Season 06 of Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 and Call of Duty: Warzone went live on September 17 at 9AM PT, and it brings The Haunting with it. Haven’s Hollow has been swallowed by something evil, a Ghost Train rolls through town, and a 64-player Giant Infected mode drops you into a fight between Survivors and the horde. Here’s what’s waiting for you.
Haunted Hollow: the Resurgence map after dark
Something sinister has taken hold of Haven’s Hollow and twisted familiar landmarks into haunting new discoveries. The River Boat is entangled, the Lumbermill is burning, and the Mansion foyer hides a gravity vortex that flips traversal on its head. Cosmic tentacles loom over the skyline as heralds of unknown eldritch horrors, while signs of occult activity cover the darkened landscape.
You deploy into the haunted version of the map in Operation Grave Rot. The drained Pond exposes eldritch sigils, the Research facility shows the aftermath of a massacre, and dark whispers suggest an ancient ritual is close to completion. New routes and secrets are scattered all over town.
All aboard the Ghost Train
A Ghost Train travels through Haunted Hollow, but before you can loot it you have to find a way to phase it back into reality. Once it’s solid, the clock is ticking: there are Supply Boxes, a Buy Station, a Mystery Box and other useful resources on board before the train slips back into its immaterial form.
Trick or Treat Pumpkins
Shops around town have left out festive pumpkins stuffed with potential rewards. Opening one is a gamble – you either grab valuable loot or eat the trick instead. Among the rewards are Zombies powerups that grant short-term buffs similar to Perks when activated. If you’re still learning the ropes of the battle royale, our beginner tips are a good place to start before you go pumpkin hunting.
Giant Infected: 64 players, one DNA Bomb
The returning Limited-Time Mode Giant Infected runs exclusively on Haunted Hollow with 64 players. Eight of them are randomly assigned as Infected at the start, and their goal is to infect everyone else.
- Survivors gather DNA samples around the map to build and arm a DNA Bomb that stops the outbreak. Everyone starts with a fixed Loadout that can be upgraded multiple times using score earned from surviving, defeating enemies, collecting DNA samples and completing activities. If the bomb detonates, the Survivors win.
- Infected are fallen Survivors who weren’t revived in time. As zombies they get unlimited sprint, special melee attacks, fast mantling, wall jumps and no fall damage. The longer they survive, the stronger they get – faster movement, more health and eventually a super jump. Eliminating Survivors and collecting DNA speeds the process up.
If the Survivors arm the bomb, the horde has to work together to shut it down to win the match.
New Winstreak Challenges and six camos
Season 06 adds new Winstreak Challenges that reward Universal Weapon Camos for consecutive wins over the course of the season:
- Battle Royale: 10 wins in a row – “Eye of the Storm”; 25 wins in a row – “Stormfront”
- Resurgence: 30 wins in a row – “Harvest Haunt”; 50 wins in a row – “Neon Nightmare”
- Black Ops Royale: 10 wins in a row – “Crimson Omen”; 25 wins in a row – “Contagion”
One important note: Season 06 is your last chance to play Black Ops Royale, so grab those wins and camos before the season ends. Chasing long streaks is easier with a comfortable setup – we’ve put together a rundown of the best Warzone settings for exactly that.
Ranked Play: Resurgence and the SR experiment
Resurgence Ranked Play rotates Rebirth Island, Fortune’s Keep and Haven’s Hollow, and it uses the same settings and weapon restrictions as the Call of Duty League. Season 06 runs on a shortened schedule – check in game for details.
The developers are taking a close look at SR progression in the Diamond+ tiers this season. Because the season only lasts four weeks, it’s a low-impact window to test changes and gather data. The goal is for SR gains at the top to reflect performance rather than time invested, and to limit SR inflation as players climb toward and through the Top 250 – without making Ranked Play feel overly punishing. The adjustments are intentionally over-indexed so the impact is clear and measurable, with a full breakdown coming in the Season 06 patch notes.
Season-specific Ranked rewards include the “Glory of Gilgamesh” Carbon 57 SMG Blueprint for 5 Top Placements, a large decal for 100 Top Placements, plus Calling Cards and Weapon Camos for every rank from Silver up through Iridescent, Top 250 and the Top 250 #1 Overall Champion.
