For the first time in the franchise’s history, Call of Duty will launch a mainline entry without customisable difficulty settings in its single-player campaign. Black Ops 7, the newest instalment in the legendary shooter series from Treyarch Studios and Raven Software, is making some bold design decisions, and the lack of difficulty options is one of the most divisive yet.
The reason behind Black Ops 7’s single difficulty experience
The campaign experience in Black Ops 7 is being designed with co-op gameplay as a foundational pillar. According to Miles Leslie, Associate Creative Director at Treyarch, difficulty settings have been removed because of how the game’s story mode supports up to four players in a squad. Players can still go it alone, but the experience has been balanced to provide a consistent challenge regardless of how many are playing.
“You cannot pick a difficulty like past games,” Leslie told IGN. “We’ve baked it in because you have to approach a co-op campaign differently. 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, and the right amount of challenging for two, three, and four players as well.”
In essence, the traditional Easy, Normal, Hardened, and Veteran tiers are being replaced by a tailored challenge level designed to scale with the size of your team. It’s a significant shake-up: one that changes how players approach the game’s story.
Black Ops 7 campaign: A sequel that rewrites the rules
First revealed during the Xbox Games Showcase earlier this year, Black Ops 7 stunned fans by confirming months of rumours: yes, it’s a direct sequel to 2012’s Black Ops 2, one of the most acclaimed entries in the franchise.
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This time around, the storyline can be experienced solo or with up to four players in co-op, creating new dynamics in both gameplay and narrative pacing. But the absence of difficulty options is just a taste of the larger innovations Black Ops 7 is bringing to the table.
Campaign mode now contributes to global progression
One of the most exciting new features is global progression. For the first time ever in Call of Duty, players will be able to level up and earn progression across all modes, including the campaign. This includes XP gains, levelling, and advancement through seasonal Battle Passes.
The implication here? Even single-player time contributes to your grind. You no longer have to choose between enjoying the story or staying competitive in multiplayer matchmaking.
Post-campaign “Endgame” mode brings epic PvE action
Once players complete the main campaign, Black Ops 7 unlocks a meaty new mode called “Endgame.” This 32-player PvE sandbox drops squads into an environment called Avalon, where they’ll take on evolving missions with built-in replayability. While precise details remain scarce, it’s clear this mode is aiming to keep players engaged long after the credits roll.
Removing difficulty settings from a Call of Duty campaign is bound to ruffle feathers. But if implementing a more unified challenge helps to support seamless solo and co-op play, and it opens doors for global progression and dynamic endgame content, then maybe, just maybe, it’s worth the risk.