Activision announced it would delay Black Ops 6’s third season by two weeks. The company revealed the game would now launch on April 3. It added the delay was needed to ensure a better gamer experience.
Call of Duty publisher Activision announced the two-week extension of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6’s third season’s launch. The company cited the need to deliver a great experience and added that it was a big moment for the franchise.
Activision announces delay in Black Ops 6 and Warzone Season 3
Activision confirmed Call of Duty Season 3 would commence on April 3. The Call of Duty Season 2 in-game battle pass timer signals that the game will end in sixteen days. The company previously announced the games would launch on March 20.
Season 03 is a big moment for Call of Duty: Warzone and Black Ops 6, and we’re taking the time to deliver a great experience starting on April 3.
More to come following Call of Duty: Warzone’s 5th anniversary next week… pic.twitter.com/TmPJnoYBZS
— Call of Duty (@CallofDuty) March 3, 2025
Black Ops 6 and Warzone recently received their mid-season updates for season 2. Black Ops gamers reported receiving new maps and modes, but that was not true for Warzone. Before Season 2’s launch, Activision revealed that Warzone would have lesser content than initially expected in the update. Gamers reported they only had a new perk added to the game once the company introduced the season. Activision commented that this was to prioritize bug fixes, quality-of-life improvements, and gameplay tuning.
Activision revealed that more details would be released following Call of Duty: Warzone’s fifth anniversary week. The company previously launched a Verdansk merch collection to celebrate Warzone’s fifth anniversary on March 10.
Activision already confirmed that Verdansk would be launched in Spring 2025. The publisher has yet to confirm the launch’s official date. Leaks suggested that the map would be set to return with Season 3’s launch. A recent leak also revealed that the next season of Call of Duty will include modern Warfare operators and weapons in Warzone.
Gamers express frustrations over the game’s delay announcement
Gamers expressed their frustration with the delay announcement on the game’s subreddit. Gamer Drakeruins said he did not expect anything to get fixed despite the delay. He said Treyarch was like a half-broken car trying to hold on. The gamer said the game would likely remain broken at the April launch.
Another gamer, jespertherapper, commented that he did not expect anything to get fixed even with the delay. He cited the recent conversation surrounding Activision’s use of Artificial Intelligence art across the Guitar Hero mobile game and Black Ops 6.
Itankyt also suggested the company separate Warzone from the main game. He added that neither side improved with both games merged. Black Ops gamers also revealed their frustrations with the merge saying they should receive direct support and releases. Gamers complained about the Black Ops integration, highlighting unstable servers and cheaters.
Modern Warzone, a Call of Duty profile also replied to the delay announcement saying he would prefer a delay rather than a broken game at the launch.
Gamer negativity around the titles led to Black Ops 6’s gamer count falling below Warfare 3’s a few months after its launch. The game also hit record-low gamer numbers on Steam since its launcher was released on the platform.
According to SteamDB, the Call of Duty launcher’s lowest gamer count by September 2023 was 55,145.5. The data indicated that the gamer count dropped even further by 10% in 2025 to 55,126.
Raven Software announced a change for Call of Duty: Warzone in February in preparation for future updates. The company revealed it would begin testing 150 gamers across standard Battle Royale playlists.
It added it would monitor gamer feedback and overall impact on match flow in the coming weeks. Warzone began the 150-gamer matches before Activision reduced it to 100 in 2023. The publisher increased the gamer count to 120 and said 150 gamers was too chaotic.
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