Black Ops 6 is always-online for all modes: cosmetics won’t carry over

The official unveiling of Call Of Duty: Black Ops 6 has revealed that Game Pass Console subs do not get the multiplayer mode for free.

Last year it was Starfield that got the half hour preview slot after the Xbox Games Showcase and while the game itself was a bit of a disappointment it was at least exciting to learn about a brand-new IP. This year the slot went to the more predictable pleasures of Call Of Duty: Black Ops 6 but you’d have to say, the game was looking very good.

Developer Treyarch had a lot to say about their omnimovement system (basically, dive in any direction) and intelligent movement (the equivalent of driving aids for a first person shooter) but the main appeal was simply that it looked like the sort of over-the-top Hollywood style actioner the series hasn’t really been for the last few years.

It’s still not entirely clearly what the story is about though, as while it does take place against the backdrop of the 1991 Gulf War you play as rogue operatives, not ordinary soldiers, trying to uncover some sort of conspiracy… possibly involving Margret Thatcher.

The multiplayer won’t be properly unveiled until August 28 and there wasn’t much on Zombies mode either, other than that there’ll be two maps and it will continue the Dark Aether storyline.

However, we do know that Black Ops 6 is bringing back theater mode and a 10-level prestige system – with a 1,000 level Prestige Master after that, for those that have more than 25 hours spare a day to play Call Of Duty.

It all looks very impressive but inevitably there have been some unwanted surprises in the small print, most seriously the fact that the whole game, including the single-player campaign mode, needs a permanent internet connection.

So, if you’re not somewhere with a reliable connection you’re not going to be play it at all, even if you’ve paid for it.

It’s a sadly common problem with many games but at least Black Ops 6 bothers to explain why, claiming that it’s trying to limit storage space by streaming in textures as they’re needed.

Call Of Duty is infamous for taking up a huge amount of hard drive space so that is a legitimate problem it’s trying to solve, even if the stated 310GB install is still pretty massive.

You won’t need Game Pass Core (the equivalent of PlayStation Plus Essential) to play the campaign mode, but you won’t get the multiplayer free if you only have Game Pass Console, since you need an internet connection.