Story directory
Storyline
Dark Aether Story
The rebooted timeline starting with Black Ops Cold War, following the Requiem strike team and the Omega Group as they investigate breaches to the Dark Aether. It continues through Vanguard, MWZ, and Black Ops 6.
- Ashes of the DamnedThe Black Ops 7 launch map — six locations torn out of place and linked by fog-choked roads.2025
- Vandorn FarmThe launch Survival location, and where the Training Course is run.2025
- Astra MalorumA century-old observatory adrift in the rings of Saturn, and the hunt for the second Shadowsmith.2025
- Exit 115Reba’s Diner, cut out of Ashes of the Damned as a Survival location.2025
- Zarya CosmodromeA Survival location drawn from Ashes of the Damned.2026
- MarsAstra Malorum’s boss arena, reopened as a Survival location.2026
- Paradox JunctionThe Warden’s temporal prison — Nuketown intact and Nuketown obliterated, and a way to shift between them.2026
- AshwoodA fog-bound Survival location taken from Ashes of the Damned.2026
- TotenreichEidskallen, a Norse fishing village dragged into the Dark Aether with a Group 935 research base.2026
- NukedThe future Nuketown cul-de-sac from Paradox Junction, as a Survival map.2026
- KowakujōA feudal Japanese castle ringed by volcanoes — the last Shadowsmith, and the World Seed.2026
After Reckoning: stranded inside the Dark Aether
After 1991
Black Ops 7 picks up after Reckoning with the story set inside the Dark Aether itself, where colliding timelines strand an eight-person crew in the wastes and a figure called the Warden commands the Shadowsmiths against them.