Since its release on the 14th, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 has been facing a mounting tide of criticism from the player base.

The primary culprit is, as you might expect, the abysmal optimization. Reports are flooding in regarding constant PC crashes and spontaneous reboots, not to mention a host of mysterious bugs that reset loadouts mid-game. To make matters worse, those trying to secure a refund are hitting a brick wall; players report that the 'Vault Edition'—which bundles in the battle pass—is effectively non-refundable, leaving many feeling thoroughly cheated.

Content-wise, the campaign has left players cold. The consensus is that the magic of old has evaporated, with little in the way of meaningful evolution to justify the price tag. The once-beloved Zombies mode hasn't fared any better, with critics lambasting the new direction for failing to capture the classic spark. Throw in the forced push for multiplayer connectivity and the inability to pause, and you have a recipe for disaster.

Then, there is the thorny issue of AI integration. The developer openly admits on their Steam store page that generative AI tools were used for certain assets. While most players aren't inherently opposed to the technology, the consensus is that the AI-generated imagery simply clashes with the game's aesthetic. With heavy-hitting shooters currently dominating the market, many are starting to wonder why they should bother sticking with Call of Duty at all.

All these factors have coalesced into a Mixed rating on Steam, with only 42% of the 1,319 user reviews being positive. One user quipped, "Make me a campaign using ChatGPT, reused assets, and tired dialogue," while others lamented, "It used to be such a great franchise," or noted the irony of using so much AI yet failing to provide a decent AI companion for single-player. Over the weekend, the peak Concurrent Players barely scratched 100,000—a figure that falls well short of expectations.

Meanwhile, its main rival, the new Battlefield 6, has seen its player count stabilise since its October launch, maintaining a much healthier engagement rate compared to the preceding Battlefield 2042.