Black Ops 6 Requiring An Internet Connection For Single-Player Is A Problem, Especially If Servers Get Taken Down

1 week ago 6

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 has gotten off to a pretty tremendous start, with its player numbers far outpacing those of both MW2 and MW3 when they first launched. This level of success is always great to see, especially for fans of the series, and is an indication that the folks at Treyarch and Raven Software have done something right. For those who languished in MW3's fairly disappointing offerings, this is amazing news.

This is especially true for those who wanted a more robust and enjoyable Call of Duty campaign, as Black Ops 6's story is one of Black Ops' best campaigns. However, while Black Ops 6 is delivering on everything fans wanted for the most part, it does have a fairly glaring issue that's causing issues in the community, namely, the requirement to always be online has turned a very enjoyable single-player experience into a frustrating ordeal.

Black Ops 6 Players Are Being Kicked From Single-Player Modes

They're Being Disconnected From The Campaign

While Black Ops 6 has become more popular than previous Call of Duty entries, it still has its fair share of issues, namely that it's booting players out of single-player modes because they lost connection to the servers. It's very much a modern-day problem, but nevertheless troublesome when taking into consideration that people paid $70 for an experience they can't enjoy unless their internet connection is stable.

Plenty of players have reported that, while playing through Black Ops 6's well-reviewed campaign, they've been unceremoniously disconnected for no other reason than they've lost connection to Activision's servers. Now, it's fair that most people would be confused about why they need an internet connection to play through a single-player campaign. After all, pretty much every other single-player game in existence has been playable offline. However, Activision seems to have its reasons.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 uses texture streaming in order to reduce the game's file size on all platforms. Essentially, it streams high-resolution textures to the game in real-time via its servers to avoid dumping them locally on the player's platform of choice. Considering Call of Duty file sizes have ballooned dramatically over the years, it's no shock to see Activision use this method in order to prevent fans from having to delete their entire game library just to squeeze Black Ops 6 in.

However, while it fixes the issue of players' storage woes, it is creating a new problem of people unable to enjoy the game they paid for. The trade-off doesn't really feel worth it, especially since Call of Duty games in the past have allowed people to install specific modes, essentially allowing them to manage how much space it takes up in the first place. That felt like a good solution to the problem, so the switch to texture streaming feels like an odd over-correction.

Black Ops 6 Requiring A Constant Internet Connection Sets A Bad Precedent

It Gets Players Used To It And Encourages Other Developers To Do The Same

An Operator in Call of Duty Black Ops 6 running to the side while carrying a scoped rifle while another player slides while shooting in the background.

Of course, players not being able to enjoy their games is bad enough, but this over-reliance on an internet connection is setting a bad precedent. Black Ops 6 is by no means the first to do this - it brings to mind when the Xbox One almost required players to be connected to the internet at all times. However, it is continuing a negative trend as the implication that everyone has a good enough internet connection to handle all the game's requirements is just not true.

If Activision ever decides to pull the plug on Black Ops 6 's servers, then absolutely none of the game will be accessible.

It's certainly the case that, more than ever, people have access to more reliable internet connections and higher speeds. However, that isn't the case for absolutely everyone, with some players evidently struggling to remain connected to Activision's servers. Of course, even if everyone did have a stable internet connection, they are also reliant on Activision's servers never acting up, something that is historically unreliable. So, pushing for this need to be constantly online presents a number of issues, whether that's on the player or developer's side.

Frank Woods from Call of Duty Black Ops 6 in front of the key art for Black Ops Cold War and Black Ops 2.

Black Ops 6 Broke Several Records During Its Opening Weekend, Making It The Most Successful CoD Launch In History

Call of Duty Black Ops 6 earned its stripes this opening weekend with record-breaking numbers in matches, sales, and hours played.

Naturally, there will be players with stable internet connections who enjoyed the campaign issue-free and are now playing through Black Ops 6's best multiplayer maps without a hitch. However, this issue affects even them. If Activision ever decides to pull the plug on Black Ops 6's servers, then absolutely none of the game will be accessible. It may be unreasonable to believe that a triple-A developer would ever do that, but it has happened time and time again.

People Don't Own Games That Require An Internet Connection

So Many Games Have Been Shut Down With No Way To Play Them

Concord Characters Haymar and Lennox at a bar as a character points two guns at them.

There have been so many games over the years that have had their servers shut down, making them completely unplayable, despite people having paid to play them in the first place. Gearbox shut down its ill-fated hero shooter Battleborn in 2021; the beloved PlatinumGames shut down Babylon's Fall 11 months after it launched; Ubisoft shut down the premium, triple-A priced game, The Crew. There are so many examples of this happening in both the live service and non-live service space from double and triple-A developers.

Black Ops 6 being online-only, and many other triple-A games following suit, is a little worrying for game preservation and the concept of people owning what they buy.

Of course, famously, Sony shut down Concord and its developer after the game had barely been live for more than two weeks. However, most importantly, Activision shut down Warzone in 2023 before pivoting to Warzone 2.0, which completely deleted all the progress and money players had sunk into it from the start. All of these games are completely unplayable now, with players who own them unable to even launch them. They are effectively dead, and, outside rare examples such as Concord, players never get their money back.

This Call Of Duty: Black Ops 6 Map Has One Amazing Feature You Never Knew You Needed

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 has a range of unique maps from Skyline to Vault, but one of them has a fun feature that fans are using to kill their foes.

Black Ops 6 being online-only, and many other triple-A games following suit, is a little worrying for game preservation and the concept of people owning what they buy. This is especially true for developers who are chasing the realistic graphics bandwagon, as they too may start looking to texture streaming to keep file sizes low. While it hasn't yet, it could end up affecting entirely single-player games. If this trend continues, then the controversial words of Ubisoft's Philippe Tremblay about how players should get comfortable not owning their games (via gamesindustry.biz) will ring true.

Of course, it is possible that Black Ops 6 will introduce some form of offline mode - as Ubisoft has done with The Crew 2. Some developers are becoming more aware of the issues behind always online requirements, and, in some cases, pushback from fans has been enough to change a developer's mind. However, if Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 remains an online-only experience, then players should really get comfortable with the idea that at any point, all the money and time they've sunk into it could be taken away from them.

Sources: Reddit/WintorOperator, Reddit/zmWoob2, gamesindustry.biz