Black Ops 6 Season 6: Start time, new weapons, full patch notes

Black Ops 6 Season 6 is the final seasonal update of the game’s lifecycle, and it’s a big one with the return of The Haunting Halloween event.

Although Black Ops 7 arrives on November 14, there’s still plenty of life left in BO6. Season 5 introduced a whole host of new weapons, maps, and events for players to get stuck into, and Season 6 is no different, with a ton of fresh content in focus.

This is also the final season before the new game launches, and it’s going out with a bang by bringing back the ever-popular Halloween event, The Haunting.

Here’s everything you need to know about Black Ops 6 Season 6, including when it’s due to arrive.

Black Ops 6 Season 6 start date

The Season 6 update is scheduled to drop at 9AM PT on Thursday, October 9, 2025.

This is also when the Season 5 cycle comes to an end, and like clockwork, the new season kicks off.

The Haunting

After returning in 2023, The Haunting has become a yearly tradition in Call of Duty, and it’s set to continue in Season 6. This Halloween event brings a spooky overhaul to multiplayer, complete with new-look maps and terrifying modes.

Up first is a reskin of Nuketown, because of course. Boo-Town, as it’s called, pops giant spiders everywhere along with some skeletons and bloody decals.

Slasher Deathmatch is the new mode featured throughout The Haunting event, as players team up to take down one all-powerful horror movie icon like Jason or Chucky.

There’s also the Haunted Havoc LTM for Zombies fans, with undead hordes faster and more aggressive from the very first round. They’re even dressed in the Halloween spirit too.

Three new multiplayer maps

Gravity, Rig, and Mothball are the three new maps joining the multiplayer rotation in Season 6. All three can be played in all standard 6v6 game types, though Mothball also packs in support for 2v2 game types as well.

Two new weapons & one attachment

Season 6 marks the arrival of two brand-new full-auto weapons, one an SMG, the other an AR. Both are available through the Season 6 Battle Pass, though the exact tier is yet to be revealed.

Up first we have the Dresden 9mm SMG that boasts a slower rate of fire than you may expect, but packs “very high damage,” as devs have detailed.

Next is the Merrick 556 Assault Rifle designed for the best aimers in your squad. This one has a lofty headshot multiplier, so if you can land your shots, you’ll be piling up kills in no time.

Rounding out the list of new additions is the GPR91 Double-Barrer Conversion attachment. This is an event reward that adds a second barrel to the GPR 91, allowing for two bullets to be fired at once.

Full Black Ops 6 Season 6 update patch notes

Ranked Play

Season 06 Rank Setback

• Competitors who are continuing their conquest in Ranked Play from Season 05 will notice that their accounts may have been set back as outlined in previous notes. 
• Every new Season, your Rank may be rolled back based on where you ended the previous season, as follows:
• Bronze or Silver Rank players are not impacted by the Seasonal setback and will be able to pick up where they ended Season 05 with no SR deduction.
• Gold or Platinum Rank players will start Season 06 in Tier I of Gold or Platinum respectively.
• Diamond Rank and above players will start the Season 06 at Diamond I.

Demotion Protection

• Demotion Protection will be active for everyone’s first 3 Ranked Play losses in Season 06, and players can expect 1 free loss per day via Daily Loss Forgiveness like previous Seasons.

Ranked Play Unlock Requirements

• Competitors that are returning after an extended period of inactivity may need to Win 10 Matches to requalify for Ranked Play in Season 06.
• New Ranked Play competitors will need to win 50 0match-made multiplayer matches like previous seasons.
• Game Pass Free Trial accounts on PC will not be able to participate in Multiplayer Ranked Play. 

Ranked Play Season 06 Rewards

• Rank Weapon Camos
  • Each Rank Gold and above has a unique Rank-themed Weapon Camo that you can earn to show off your rank.
    • Gold, Platinum, Diamond, Crimson & Iridescent: Start in (or above) or reach the applicable Rank anytime in Season 06 to instantly earn the corresponding Weapon Camo.
    • Top 250: Finish Season 06 in the Top 250 to earn the Animated “Top 250” Weapon Camo.
• Rank Calling Cards
  • Each Rank Silver and above has a unique Calling Card reward:
    • Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, Crimson, Iridescent: Start in (or above) or reach the applicable Rank anytime in Season 06 to instantly earn the corresponding Season 06 Rank Calling Card..
    • Top 250: Finish Season 06 in the Top 250.
    • Top 250 Champion: One-of-a-kind Calling Card awarded to the single player who finishes Season 06 in the #1 position on the Top 250.
  • AMES 85 Assault Rifle Weapon Blueprint: Unlocked by winning 10 Ranked Play matches in Season 06.
  • 100 Season 06 Wins Large Decal: Unlocked by winning 100 Ranked Play matches in Season 06.

