Gamers were excited to play Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 until launching issues plagued its debut. PC users reported their newly downloaded game crashed or required multiple restarts before failing. Meanwhile, Black Ops hopefuls said they were stuck in a restart loop with the beta version.
This news was unwelcome to the millions of Black Ops fans awaiting the release date. The game saw a 60% increase in sales on the PlayStation and Steam stores compared to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III from last year. While the issues appeared on its October 25th release date, the bugs have existed for nearly two months.
Gamers played the beta version of Black Ops 6 in late August and early September, reporting numerous technical difficulties and oddities. For instance, some users — even professional gamers — received temporary ban notifications despite not cheating. This problem was prevalent in past Call of Duty titles and remained in this 2024 edition.
Users encountered different issues with the game when it officially launched. This time, the gamers found difficulties with spawn points and said many were broken. It could just have poor design. Activision responded on X, formerly known as Twitter. “We are investigating an issue where players automatically spawn in-game rather than spectating when joining in-progress,” the press release said.
While temporary bans were problematic in past Call of Duty titles, automatic spawns before selecting the loadout are unique to this title. For Black Ops 6, players reported spawning into death traps upon joining matches in progress. Therefore, they have almost no time to save themselves from the grasp of another user.
What is the common denominator with these issues? Gamers have reported problems with the launching system. In the most recent titles, PC users have used Call of Duty HQ to launch the game instead of directly loading it. The company says this strategy lets gamers manage file sizes and switch between the games.
However, this mechanism has caused trouble for Black Ops 6 players by forcing them into a restart loop. Updating graphics drivers doesn’t help the situation, as it continues to prompt the user to restart the application. Additionally, you may have to jump through hoops if you switch from campaign to multiplayer mode. Players report having to close the game entirely before swapping.
If you’re able to play the game, you may notice some minor but noticeable issues with it. Call of Duty updates its Trello board with known problems in multiplayer, zombies, and campaign modes. Here are some of the most pertinent issues:
- Global: Across all game modes, players have encountered black screens when loading public and private matches.
- Multiplayer: In this game mode, users have issues with incorrect progression levels on the scoreboards and main menus. Also, the game may crash when players attempt to start private matches.
- Zombies: In zombies, gamers can’t equip their camouflage from mystery boxes or wall buys.
While the launch has encountered troubles, Call of Duty developers are working to fix the issues for PC players. Otherwise, the title seems to operate well on consoles. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said the early numbers for Black Ops 6 indicate the most successful launch in the history of this game series.
Call of Duty Black Ops 6 is currently available to play on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
