instead of the usual five. You’ll be able to find weapons with more than five attachments as ground loot too. Quality of life improvements highlight gear rarity a little better and these Gunfighter weapons with 8 attachments will be red in color.

Area 99 was my time to shine since Resurgence mode in Warzone has been my main game for years. For the larger player counts required for the map, our lobbies also include members from the QA team. For all of my rounds I was in a squad with Erik Kain from Forbes and a random, different third player for each match.

Immediately, the game feels and looks different and the omnimovement lends itself well to how the points of interest in Area 99 are designed, especially around lower barriers. It’s easier to survive a gun battle and dive behind cover. Moving through complex structures, notably where there’s a lot of verticality, just works. More than any Warzone experience before, being able to do the thing you want to do when it comes to traversing awkward terrain is no longer an issue.

The best part? We won that very first round of Warzone on Area 99!

We may have even been the first ever winners of Area 99 since our win clocked in before the first win on the official broadcast. After some technical difficulties are sorted on my secondary PC, the streaming rig, I’m able to play a second full match. And we won again. And then again. We won three in a row in lobbies with 45 players each time and you can view that on my stream here.

Getting hands-on with the new Warzone features months ahead of release was the highlight of my hands-on time with Black Ops 6, but the event itself, and seeing what’s going into Black Ops 6 multiplayer emphasized how this year’s Call of Duty is worth getting excited for.

More to come on the highlights of what Black Ops 6 is adding and updating from the current Call of Duty formula…