Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 always online, including campaign, due to “continuous” texture streaming
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 will require a “continuous internet connection” – even when you’re playing its campaign mode.
In a blog post published by Activision today, the publisher advises that the Cold War-set shooter uses “texture streaming across all game modes”.
“This means you’ll need a continuous internet connection to play any game mode, including Campaign,” Activision wrote.
Why does Call of Duty require the internet to stream textures? Activision’s answer is two-fold, in that it allows “the highest-quality visuals” while also “reducing the game’s overall storage space on your hard drive”.
It seems Call of Duty’s typically meaty hard drive footprints are at least partly to blame – and indeed, Xbox’s store page for the game reveals Call of Duty: Black Ops 6’s install size is an eye-watering 309.85 GB.
All of which begs a few questions. How much of this 309GB is required, versus it being the footprint of not just Black Ops 6 but other Call of Duty HQ components such as Warzone? How big would it have been without always-online texture streaming? And also, is keeping your console always online even just to play Campaign really a better alternative?
Other details mentioned by Activision include that the game’s Campaign can, at least, be played without an online subscription service, such as Game Pass Core (formerly Xbox Live Gold) or PlayStation Plus.
Split-screen gameplay will also be supported – but not on all consoles. Instead, Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5 will allow you share a screen with a second player, but Xbox One and PlayStation 4 will not – “to ensure performance integrity”.
For more on Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, be sure to read Eurogamer’s extended preview detailing its various modes and story. But you can’t, sadly, play as Maggie Thatcher.
