Treyarch Bids Farewell to Black Ops After Two Years, Says It's 'Ready to Make Something New'

Call of Duty developer Treyarch has announced it's "ready to make something new" as it closes the book on two consecutive years of Black Ops titles.

The studio helmed both 2024's Black Ops 6 and 2025's Black Ops 7 back-to-back. With Season 6 set to launch in Black Ops 7 on September 17, Treyarch has indicated it's shifting focus to its next Call of Duty project.

"This is a bittersweet goodbye, but I think over the last two years, we've learned a lot," said design director Kevin Drew in a new developer video. "We've tried a lot of things in our current era. But we're ready to make something new and something that nobody's ever experienced before. In the meantime though, I will see you all playing in Season 6 on September 17th."

The exact meaning remains unclear. Could Treyarch be hinting at a new Call of Duty game outside the Black Ops sub-brand? Is Treyarch's next Call of Duty not Black Ops 8? That would be somewhat surprising, given Black Ops' popularity and brand strength despite Black Ops 7's high-profile commercial struggles. Perhaps Treyarch is referring to something brand new within the Black Ops universe. My feeling, though, is that this is indeed a hint that Black Ops may be given some time to rest, and that Treyarch has something different up its sleeve.

Yale Miller, co-studio head, added: "It's been amazing to look back at the last couple of years, setting new benchmarks with Black Ops 6, delivering the biggest Black Ops game ever with Black Ops 7, taking huge swings with Omnimovement, Endgame, all kinds of innovation. We are extremely proud and extremely excited for what we were able to deliver.

"So, it's been amazing to actually also have a dialogue with all of you through regular comms, also through these dev talks, and we've been along with you every step of the way while we're delivering new innovative content. You guys have been grinding out camos, unlocking new things, the progression systems, the feedback. A huge thank you to our partner Raven and all the other studios that helped us here at Treyarch bring all of you all those maps, all that content, all those zombies experiences. It's been amazing.

"Really excited as well for everything Infinity Ward has been working on. They are clearly setting new bars. There's so much more of that game for all of you to see. We've had the privilege of taking part in a ton of playtests as well. We'll see you all online in Season 6 and in MW4. Thank you so much. It has been a privilege."

Infinity Ward's Modern Warfare 4 is due out later this year, but Activision has yet to reveal what will follow. The company has a multitude of studios working on Call of Duty, which may need a boost from, say, Sledgehammer or Warzone developer Raven in the coming years. The question for parent company Microsoft and new Xbox boss Asha Sharma will be: how does Call of Duty once again reach the heights of yesteryear?