Activision has, rather inadvertently, confirmed that a brand-new seasonal map will be featured in the upcoming Call of Duty: Black Ops 7. A fleeting, unannounced update to the game’s official Season 1 roadmap smuggled out the word of “Sleighjacked,” an oblique Christmas-themed variant of the celebrated Black Ops II map Hijacked. The newly updated image of the roadmap was then circulated among dedicated community aggregators before the publisher got to scrub the information-a customary occurrence in the modern cycle of content leak. While the asset was removed in quick time, the discussion among the player base about the existence of a holiday variant now is already on.
The leak confirms, albeit accidentally, a long-standing tradition within the franchise of adding thematic reskins of maps for major seasonal content drops. Hijacked, a fan-favorite map set aboard a small but luxurious superyacht, is especially prone to this sort of visual alteration. The addition of Sleighjacked suggests that this festive content will be placed either directly on the table with the Season 1 update or shortly afterward, providing a thematic diversion for players during the December holiday season.
This newly leaked map is part of the more extensive content agenda for Black Ops 7, which tends to draw heavily upon the celebrated past of the franchise. Previous teasers from Treyarch Studios inform us already of a couple of iconic maps from Black Ops II returning. The quintessential Nuketown is planned for the days just following the game’s debut on November 20. Likewise, players anticipate the return of Standoff and Meltdown in Season 1, the latter of which has been absent from the core Call of Duty experience for over ten years. The deliberate inclusion of these established battlegrounds shows the development team’s clear intent to pay homage to the nostalgic peaks of the series.
The anticipation raised by the continous content reveals, whether on-purpose or leaked, have seen fierce resistance from Activision regarding its official timeline. Following earlier industry conjectures about a potential shift in the release program, the publisher has confirmed that Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 will see a worldwide release on November 14 across all major platforms. The sudden surprise unveiling of Sleighjacked simply adds to the already great anticipation on an already scrutinized and high-profile release.
