Continuing Treyach’s deep dive into Black Ops 7, today the team return to share some more detail on the game. Instead of a focus on movement, today’s dev talk is deep diving into the spaces in which we’ll be shooting each other – Black Ops 7’s Multiplayer maps.
This time Design Director at Treyarch, Matt Scronce is joined by Senior Producer Britney Pruella to talk through multiplayer map design in Black Ops 7. We’ve transcribed the embedded video above, and broken down the Q&A for you. Let’s dig in!
Will map pacing be different or better than Black Ops 6?
Black Ops 7 is a brand new game, and with that comes brand new maps. We’re bringing 18 multiplayer maps at launch and an evolution of Omni movement. So with that comes a little bit of a change in pace, and of course, our maps have accounted for that. We wanted to make sure we were giving players a chance to catch their breath before they jump right into the next engagement.
More three lane maps, please?
Oh, we got you. All of our maps we design from the start with three lanes in mind. And then sometimes we’ll break those rules if we think there’s something really fun or unique. We’re definitely focusing on path clarity and really just getting back to the fundamentals of that Treyarch design style.
Can we get more colourful maps like we used to back in the day?
Yes, we can. I think we’ve seen some of that through the direct and some of the map videos that we’ve put out, maps like Homestead and Looking up and seeing the Aurora Borealis up in the sky is really awesome in Black Ops 7.
Are face-off and gunfight coming back?
They never went away for us, so sure, they are coming back. We’re trying to make sure that some of those maps that maybe just worked specifically for a gunfight or a face-off in the past, we want to really try to make sure that those maps can serve more purposes. Yeah, some of our first face-off maps in Cold War, like Diesel, were tailored for Core 6v6, gunfight, and face-off. Similar to what we’ve seen in Black Ops 6 with Nomad, those maps that can be played for multiple modes as well. It’s gotten a lot of success. So we’re trying to really bring those same principles to these designs.
Are we getting more medium-sized maps?
Yeah, so we’re going to have more medium or standard size 6v6 maps at launch. Some of the learnings that we took from Black Ops 6 and applied to Black Ops 7 was looking at the size of our maps in general. So in Black Ops 7, we’ll have fewer tiny maps and fewer larger maps.
How many small maps at launch?
You’ve got four maps that are specifically designed for both Faceoff, Gunfight, and Core 6v6 modes. So we’re really focusing on making sure those are intentional for launch. And one of my personal favourites, Black Heart, you’ll be able to play in the beta coming up soon.
Are we getting more Black Ops 2 remasters?
We are going to get some more Black Ops 2 remasters. I don’t want to give away too many spoilers, but I have been reading the replies, and some of you have guessed correctly.
Will there be Black Ops 2 competitive maps for CDL?
Yes, there will be. So you’ve already seen Raid and Express, and we are expecting to have some more coming out post-launch. Well, it’s always a conversation with our partners at CDL on what maps are going to end up being in the pool. We would absolutely love to see some of those Black Ops 2 remasters. And I will say that one of the ones that is coming back for the first time since Black Ops 2 was a competitive map in Black Ops 2. It was played in Search and Destroy. And I’ll leave you with that little teaser. One of my favourites will have you thinking you’re the best in the game.
Doors?!
In Black Ops 7 multiplayer, there are no manual doors. We do have some automatic doors, just like we did in Black Ops 2. “Shout out drone!” – if you remember that, bit of a deep cut. At the start of development, our goal was to drastically reduce the number of manual doors we had in our maps. About halfway through, we did a door count, and I think we had about 6. Six or seven doors. So then we had a door meeting. Behind closed doors. And then I kicked the door down and I said, let’s delete all of these doors. So no manual doors in Black Ops 7 multiplayer.
What can we expect for post-launch support?
Well, players usually want maps, so I’m told. And of course, we’ve got a lot of new maps coming up. In addition to maps, of course, we’re going to have a ton of content throughout post-launch. One of my favorite weapons is going to be coming up very shortly. I think it is one that our fans will go ballistic for.
It’s been really fun answering your questions about multiplayer maps, and we’re super excited for you to play them – We are listening, so keep the questions coming!
More on Black Ops 7
We recently previewed the Call of Duty Black Ops 7, and our Reviews Editor Jesse came away pretty impressed, saying “Call of Duty Black Ops 7 seems poised to be even bigger and maybe better than last year’s title.” If you want to dig into all the details, you can read the preview right here.
Call of Duty Black Ops 7 releases November 14th 2025 on Xbox, PlayStation and PC – and of course, it’s Day One on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.
