Key Takeaways
1. Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 has received a user score of 1.9/10, making it the worst-rated game in the franchise.
2. Critics rated the game higher, with a Metascore of 83/100 based on 18 reviews, showing a significant divide between user and critic opinions.
3. The game faced tough competition from other popular shooters, peaking at around 100,000 players shortly after its launch.
4. Fans expressed frustration with the franchise’s annual releases, citing technical flaws and a disappointing campaign as major issues.
5. Concerns were raised about the use of generative AI in game development, leading to criticism of the game’s creativity and overall direction.
With the release of another installment in Activision’s Call of Duty series, Call of Duty Black Ops 7 has unfortunately reached a low point, garnering a Metacritic user score of 1.9/10 from over 1,440 reviews (as of now). In an interesting twist, critics have given it a Metascore of 83/100 based on 18 reviews, showing a stark contrast in opinions.
User Reception
Based on user ratings, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is currently the worst-rated game in the franchise. It trails behind Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2023), which has a user score of 2.3 from 2,399 reviews, and Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, which holds a score of 4.4 from 2,106 reviews.
Competition in the Market
This release has faced stiff competition from other popular first-person shooters this year, such as Battlefield Studios’ Battlefield 6 and Embark Studios’ Arc Raiders, which achieved peak concurrent player counts of 747,440 and 481,966, making them the third and fourth most-played games on Steam.
In contrast, Black Ops 7 is somewhat obscured by the Call of Duty launcher, complicating efforts to identify exact player numbers. However, estimates from SteamDB indicate that the game peaked at roughly 86,000 players on its launch day, November 14, and reached around 100,000 players on November 16, ranking it as the 17th most-played game on Steam currently.
Controversy Surrounding the Game
The launch of Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 has sparked much debate, with fans split over the annual releases of the series. Black Ops 6 was released almost a year ago, leading many gamers to express fatigue with the franchise. Players have criticized the game for technical flaws and perceived shortcuts that suggest it’s the target of review bombing, although many negative reviews do reflect genuine issues.
One major point of criticism is the game’s lackluster campaign and a bizarre boss fight featuring a giant Michael Rooker, which has left some fans questioning the direction of the series, especially given that the last installment had a more grounded and engaging narrative.
AI and Game Development
Concerns have also been raised about Activision and Treyarch’s use of generative AI to produce game assets, including Calling Cards, artwork, camo designs, operator skins, emblems, and loading screens. Activision has acknowledged the use of this technology but maintains that “our creative process is still led by staff.” The annual release schedule has created fatigue within the COD community, with some gamers dubbing this year’s Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 as “Activision’s biggest disaster of all time.”
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