Activision Announces Change to Black Ops 7 Skins, Shocks Call of Duty Fans

August 26, 2025, 1:30pm

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is already reversing course on one of its biggest features, but fans are actually happy about it. The Call of Duty series has always been unrealistic and fantastical, but the series always did its best to remain somewhat grounded. The stories were taken with a degree of seriousness and the aesthetic of the franchise matched that. Some weapon skins were a bit more out there, but there was a fine line being walked. However, over the last few years, fans have grown irate with Call of Duty adding skins from American Dad, Beavis and Butthead, and much more. It became more Fortnite than Call of Duty, causing the shooter franchise to lose its identity.

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I recently flew out to Treyarch to play and see Black Ops 7, when I was there, the team talked about the conversation around skins unprompted. No one asked about it, no one said anything, they beat all of the press to the punch by noting they see the feedback and concerns. However, they didn’t take a firm stance on what their approach to skins would be going forward with Black Ops 7. With that said, there’s been a shocking update that must have been decided within just the last week or two.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 Reverses Course on Carry Forward; Promises More Authentic Skins

During that initial preview, Treyarch confirmed they would be utilizing “carry forward”, a system that brings all your skins and weapons from the previous game into the new one. This was used in Modern Warfare III and was planned for Black Ops 7. However, just a week after the game’s reveal, Activision has confirmed that carry forward will NOT be part of Black Ops 7 anymore. This is in large part to ensure that these whacky skins don’t make their way into Black Ops 7 and so Treyarch can establish a clear identity for the game. They promised that bundles and skins will be made to be more authentic to what fans expect from the Black Ops franchise with a goal of being more immersive.

“We know there’s been a lot of conversation recently about the identity of Call of Duty,” said the Call of Duty team. “Some of you have said we’ve drifted from what made Call of Duty unique in the first place: immersive, intense, visceral and in many ways grounded. That feedback hits home, and we take it seriously. We hear you.”

This will only apply to Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, so fans can still use everything they own within Warzone. The only things that will actually carry into Black Ops 7 are Double XP tokens and Gobblegums for Zombies fans. This is a pretty shocking move, especially since they had just confirmed carry forward two weeks ago. It’s unclear if this decision was sparked by any kind of negative reception to Black Ops 7 or if it was already in the cards.

Battlefield Studios had said earlier this summer that it was planning to ensure skins for Battlefield 6 were authentic and fit its grounded universe. It seems like Call of Duty may be following their lead. The real test will be seeing what happens in 2026 with the next Call of Duty. If Activision doesn’t generate enough revenue on more grounded skins, it may seek out big IP crossovers again. Either way, it’s great to see a publisher as big as Activision listening to its fans after they’ve been so vocal about this for so long. It doesn’t seem to be an empty statement given the removal of carry forward, which is promising.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 will have a beta in October before a full release on November 14th for Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, PS5, and PC. What do you think about this decision? Let me know in the comments.