Anticipation is starting to build aroundCall of Duty: Black Ops 7, with the upcoming project being set for its full global reveal on the opening night of Gamescom on August 19. Despite this, fans already have a good overview of what kind of experiences the game will bring, with a lot of confirmed details recently surfacing around the title’scampaign, multiplayer, and Zombies modes.
The setting and general story premise ofCall of Duty: Black Ops 7had been correctly theorized long before the game’s official announcement, with the project being a direct sequel to 2012’s popularBlack Ops 2. The story ofBlack Ops 7will be set around 10 years following the events ofBlack Ops 2, once again pushing the sub-franchise into futuristic themes that are far removed from its Vietnam War-era origins. With theBlack Opsfranchise only recently showing a fairly grounded and realistic portrayal of the 1990s, the overtly futuristic nature ofBlack Ops' timeline in the 2020s and beyond is quite jarring. Tidbits of lore in previous games have attempted to explain this massive technological and cultural leap, but it still seems as ifBlack Opsneeds to better address things like the discovery of Celerium and the explosion of tech that it caused.
The Technological Leap in Black Ops' Later Timeline is Ripe For Further Exploration
TheBlack Opsfranchisehas explored a wide range of narrative settings over the years, with the series having story links as far back as World War 2 and as far-off as 2065. These historic and purely futuristic settings have givenBlack Opstwo very distinct identities over time, with the likes ofBlack Ops 3even being criticized for how its story discarded a lot of the narrative groundwork from earlier-setBOtitles.
2012’sBlack Ops 2really stood out for how it blended old and new forBlack Ops, with the game portraying two narratives that ran across the 1980s and 2020s. This 2025-set storyline was the first timeCall of Dutyas a whole had portrayed a futuristic setting, coming alongside major gameplay and thematic leaps from what had previously been seen.BO2featured the likes of advanced drones, AI-controlled land vehicles, VTOL warships, and active camouflage tech, indicating that a kind of warfare revolution had happened between the 80s and 2020s.
Most of this advanced tech comes from a fictional rare-earth element called Celerium, which makes intentionally vague appearances throughout the story ofBlack Ops 2. The important details around the discovery of Celerium and how it would have impacted global militaries and arms races around the time are essentially left blank, with players only being shown the entrenched consequences of Celerium-based tech. Of course,Black Ops 7is set to continue this semi-futuristic narrative, and now more than ever seems to be the perfect time to dive deeper into the truth behind Celerium’s origins.
After Black Ops 6, the Franchise Needs To Go Even Deeper into Celerium
Black Ops 6largely focused on a 1990s settingamid the backdrop of the Gulf War, bringing the franchise’s story closer to the calm before the storm of Celerium’s discovery. Despite this,Black Ops 6does not mention Celerium whatsoever, painting an even more chaotic picture of how quickly the material must have altered the landscape of the world. It can be assumed that Celerium was most likely discovered around 2010 or 2015, andBlack Ops 7could go deeper into this to really flesh out the sub-franchise’s increasingly sci-fi premise.
WhileBlack Ops 7should largely focus on its 2030s narrative, it could easily take even more inspiration fromBO2by featuring a secondary earlier-set narrative that is centered around Celerium’s discovery.
The type of technology on display throughoutBlack Ops 7will most likely be closer to what players saw inBlack Ops 3and its 2060s setting, with the decade between the game andBO2being a time of intense in-universe development and discovery. WithBlack Ops 7releasing right after the 90s-setBO6, this massive shift is going to be more glaring than ever, andBlack Ops 7is in prime position to really detail the events and consequences of how important Celerium is to this futuristic era of the franchise.
