Treyarch's next Call of Duty game is likely to be "revealed" before 2026

Fixed Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 isn't officially available in all regions until November 14th, it's actually live right now, as many players are getting into the game a day early by switching regions. Early feedback from the community seems to indicate that the game's three pillars are about what was expected. The campaign has been criticized for its open combat mission-like structure, and feels like a frustrating successor to Modern Warfare 3 (2023). The Zombies mode seems to be well received by those who enjoyed the recent offerings such as BO6while old-school fans remain hopeful that Cursed will cater to their interests. And after early misgivings, Black Ops 7 multiplayer seems like a content-filled experience that's significantly more fun thanks to Treyarch's move away from SBMM.

But the minds behind Call of Duty and fans who have stuck with the series for years are always looking forward to what's next, even as players embark on brand new camo and leveling work. While Modern Warfare 4 seems like a guarantee of next year's release, and some sort of Sledgehammer Call of Duty can be expected to arrive in 2027, players might actually see a little teaser for Cod 2028 before any of these games are revealed. In fact, the first “reveal” of Treyarch's follow-up to Black Ops 7 could come before 2026 even begins, assuming the studio has reused a trick from Black Ops 6.

Black Ops 7's Classified Skin is one to watch

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 introduced a new Prestige reward system to the franchise, with the goal of making each Prestige feel meaningful and giving players who don't normally feel motivated to Prestige a reason to keep ranking. Instead of bragging rights and a symbol of experience, Prestiging provided exclusive operator skins, weapon blueprints and more. There was also a special reward pack for players who reached level 1000 in Prestige Master, where Treyarch kept this blueprint and skin hidden until the first player to reach level 1000 revealed it.

Some early BO6 Zombies' XP exploits allowed players to level up faster, which is how level 1000 was reached in just a few weeks.

Treyarch likely didn't expect players to reach this summit just a few weeks after its launch Black Ops 6but that's exactly what happened, and the player who achieved this lofty goal was awarded the Samuel's Operator. Due to this character's near-future armor and presence in Black Ops 2 campaign, it didn't take long for players to figure it out Call of Duty 2025 was supposed to be a follow-up to the beloved 2012 release, something that was eventually confirmed months later. While Treyarch probably expected level 1000 to be reached closer to the time of BO7s full disclosure, this clever attempt to tease its next game was still entertaining.

Black Ops 7 takes the exact same approach to Prestige rewards as its predecessor, meaning players will unlock new Operator skins, blueprints and such every handful of levels. It also means there's a new “secret” skin to chase this year, and following what Treyarch did with this big payoff during BO6 era, there is a real chance that it uses BO7s secret skin at level 1000 as a teaser for what happens next. Perhaps it suggests a post-apocalyptic setting too Black Ops 7with a character in something raggedy, Fall-out-like armor. Perhaps there will be a returning campaign legend like Alex Mason or Jason Hudson, suggesting a game focused on them when it's Treyarch's next turn to strike Call of Duty series. Perhaps there will even be a zombie-themed unlock, giving a glimmer of hope to those wanting a standalone Cod Zombie experience.

Black Ops 7's secret skin isn't likely to be hidden for long

Based on what happened in Black Ops 6it's hard to imagine gamers not finding out Treyarch's secret before the year is out. After all, there are several ways to unlock level 1000 soon:

Another XP exploit like the one in Terminus can be found within Ashes of the Damned, allowing someone to run to level 1000 before a patch arrives.
Dataminers were able to extract the level 1000 shell from Treyarch's files, which ruins the surprise.
Through a variety of double XP tokens and AFK tricks, someone could probably grind their way to level 1000 by the end of December if they really wanted to.

To be clear, there's a chance Treyarch won't tease its next project with the level 1000 shell like it did in Black Ops 6. At the time, there was some criticism that Samuels wasn't a “cool enough” win for hundreds of hours of gameplay, so maybe Treyarch will go with a flashy design that doesn't tease anything about its future plans. Still, it's likely that Treyarch has some kind of idea what it wants to do with what will likely be Black Ops 8so a teaser of the game's setting or characters is not out of the question for the level 1000 unlock. If that happens, players will be in the odd position of being told more official information about Call of Duty 2028 than they do about the two games that will be released before it.