In recent months, there has been more than one suggestion from members of the games industry that Call of Duty games are “lazy," and that the threat of EA's rival shooter, Battlefield 6, will force a change in approach from Activision.

"We're going to try to calibrate that as we move forward, and we take that feedback seriously." Multiplayer in Call of Duty games has become colorful over the last few years, as players have been able to dress up as their favorite celebrities and pop-culture icons before dropping into a match.

According to sources who wished to remain anonymous as they couldn’t talk about the game’s plans, Black Ops 7’s hotly rumored ‘Avalon’ map, which was initially planned as a Battle Royale map, will be the title’s 12th and final mission in the Black Ops 7 campaign.

Weapons, operators, XP tokens, GobbleGums (Zombies), skins and other cosmetic items from last year’s game will be usable in Black Ops 7’s multiplayer, as well as Warzone. This will kick off a few weeks post launch, with the start of Season One.

Hardcore Gamer sat down with Design Director Matt Schrantz and Senior Director of Production Yale Miller to discuss Call of Duty: Black Ops 7.