Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War next-gen upgrade won’t be free

(Image credit: Activision)

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is getting a "cross-gen" bundle for new consoles, online listings have confirmed. 

Appearing on both the PlayStation Store and Microsoft Store, the Black Ops Cold War cross-gen bundle comes in at $69.99/£64.99, compared to the standard edition which costs $59.99/£59.99. The PlayStation Store listing confirms what you get with the slightly bumper version of the game.

It reads: "Buy this digital PS4™ version of Call of Duty®: Black Ops Cold War from the Playstation®Store and download the PS5™ version at no extra cost when it launches."

It'll also come with the Confrontation weapons pack, which isn't detailed in the listing. There's also an Ultimate Edition, which comes in at $89.99/£89.99, which also grants players access to a next-gen upgrade, alongside the Land, Sea, and Air Pack, 3 operator skins, 3 vehicle skins, 3 weapon blueprints, Battle Pass bundle (1 Season Battle Pass + 20 Tier Skips) and Confrontation weapons pack.

This move is in contrast to other big action games like Destiny 2 and Cyberpunk 2077 - both of which will offer free upgrades to players who buy them on PS4 or Xbox One. Xbox itself told VGC that it would encourage devs to offer upgrades at no extra charge.

There’s already precedent for asking players to stump up for next-gen versions, however: NBA 2K21 will sell its cross-gen bundle at £84.99 / $99.99. Activision, COD’s parent company, is yet to publicly disclose its own policy.

Black Ops Cold War was announced with a paranoia-filled teaser trailer last week. “Know your history,” it warned, “or be doomed to repeat it.” It will be followed by a lengthier reveal tomorrow, August 26th.

If you pre-order the new game you’ll get access to Frank Woods as a playable character in Warzone. Woods played a part in the memorable attempt on Fidel Castro’s life in the original Black Ops. Spoilers: the attempt failed. But if you know your history, that won’t come as a surprise.

Get ready for tomorrow's in-game Warzone event with our guide to the Warzone bunkers.

Jeremy Peel

Jeremy is a freelance editor and writer with a decade’s experience across publications like GamesRadar, Rock Paper Shotgun, PC Gamer and Edge. He specialises in features and interviews, and gets a special kick out of meeting the word count exactly. He missed the golden age of magazines, so is making up for lost time while maintaining a healthy modern guilt over the paper waste. Jeremy was once told off by the director of Dishonored 2 for not having played Dishonored 2, an error he has since corrected.