Will Black Ops 6’s PS4 and Xbox One Versions Repeat BO3’s Disastrous Launch?

A recent Black Ops 6 leak is suggesting that this game might be arriving on PS4 and Xbox One consoles this year, which is reminiscent of another cross-gen Call of Duty title from back in 2015. Black Ops 3 was the last ride for CoD lovers on PS3 and Xbox 360, and it was an unmitigated disaster. Not only was the general optimization a mess, but the full experience was hamstrung on 7th-gen consoles leading to an abridged version of the game sans the Campaign. Fast-forward three Black Ops games, is it time for Call of Duty to finally say goodbye to PS4 and Xbox One with BO6? In our opinion, it should be.

Back in 2013, the hype for Call of Duty: Ghosts and its next-gen quality on PS4 was wild. Next came Advanced Warfare, and the superiority of the 8th-gen reached its peak with Black Ops 3. And well, this is a hype train I missed for some reason. So, I had to buy Black Ops 3 for $60 on my good ol’ PS3 if I wanted to jump into Morg City and enjoy the brand new CoD content.

This was the worst Call of Duty experience on PS3. The game didn’t feature the Campaign mode, all the later Zombies DLC maps were for 8th-gen consoles only, and the graphics were just bad! The lower framerate and pitiful visual quality of Black Ops 3 on PS3 still haunt me to this day. And all this was for downgrading the PS4 version so that it was playable on PS3. Now, with Black Ops 6 probably coming to PS4 and Xbox One, the same tragedy might happen for some players this year.

It’s Time For Call of Duty To Move On

MW2 and Warzone 2 were the first Call of Duty games to utilize the potential of the 9th-gen consoles. The level of graphical detail in these games is admirable on PS5 and Xbox Series X. This is where PS4 and Xbox One throw their last punches to tackle these games.

It has reached a point where investing in a PS4 to play Warzone/MW3 is a pay-to-lose option. Frame drops are common, and the graphics are horrible to look at with textures taking ages to load. Now imagine that Black Ops 6 is coming on full throttle, with Treyarch working on this title for more than two years to enhance it for the 9th generation of consoles.

That being said, releasing Black Ops 6 for PS4 and Xbox One might go with the same Black Ops 3 plan: a downscaled version of the game that runs at a low FPS. This isn’t the best thing to have on your PS4 even if all the seasonal content becomes available. Frankly, it’s time to leave the PS4 and Xbox One ports in the past where they belong.