Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 release date, launch time, New Zealand trick and more

The release of Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is now mere hours away, and players are already seeing if the sneaky New Zealand trick will get them in a bit early.

Between Battlefield 6 and ARC Raiders, 2025 has been massive for shooters and BO7 will be looking to reclaim CoD's crown as the king of shooters.

And Activision is pulling out all the stops to make that happen, whether that's its new stance on SBMM or all the incredible Zombies content we have to look forward to.

So, if you want to get started on CoD BO7 as soon as you can, here's what you need to know about the release date, launch time, New Zealand trick and more!

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 release date and UK launch time

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 will release on 14th November 2025 at 5am GMT, Activision has confirmed.

In case you're in another time zone, here's what time Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 will release for you:

• US West Coast (PST) – 9pm, 13th November
• US Mountain (MST) – 10pm, 13th November
• US Central (CST) – 11pm, 13th November
• US East Coast (EST) – 12am, 14th November
• Brazil (BRT) – 2am
• Central Europe (CET) – 6am
• South Africa (SAST) – 7am
• UAE (GST) – 9am
• Singapore (SGT) – 1pm
• Japan (JST) – 2pm
• Australia East Coast (AEDT) – 4pm
• New Zealand (NZDT) – 6pm

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 New Zealand trick explained

At the time of writing, Black Ops 7 has launched on consoles in New Zealand, and if you're desperate to join in, you can use the New Zealand trick to get in on the action too.

First things first, you'll need to log into your Call of Duty Account on the Activision website and change your location to an address in New Zealand – it doesn't matter what you choose, as they don't require any kind of verification.

Next, boot up your console, head to settings and change your timezone to Wellington, New Zealand.

Give your console a quick restart to sync everything up, and the next time you boot up BO7, assuming your console is linked to your Activision account, you should be able to start playing.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 gameplay and story details

Activision describes Black Ops 7 as "the most mind-bending Black Ops ever", marking the first consecutive release of Black Ops games in CoD history.

Set in 2035 in a world "on the brink of chaos, ravaged by violent conflict and psychological warfare", the BO7 story will follow on from the events of BO2 and BO6, with David 'Section' Mason (played by Milo Ventimiglia) and his team taking the spotlight, and even featuring Kiernan Shipka as new character Emma Kagan.

Here's what an Activision press release has to say about the gameplay: "Prepare to squad up with friends or play solo in a thrilling and innovative Co-op Campaign, harness near-future weaponry in a signature Multiplayer experience packed with brand-new maps and descend into the next twisted chapter of Round-Based Zombies in the heart of the Dark Aether."

As for story, the purposely confusing and almost Inception-like trailer didn't provide much in the way of explanation, but we'll find out more during Call of Duty Next!

During the gameplay reveal, it was revealed that there will be a co-op Campaign and a new Zombies mode.

On why the team has decided to go for back-to-back Black Ops games, head of Activision publisher marketing Tyler Bahl explained: "The team is looking to build on the incredible community enthusiasm we've seen within the Black Ops universe.

"Delivering consecutive Black Ops games also allows our teams the tremendous opportunity to tap not only into our own creativity but also embrace the shift from a '90s setting to the new 2035 future setting within our marketing."

Can I pre-order Call of Duty: Black Ops 7?

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is indeed available for pre-order, and there are multiple versions to choose from, each with its own set of goodies!

You can pre-order the game on Steam, Battle.net, Xbox and the PlayStation Store.

For physical releases, we'll have more links soon, and there will be more details to come about the different versions, but if you want a quick look, there are a couple of different versions of the game to consider.

Firstly, there is the standard/cross-gen edition which comes with the game, early access to the open beta and the Reznoz Challenge pack which costs £69.99.

For the mad CoD fans, there is the Vault edition, which includes the above, but also BlackCell (1 Season), Operator Collection, Mastercraft Weapon Collection, Ultra GobbleGum Pack for Zombies and a Permanent Unlock Token.

Is there a Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 trailer?

Yes! Activision showed off a gameplay reveal during Gamescom 2025 that goes into much greater detail than we've seen before!

For your viewing pleasure, we've included the YouTube video just below.

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