Zombies

Maps 

Reckoning

• Addressed an issue where zombies will clip through the wall when coming out of a spawn closet in Reckoning.
• Addressed an issue where zombies will stop pathing to the player in the Mutant Research Lab in Reckoning.
• Addressed an issue where players may get stuck behind a S.A.M. Trial during the Boss Fight in Reckoning.
• Addressed an issue where players can re-enter Tower 3 after reloading a save created after completing the Boss Fight in Reckoning.
• Addressed an issue where players can grab the Vacuum Seal Device through the wall on the opposite side of the container in Reckoning.
• Addressed an issue where Franken-Klaus clips through the door to the Teleportation Lab if the door has not been unlocked in Reckoning.
• Addressed an issue where the Containment Unit will appear closed after opening and reloading a save in Reckoning.
• Addressed an issue where the player’s screen will sometimes remain blurred after absorbing Panos during a quest in Reckoning.
• Addressed an issue where an Operator’s Reactive Skin would appear during the final cutscene in Reckoning.

Shattered Veil

• Addressed an exploit location in the Dungeon next to Krafft’s Cell when doing the Light Ritual step for the Main Quest in Citadelle des Morts.

Citadelle des Morts

• Addressed an exploit location in the Dungeon next to Kraft’s Cell when doing the Light Ritual step for the Main Quest in Citadelle Des Morts.

Liberty Falls

• Addressed an issue where the lightbulb in the Elemental Particle Projector did not match the color of the buttons in Liberty Falls.

Terminus

• Addressed an issue with invisible geometry appearing where Nathan’s Containment Unit used to be after releasing him in Terminus.

Modes 

• Grief
  • Addressed an issue where the screen will jitter when standing next to the Pack-a-Punch machine in Grief.

Weapons 

Gravemark .357

• Adjusted the reload for the Gravemark .357 base and Pack-a-Punch version.
  • The weapon reloads one shell at a time in both versions.
  • The Pack-a-Punch weapon will no longer reload 2 shells at once and will instead reload all shells when using the Akimbo attachment.
  • Reload speed has been increased by 20% and hip-fire spread has been tightened by 20%.

Perk-a-Colas

Quick Revieve

• Addressed an issue where Dying Wish would rarely fail to trigger when shot by Richtofen during the Boss Fight in Reckoning.

Speed Cola

• Adjusted how Phantom Reload Augment for Speed Cola reloads weapons with Akimbo attachment.

GobbleGums

• Addressed an issue where the Nowhere but There GobbleGum would sometimes not work under specific conditions.
• Addressed an issue when using Idle Eyes after a boss fight will not have the grayscale screen FX and zombies will continue to ignore the player once the timer has run out.

Field Upgrades 

• Addressed an issue where the Mister Peeks Field Upgrade would target zombies inside pods.

Scorestreaks 

• Addressed an issue with the Chopper Gunner Health Bar being misaligned after taking damage in the boss fight in Reckoning.
• Addressed an issue that prevented the player’s Perk order from being maintained after using Mutant Injection.
• Addressed an issue with activating Mutant Injection near a zipline.

Loot 

• Addressed an issue where the Blueprint Skins for the Ray Gun would not appear when rolled in the Mystery Box prior to picking the weapon up.
• Addressed an issue where certain Fast Travels would reset the player’s Reactive Skin to its base state.
• Addressed an issue where players would not be able to equip certain rewards given from legendary Reward boxes from S.A.M. Trials.

Enemies 

• Elimination text and Essence for defeating Nathan will now be awarded after the in-game cutscene in Terminus.
• Addressed an issue with Uber Klaus Core teleporting forward after being ejected from an Uber Klaus that was killed from behind.

UI 

• Addressed an issue where Door Buy Icons were appearing for certain Power Doors in the Minimap and Tac-Map in Reckoning.
• Addressed an issue where the boss health bar will stay on screen after all players have bled out in Reckoning.
• Addressed an issue where players are unable to cast a vote to start the boss fight in Reckoning due to one player spectating.
• Addressed an issue where reloading a save with the Keycard in the player’s inventory will show the Geneticist step again in Reckoning.
• Addressed an issue where the Objective Marker for collecting the S.A.M. Files would disappear when the passcode is entered incorrectly in Directed Mode in Reckoning.

Graphics 

• Addressed an issue where the Teleporter to Tower 3 would show broken VFX in Reckoning.

Audio 

• Addressed various voice line issues.

Stability 

• Addressed an issue where Server Pause does not function once the Party Leader leaves and rejoins a match in progress.
• Addressed various stability issues.