What The Haunting brings to Black Ops 7
In Endgame, night falls on Avalon, turning Activities and Assignments into an eerie after-dark affair with Fears, Guild opponents and other obstacles hunting your squad. The new Forbidden Summoning Event has you unlocking seals to free an ancient threat – bring backup if you want the rewards.
Multiplayer gets the brand-new 6v6 map Quantum, set in a Guild quantum computing facility buried in Arctic ice, and Bloodstead, a horror retheme of Homestead where the waters have turned to blood. The new T.E.D.D. Trials LTM brings three Zombies maps – Roadkill, Inferno and Lost – into 6v6 Multiplayer for the first time in Black Ops 7. Hordepoint returns with zombies that switch sides depending on who holds the objective (red eyes mean they’re hostile, blue eyes mean they’re with you), and Freeze Tag comes back with proximity chat enabled.
Zombies adds the Tenshu Survival map in Kowakujō’s central keep, Directed Mode and Starting Room for Rex Infernus, and a major Rogue Run update with Pack-a-Punch Tier IV, an Ultra-Rarity weapon upgrade and self-regenerating Golden Armor, plus Casual and Hardcore playlists for Paradox Junction and Kowakujō. Pumpkin-headed zombies show up across all Rogue Run playlists. Players who’ve finished every Main Quest across all Round-Based Zombies maps get a surprise at season launch, including The Warden as an unlockable Operator.
Battle Pass, BlackCell and DOOM
New Base Weapons arrive through the Battle Pass and in-game events: the TR51 Para Assault Rifle, the iconic VMP SMG, the Arcblade Melee Weapon and the Roc 20mm Special Weapon. New Attachments come from Weekly Challenges, and a DOOM-themed Event and Bundle brings the Doom Slayer Operator with “Doom Slayer” and “Doom Guy” Skins.
Season 06 BlackCell leads with the Revenant Operator and the “Aeternum” Mastercraft Blueprint for the AN-94, plus 1,100 COD Points, a Finishing Move, Gun Screen, HUD Theme, Clan Tag and a 10% XP Boost on the Instant Rewards Page. Inside the Battle Pass there are seven BlackCell-exclusive Skins (including “Marionette” for Razor, “Perma Frost” for Nikolai and “Sicarius” for Karma) and seven BlackCell Blueprints. Finishing the BlackCell Battle Pass nets 100+ total item rewards, and anyone who bought Season 05 BlackCell and picks up Season 06 activates a permanent 10% Player and Weapon XP bonus, stacking up to 50% across all Black Ops 7 seasons. The Battle Pass itself introduces Blackjack from The Guild.
Haven’t verified your Call of Duty account email yet? Doing so unlocks the “Veiled Aurora” Universal Weapon Camo plus 5× 1-hour 2XP Level, Weapon and Battle Pass Tokens. Details are in the Activision verification FAQ.
Where to go next
We’ve covered the season from a different angle in our piece on Haunted Hollow and Giant Infected, and everything else we write about the battle royale lands in the Warzone news section.
FAQ
Black Ops 7 and Warzone Season 06 launched on September 17 at 9AM PT.
It’s the Haunting version of the Resurgence map Haven’s Hollow. Locations across town have been twisted – the entangled River Boat, the burning Lumbermill, the Mansion gravity vortex, the drained Pond with exposed eldritch sigils – and cosmic tentacles fill the skyline. You deploy there in Operation Grave Rot.
It’s a 64-player Limited-Time Mode played exclusively on Haunted Hollow. Eight random players start as Infected and try to infect everyone, while Survivors collect DNA samples to build and arm a DNA Bomb. If the bomb detonates, the Survivors win; if the Infected shut it down and overrun everyone, the horde takes it.
Battle Royale gives “Eye of the Storm” for 10 consecutive wins and “Stormfront” for 25. Resurgence gives “Harvest Haunt” for 30 and “Neon Nightmare” for 50. Black Ops Royale gives “Crimson Omen” for 10 and “Contagion” for 25.
Yes – Season 06 is announced as your last chance to play Black Ops Royale, so finish its Winstreak Challenges and claim the camos before the season ends.
Season 06 runs on a shortened schedule and the team is testing SR progression changes in the Diamond+ tiers, aiming to tie SR gains more closely to performance and limit inflation near the Top 250. The adjustments are deliberately over-indexed so the data is clear, and a full breakdown is coming in the Season 06 patch notes.