Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 Campaign Does Not Have Difficulty Options

For the first time ever, the next Call of Duty game, Black Ops 7, won’t have difficulty options in its Campaign. This is just one of the many major changes that developers Treyarch Studios and Raven Software are bringing to the table with Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, but there’s a good reason for it, as the decision is directly related to the game’s co-op capabilities.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 was revealed to the world earlier this year with a mind-bending first trailer during the Xbox Games Showcase. Fans were left stunned after finally finding out that there was truth to the months of rumors surrounding the next Call of Duty game. Yes, it will be a direct sequel to 2012’s Black Ops 2, which is often referred to as one of the greatest Call of Duty games of all time. And yes, fan favorite characters such as David Mason and Raul Menendez will also be making a return. However, things are going to be very different this time around, as the game’s campaign can be played solo or in a co-op group of up to four players.

Treyarch Explains Why Black Ops 7 Won’t Have Difficulty Options

After waiting for months with little to no news surrounding the next Call of Duty game, Activision finally pulled back the curtain with a new trailer for Black Ops 7 during Gamescom Opening Night Live. The trailer and direct showcase gave fans an insight into the game’s co-op Campaign and Multiplayer, and now developer Treyarch Studios has explained to IGN why there won’t be any difficulty options for the first time in the series’ history. According to associate creative director Miles Leslie, the game’s difficulty is “baked in.”

Leslie goes on to explain that the decision to remove difficulty options is directly tied to the co-op aspect of Black Ops 7‘s story. “We’ve built it for solo or four-player squads as well. You cannot pick a difficulty like past games. We’ve baked it in because you have to approach a co-op campaign differently, and we wanted to make sure the missions felt right for solo players — we’re not forgetting about you, we love you — but also because it is a social experience we want to make sure it’s fun, but the right amount of challenging for two, three, and four players as well,” Leslie told IGN.

It’s going to be an interesting year for those eager to jump into Call of Duty: Black Ops 7‘s Campaign, as this isn’t the only major change inbound for the series. Treyarch Studios is also including global progression across all modes, which means players will be able to level up, earn XP, and even progress through seasonal Battle Passes via the Campaign. It’s the first time that such a feature is being implemented into Call of Duty, but that’s still not all. Black Ops 7 will also feature an “endgame” mode that unlocks after completing the Campaign. This massive PvE mode features 32 players jumping into Avalon with evolving missions that make for great replayability.

Despite the plethora of new and exciting features, Black Ops 7 doesn’t appear to be off to a great start. The game’s most recent trailer has not only been bombarded with comments about pre-ordering Battlefield 6 instead, but it’s also managed to rack up nearly 400,000 dislikes. As fans continue to grow increasingly tired of unrealistic cosmetic items, hackers, poor post-launch content, and constant microtransactions, it seems as though it could be a challenge for Black Ops 7 to retain players.