Call of Duty Black Ops 6 beta: Dates, early access, preorder, more

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is coming out on October 25, 2024, but before that, players will get early access and a multiplayer beta to test the game and get their first taste of the upcoming COD installment.

Each year, Call of Duty players can look forward to a multiplayer beta with a limited selection of maps and modes from the next title.

This gives a first look at the game and allows players to gauge their initial interest in it, as well as let the devs — in this case, Treyarch — find any problems that need ironing out ahead of launch.

Beta dates & platforms

On July 15, 2024, Activision revealed the first details for the upcoming game beta in their official Call of Duty podcast.

The Black Ops 6 beta dates are:

• Preorder Early Access (All platforms): August 30 – September 3
• Open Beta (All Platforms): September 6 – September 9

How to get early access

To get early access, all you have to do is preorder Black Ops 6. Once you’ve done that, you’re eligible to play the beta.

If you preorder the game straight from your console or PC, you should be able to download the beta version of the game on the allotted dates. If you preorder a copy from a third party e.g. Amazon, you should be sent a code to redeem in order to gain access.

For the Open Beta, you won’t need to do anything, as it will be free for everybody to hop in.

Do we know what will be in the beta?

Though there has not been anything confirmed from Activision or Treyarch, we can make an educated guess about what will be in the beta based on previous years.

Usually, there is a small selection of maps on the most popular core modes, such as Domination, Kill Confirmed, and Team Deathmatch.

In Modern Warfare 3 last year, the only maps playable in the beta were Favela, Estate, Skidrow, Rust, and Highrise. As we don’t currently know the multiplayer maps in Black Ops 6, it’s impossible to say which ones would be played, but expect a similar selection of mixed-size maps.