Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Next Generation Upgrades Explained

This year’s Call of Duty game will be available on current generation consoles (PlayStation 4 and Xbox One) as well as next generation consoles (PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X). The good news is that Activision and developers Treyarch and Raven Software will support cross-gen gaming for Call of Duty: Cold War Black Ops. Less heartwarming is the somewhat confusing leveling path that Call of Duty players may face if they plan to purchase. Cold War Black Ops on a current gen platform in November and later upgrade to the next gen version.

Covert operations Cold War will be available in physical and digital form on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X. (The game is also coming to Windows PC, where it will be sold digitally through Battle.net.)

Players who purchase the standard physical version of Cold War Black Ops on PS4 will be able to upgrade to the PS5 version through PlayStation Store (apparently for a fee, as the standard next-gen version of the game costs $ 10 more than the current-gen standard version). However, if you want to play your physical PS4 copy of Cold War Black Ops on PS5 (with next gen upgrades) you will need to have the disc in the system. This means that if you are looking for the digital edition of the PlayStation 5, your Cold War Black Ops The PS4 disc will not allow you to upgrade.

Players who purchase the standard physical version of Cold War Black Ops on Xbox One will not be able to upgrade to the Xbox Series X version, unlike PlayStation players.

However, Activision notes:

Both current generation versions (PlayStation 4 and Xbox One) will be playable on their respective next generation console via backward compatibility by inserting the disc into the console. But the game won’t include any of the next-gen features like higher refresh rate, hardware-based ray tracing, faster load times, etc.

Activision will also sell physical versions of the game for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, priced at $ 69.99 each. For Xbox Series X, this physical copy will be playable on both Xbox One and Xbox Series X (A PS5 physical copy will not work on a PS4.)

Image: Activision

The easiest way to play is probably the Call of Duty: Cold War Black Ops Cross-generation bundle. This digital plan, which costs $ 69.99, will be available on current and next-gen PlayStation and Xbox consoles.

Here is the official Activision description of the Cross-Gen Bundle for each sound platform. Cold War Black Ops FAQ on editions:

PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5: Purchase the Cross-Gen Bundle on PlayStation 4 and receive a digital entitlement to the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 versions of the game. The PlayStation 4 version will download immediately to your console when Call of Duty: Cold War Black Ops launches November 13. The PlayStation 5 version of the game will automatically be available for download from your account library once the PlayStation 5 launches later this year. If you purchase the Cross-Gen Bundle on PlayStation 5, you will also receive an entitlement to the PlayStation 4 version of the game.

Xbox One and Xbox Series X: Purchase the Cross-Gen Bundle on Xbox One and receive a digital entitlement to the Xbox One and Xbox Series X versions of the game. The Xbox One version will download immediately to your console when Call of Duty: Cold War Black Ops launches November 13. The Xbox Series X version of the game will automatically be available for download from your account library once the Xbox Series X launches later this year. If you purchase the Cross-Gen Bundle on Xbox Series X, you will also receive an entitlement to the Xbox One version of the game.

Activision is also selling an Ultimate Digital Edition for $ 99.99, which includes the Cross-Gen bundle and additional digital goods, like a battle pass for Cold Warthe first season, skins, blueprints and more.

Call of Duty: Cold War Black Ops arrives on PlayStation 4, Windows PC, and Xbox One on November 13. Both the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X versions are expected to arrive at the launch of these consoles.