Highlights

  • The Call of Duty: Black Ops series' naming conventions are confusing, as Black Ops Cold War now feels like the odd game out.
  • By going back to a name like Black Ops 6, Black Ops Cold War is clearly being treated as Black Ops 5 despite having a subtitle, making it hard for newcomers to follow the subseries.
  • With Black Ops 6 also dropping the tally marks for its logo designs, the approach will definitely stand out to longtime players.

After months of speculation, the next Call of Duty has been officially revealed. Titled Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, this next chapter will see the grand return of Treyarch's extremely popular subseries. While not much is known about what the game will entail, fans are still very excited to get their hands on it, especially since it will be the first one released under Xbox. But although there is a lot of hype around it, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6's announcement also makes no sense.

The Call of Duty: Black Ops series seems to be the king of naming choices that do not really mesh with each other. Not only did the series technically start with World at War, but Black Ops: Cold War also completely changed the way this series had approached its numbering for years. And not just that, but Black Ops 6 also does away with another major series staple; tally marks. So, while that does not really equate to its quality, Treyarch's naming system could use a bit of work.

call of duty black ops 6 ps4 and xbox one
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Call of Duty: Black Ops Naming Conventions Make No Sense

Call of Duty Followed a Pretty Standard Trend Until Cold War

Since its inception, Call of Duty has mostly followed the classic naming conventions that franchises have used for years. Players knew that Call of Duty 2took place after Call of Duty, and Call of Duty 3 after that. Then, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare started to change all of that as it adopted a subtitle. And because of that, two major Call of Duty subseries were born, with random one-offs in-between.

Since Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, the franchise has mostly been focused on Modern Warfare or Black Ops sequels. And just like with the first four games, these entries also followed a pretty standard numbering system. Players were able to tell what title came after what, and although the one-offs were not numbered, it served as a way for players to know they were not a part of either major subseries. Yet, for some reason, the Call of Duty: Black Ops series seemed to want to change things with Cold War.

Cold War Has Messed the Titles For The Entire Black Ops Series Up

After the controversial Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, Treyarch chose to return to the series' roots with Black Ops: Cold War. To mark this return, the studio dropped the number altogether in favor of another subtitle. Because it was not a direct follow-up to Black Ops 4 and instead continued the original game's story, it made a ton of sense not to call it Black Ops 5. However, now that Black Ops 6 has been revealed, the title does not really seem to fit anymore.

Now, the series goes from Black Ops 4 to Black Ops: Cold War and then to Black Ops 6. Although Cold War is obviously meant to be viewed as number 5, it was never officially called that. So, at first glance, it feels like the series just kind of skipped over that number for some reason. Additionally, based on how the series' campaigns have gone, the story of Cold War may not really flow well into this next chapter, as it will technically be picking up after the portion of Black Ops 2 set in the late 1980s. This all makes the game really standout from the crowd, and as the series progresses, that may only get worse.

On top of that, the Call of Duty: Black Ops series has also dropped tally marks for some reason. The first four games all used tally marks to signify what entry they were, but for Black Ops 6, Treyarch simply used a number. While this also does not really affect the game's quality, it does seem like an odd visual change after four entries did it completely different. But the studio seems committed to this approach right now, and fans will just have to wait and see if the eventual Black Ops 7 shakes things up even further.