Call of Duty: Black Ops 6’s two beta periods are on the way

By Carli Velocci Published July 15, 2024

A squad stands together in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6. — Activision

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is one step closer to release. Activision announced on Monday that the upcoming shooter will be hitting early access and open beta soon.

Players who preordered the game will get access to the early access open beta, which will run from August 30-September 4. That’ll be followed by the regular open beta, which is open to everyone, from September 6-9. That means early access participants will have an extra day to try out the game ahead of release on October 25.

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A post on the Call of Duty blog also clarifies that you can join the early access period if you subscribe to Game Pass Ultimate, Game Pass PC, or Game Pass Console.

The news was first spotted by CharlieIntel, which posted on X (formerly Twitter) that there was now information on the Xbox website announcing the beta. Turns out, this updates was timed to the first episode of the COD Pod, Xbox’s official Call of Duty podcast, which officially announced the dates.

Activision

Black Ops 6 will be available across most platforms: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. It’ll also be on Game Pass at launch, marking the first time the series has been this accessible since Microsoft completed its acquisition of Activision Blizzard in 2023. This will coincide with some big price hikes and tier tweaks for the subscription service.

You can still preorder the game, with a standard edition costing $70 and a Vault Edition for $100. Players that own the Vault Edition will be able to play any operator from the Hunters vs Hunted Operator Pack.

Activision pumps out a Call of Duty game every year, so you might think Black Ops 6 will be more of the same. But if our preview this summer was any indication, it could actually do a lot to reinvent the franchise. Treyarch, which has typically been the lead on the Call of Duty: Black Ops series, is behind this entry, and is leaning more into spy blockbusters of the 1990s to coincide with its Cold War themes, along with a new traversal system called Omnimovement.

Former Contributor, Games

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

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Gaming

The fastest ways to gain XP in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6

Kill Order gameplay in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6.

Ever since Modern Warfare, Call of Duty fans have been obsessed with finding every tip and trick they can to level up faster. Now that Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 has arrived with a refreshed Prestige system, the drive to grind levels is again at an all-time high. While everything you do does earn you XP, they are not all created equal. Just like picking your Wildcards or Perks, earning XP as fast as possible takes a bit of thought and planning. If there's a piece of equipment you have your eye on at a high level, or just want to grind through some Prestige ranks as fast as possible, here are the fastest ways to grind XP in Black Ops 6.
Do your dailies

We'll get the most obvious tip out of the way first. Daily challenges are back and work just as they always have. Every 24 hours you will be given a handful of small optional tasks to complete for a heap of bonus XP. These can be things like getting Scorestreak kills, getting Point Blank Kills, and getting kills with a specific weapon type. Most daily challenges are worth 2,500 XP, which is already a nice bonus, but there is also a fourth one that can be worth between 3,000 and 5,000 additional XP. Each day you log on, you should prioritize your daily challenges.
Tailor your loadout and play the objective

Gaming

Xbox Game Pass is getting tons of new games following Black Ops 6 success

A cockpit view in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024.

We know a lot of you are playing Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 on Xbox right now, but the company just announced some games coming to Xbox Game Pass -- specifically the Game Pass Standard tier -- in the first half of November.

The biggest game coming to the service (and we mean that literally) is Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024. Xbox and developers Asobo Studio previously reported that it will have a smaller install size than its predecessor -- 127GB versus 157GB -- but it'll also require 64GB of RAM. All of this is to help stream immense detail to the player as they fly around the world. Asobo says helped it to increase "the detail of its virtual environment by a factor of 4,000." Alongside the hyperrealistic graphics is a new career mode where you go through training and missions to become a pilot and a challenge mode where you compete against other pilots. Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is coming to Game Pass at launch on November 19.

Computing

The best PC settings for Call of Duty: Black Ops 6

Call of Duty Black Ops 6.

Call of Duty Black Ops 6 is the latest in a long line of high-paced shooters, and like its predecessors, it brings with it not only a new campaign and multiplayer features but enhanced graphics too. Although upgrading your graphics card or processor is always a great way to boost performance in new and demanding games, you can also have a big impact by adjusting its settings to the best ones for you and your PC.

However, even if you’re the most competitive player, you won’t want to just turn all the settings off to maximize your frame rate. You still need clarity to make out your opponents at distance, and what’s the point of playing the latest Call of Duty, if you can’t enjoy some of its new visual flair?