Treyarch Studios, the team behind the recently launched Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, has announced a major change to the game’s seasonal Battle Pass system, which will take effect when Season 1 starts on December 4. This adjustment is a direct response to widespread feedback from the community about the time players need to invest for progression, often seen as excessive grinding. The studio aims to improve the player experience by ensuring that time spent in the game is rewarded better than in previous versions, especially Black Ops 6.
The upcoming Season 1 update will introduce two main changes designed to speed up unlocks. First, Treyarch plans to shorten the overall completion time of the Battle Pass track, making the full range of cosmetic and functional rewards more achievable. Second, the early sections of the Battle Pass will now have fewer required Tiers. This change aims to give players a quicker progression rate in the initial stages, resulting in a more immediate sense of achievement and a satisfying journey, according to the developer.
In addition to changing the tier requirements, the way players earn Battle Pass Tokens is also expanding. Players can now earn these tokens by completing Daily Challenges. Importantly, these challenges will be available in more modes, particularly in the game’s Co-Op Campaign and Endgame content. This change makes Battle Pass progression more integrated across different aspects of the game, instead of focusing only on traditional Multiplayer modes. Players can use tokens earned through this new method right away on specific days.
While these changes to the Battle Pass are largely positive and show that Treyarch is listening to its community, they come at a tricky time for Black Ops 7. Even though the game has a decent critic score of 69, it faces a very low user score of 1.7 on Metacritic, making it one of the lowest-rated Call of Duty games among players. Much of the disappointment is linked to the new Co-Op Campaign, indicating that these Battle Pass changes are part of a larger effort by the studio to stabilize the game’s long-term position and player retention after a rough launch.
