Everything you need to know about the Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War beta

After months of teases, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War was revealed by Activision on August 26, and a November 13 release date was confirmed. The reveal mainly focused on the story campaign, but on September 9 the developers took a deep dive into the game's multiplayer.

While an accidental tease from Activision and some leaks let us know some information about Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War's beta a bit early, Activision subsequently confirmed everything we'd want to know about the game's beta.

When is the Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War beta start date?

Depending on what system you want to play the Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War beta on, the dates will change. PS4 players will get access first, with those who pre-order gaining early access to the beta on October 8. Then, on October 10, this will become an open beta before concluded on October 12, 2020.

Early access to the beta for Xbox One and PC players will start on October 15 before expanding to an Open Beta on October 17. During that same timeframe, the PS4 open beta will reopen for everyone on that platform. All betas will conclude on October 19.

It's a bit confusing, but this rollout resembles that of the Marvel's Avengers beta.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War's beta also functions just like the franchise's betas in previous years. It will give players hands-on experience with the game about a month before its November 13, 2020 launch.

The start date for this beta did leak prematurely on both Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Call of Duty: WWII's storefronts. The messages, which can be read as part of Black Ops Cold War standard edition listings on Tracker Network and Reddit, respectively, both showed that the Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War beta would begin on October 8, 2020. This turned out to be accurate, at least for the PS4 version.

When is the Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War beta launch time?

While there's no official word about start times for the upcoming beta sessions, the turnover for each Call of Duty: Modern Warfare beta session occurred at 1 p.m. Eastern on each day. So for the time being, our best estimate is that the Black Ops Cold War beta will begin for gamers with PS4 pre-orders on October 8, 2020 at 1 p.m. Eastern. Activision will almost surely clarify this before the beta begins.

What will the Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War beta include?

Details regarding what exactly will be included in the beta for Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War remain unknown. It should all in line with betas for the previous Call of Duty games that gave players a taste of the game's multiplayer modes over the course of a few weekends.

As such, don't expect to play any story missions or the game's rumored zombie mode during the beta unless Activision decides to switch things up. The biggest draw of the beta will be seeing how the gameplay has shifted when compared to both Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and the more recent sci-fi Black Ops games.

When will we learn more?

While Activision confirmed the Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War beta start date on September 9 during the multiplayer reveal, we're still waiting to learn more soon, likely through Activision's official blog.

The only window provided by Activision is that more information on the beta is coming "soon," but we'll likely learn more about it in late September or early October as the beta is about to begin. After that, we will have a clear idea of what to expect from the Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War beta.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War will be released on November 13, 2020.