Black Ops 6’s Single-Player Campaign Requires a Constant Internet Connection — Even on Console

Black Ops 6’s single-player campaign requires a constant internet connection in a first for the Call of Duty series on console.

Following the shooter’s reveal during Microsoft’s Xbox Games Showcase and subsequent Call of Duty Direct, fans noticed that an Activision support page warned that all game modes, including campaign, need a continuous internet connection to play.

Why? According to Activision’s support page: “To deliver the highest-quality visuals while also reducing the game’s overall storage space on your hard drive, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 will use texture streaming across all game modes.” An Activision spokesperson subsequently verified the explanation to IGN. Here’s the statement in full:

“To deliver the highest-quality visuals while also reducing the game’s overall storage space on your hard drive, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 will use texture streaming across all game modes. This means you’ll need a continuous internet connection to play any game mode, including Campaign. If you’re on a console, Campaign can be played without a premium subscription service such as Game Pass Core or PlayStation Plus.”

While PC gamers have had to maintain a constant internet connection to play Call of Duty campaigns for some years now, Black Ops 6 marks the first time on console.

Microsoft has signaled that Black Ops 6 will weigh in at an eye-watering 309.85 GB on Xbox Series X and S, although there are questions over exactly how that will be distributed within the COD HQ game launcher, which houses all the current Call of Duty games as well as battle royale Warzone. IGN has asked Activision for clarification.

The note about texture streaming in Activision’s explanation is also nothing new for Call of Duty, but in this case appears to reference the ability to stream from the cloud in order to keep the game’s install size down, rather than locally from an SSD. Perhaps Black Ops 6’s, or COD HQ’s enormous 309.85 GB install footprint will be mitigated somewhat through the use of this tech. On PC, Activision has said Black Ops 6 requires an SSD with 149 GB of available space at launch (78 GB if COD HQ and Warzone are already installed).

Meanwhile, Activision has confirmed that Modern Warfare 2 and 3 content will not carry forward into Black Ops 6. For more details, check out everything we know about Call of Duty Black Ops 6, including its brand new movement systems. And for more of what Microsoft has up its sleeve, check out everything announced at the Xbox Games Showcase 2024.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.