Black Ops 7 for free for a limited time

PC players unsure of if they want to dive into Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 can currently dip their toes in for free. Until Dec. 22 at 1 p.m. EST, Black Ops 7‘s multiplayer and Zombies modes will be playable for free via Steam.

The multiplayer modes are par for the course, but after back-to-back Black Ops releases, Black Ops 7‘s multiplayer struggled to set itself apart from its predecessor. Despite that, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 ended up as November’s best-selling game, making it 18 straight years that Call of Duty was the top-selling game in its launch month.

On the U.S. Steam storefront, the campaign is not part of the free period, but there’s no loss there. By all accounts, Black Ops 7‘s campaign is one of the series’ worst. In fact, Black Ops 7 has been so poorly received, developer Treyarch unlocked what was supposed to be Black Ops 7‘s post-campaign mode for all players just a week after the game came out.

Publisher Activision has responded to criticism of Black Ops 7, specifically its proximity to the Black Ops series’ sixth entry, by saying it will no longer release back-to-back games in the same sub-franchise. (Notably, like Black Ops 7, in 2023 Modern Warfare 3 was infamously derided as a successor to 2022’s Modern Warfare 2.) What Call of Duty might really need, however, is some breathing room between any entries.

If you do end up enjoying Call of Duty: Black Ops 7‘s multiplayer modes and want to take the plunge into the full game, the base game is currently discounted by 30% on Steam until Thursday at 1 p.m. EST.