For online modes, yes, and Activision names all three platform subscriptions. For the campaign that unlocks a week earlier, no.
Activision states it directly: a PlayStation Plus, Game Pass Essential or Nintendo Switch Online subscription is required to access social features and online modes.
The campaign is not an online mode. Nothing in Activision’s wording puts it behind a subscription, and Sony’s own store listing marks online play as optional for this title. So if you are buying for the story, you do not need one.
Note the naming on Xbox: it is Game Pass Essential now, the tier previously called Game Pass Core. Microsoft’s storefront uses the new name, and it is the cheap tier — not Ultimate, which does not include this game at launch anyway.
| Mode | Subscription | Internet |
|---|---|---|
| Campaign | Not required | Required at least once for install and entitlement |
| Multiplayer | Required | Continuous connection required |
| Private Matches | Required | Continuous connection required, even against friends |
| DMZ | Required | Continuous connection required |
| Warzone | Required | Continuous connection required |
Private Matches being on that list catches people out. Activision specifies a continuous internet connection for multiplayer including private matches, so a local game against people in the same room still goes through their servers.
An Activision account is required, and Activision notes that a linked mobile phone number may be required too. That second one is worth sorting out before launch night rather than discovering it in a queue.
Activision also states the game uses texture streaming across all game modes. That is a bandwidth note rather than a subscription one, but it is the reason we will not tell you the campaign is fully playable offline. Reports said it would be, and it was presented as a fix for a common complaint about Black Ops 7, but Activision’s own streaming caveat sits awkwardly against that. The honest position: no subscription needed for the campaign, and we are not promising a complete offline experience until someone has actually played it that way.
A missing subscription is rarely the real cause. The two things that historically break at a Call of Duty launch are login queues under load — which happened in this game’s own August beta — and, on PC, the mandatory TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot requirement, which stops the game starting at all.
We read Activision’s service feed every five minutes, so you can tell a queue from an outage: live Call of Duty server status.
Independent reporting. We are not affiliated with Activision, Infinity Ward or Microsoft. Specifications and prices change — verify before purchase.
For online modes, yes. Activision states that a PlayStation Plus, Game Pass Essential or Nintendo Switch Online subscription is required for social features and online modes. The campaign does not need one.
Yes. The campaign is not an online mode, and Sony's store listing marks online play as optional for this title. You will still need a connection for the install and a one-time entitlement check.
Game Pass Essential, the tier formerly called Game Pass Core. Microsoft's storefront states that online multiplayer requires it, sold separately. Ultimate is not required and does not include the game at launch.
Yes to both. Activision specifies a continuous internet connection for multiplayer including private matches, so even a game against friends runs through their servers.
An Activision account, and Activision notes a linked mobile phone number may be required. Worth setting up before launch night.