The unveiling of the new Avalon map in Call of Duty Black Ops 7 is already buzzing around as it will be the wonderful combination of the initial Black Ops locations and the new ones. Hence, a nostalgic yet contemporary battle royale is expected as the old and the new. The map has brought in its POIs from the old Black Ops titles but is also breaking out to new areas, thus creating two factions among the gamers- one looking for “payback” from the past and the other, worried about “lack of originality” in the 2025 game.
So, what exactly is Avalon? The first announcement stated that it comprises POIs from the old maps of Call of Duty: Black Ops as well as new locations – quite similar to a greatest hits compilation with some new tracks mixed in. Although this isn’t completely new for the franchise, the scale for Black Ops 7 seems to be tremendous.
The player community’s reactions have been mixed and varied… or let us say the reactions have been typical and very diverse for the Call of Duty community. Some players have already envisioned the merging of different eras of Black Ops maps into one as an excellent idea. Roven OP has been quoted as saying “Love how they blended nostalgia with fresh maps 😍🔥 Avalon is a whole vibe!” thus reflecting the most vibrant part of the reception. There is no denying that there is a certain segment of users who prefer the nostalgic trend and to some extent even as claiming the credit for the original support since they have the old maps they played.
On the other hand, there is a question mark raised with skepticism. User Buwaffalo hesitantly commented “That’s so lazyyyy” while another user, SwayTheLoner, accused the developers of the earth by saying “Still reusing maps in the big 2025 trash game.” Activision’s engagement with the content recycling world has generated the criticism that some players feel the company is taking an easy way out by not releasing new content.
Avalon, when and for what purpose, has become a point of discussion among players. Some users in the comments section have hinted that this was originally meant to be the Black Ops 6 dedicated Warzone map but then plans changed. The user Zio’s statement “This was supposed to be the BO6 Dedicated Warzone Map (All the BO6 MP maps take place on Avalon)” if true, clarifies why we are seeing it in Black Ops 7 now.
A lot of questions remain about when exactly we will get to experience the new map. Professional player Metaphor very briefly stated “shit needs to drop season 1” which… mood. Yet, the reality could be different, since some users are forecasting a January release along with a Blackout update. There are too many questions regarding the timing and honestly, who even knows the Call of Duty release schedules anymore?
Debate over the quality of maps in CoD games in the past few years has been… interesting to say the least! One conversation among users turned particularly intense as it raised the question about the devs’ ability to create original maps that are both cool and good again. User 182 boldly replied, “OBJECTIVELY Babylon is THE WORST MAP I’ve EVER seen bruh in ALL of Call of duty history” which is… quite an assertion! When gamers are this vocal about the new map designs, maybe the nostalgia play isn’t so bad?
Some players are already thinking about their small drop zones; WhipLash has proclaimed “I’m dropping Skyline P3, who’s coming? 😤” while PapaGrabba is more excited to see the tomb and dig up honestly as he says which suggests that there could be some Easter eggs or hidden areas waiting to be found.
The larger narrative seems to pivot towards Call of Duty’s grand design concerning the varied game modes. User xXGLASSJAWXx put it very simply: “All this cluster of modes no one will play. •Zombies – always gets the shaft. •Warzone – added 2 POIs and didn’t include the one new mechanic to the game.. •Multiplayer – BO6 with future reskin and 1 new movement feature. Down bad.” It is a growing practice among die-hard gamers that spreading resources across so many modes is thinning them too much.
As if this wasn’t enough already, the whole Blackout connection issue keeps stalking us. A number of users referred to this as “Global 2.0” with Galaxxyz_ stating “If it’s blackout 2.0 it’s destroying any battle royal out there” which is pretty much confident in the potential of this map. The original Blackout from Black Ops 4 still has its dedicated fans who have been longing for a proper descendant.
Technical queries regarding XP transfer between games were flooding in—user N4GA_XD asked: “Hey guys, could someone tell me if the XP I earn in BO7 on PlayStation will carry over to my Xbox account?”
