Black Ops 7 and Warzone Season 5 Reloaded launches on August 20, 2026 at 9:00 AM PT across all platforms. It closes out the Black Ops 7 Zombies storyline with the final round-based map, Rex Infernus, adds the Nuketown-pinball Turbo Tilt Multiplayer map and the Freerun: Descent obstacle course, returns Black Ops Royale and drops Loaded Resurgence into Warzone, and hands out a new melee weapon, two legacy Zombies guns, and a stack of camos and events. Here's every confirmed detail — and exactly what to grind now so you're ready when the servers flip.
Call of Duty - Bot Lobby
Get bot lobby in 10 minutes
Quick answer: Season 5 Reloaded at a glance
- Release date & time: Thursday, August 20, 2026, 9:00 AM PT (12:00 PM ET / 5:00 PM BST), all platforms, per the official Call of Duty Blog.
- Zombies: Rex Infernus — the final round-based map. New Main Quest (Standard + Cursed Mode), new enemies (Deathspinner, Web Mother), Titan Trap, Widow's Wine Perk-a-Cola, Fully Packed Ultra GobbleGum, and two Ultra-Rarity Mystery Box weapons.
- Multiplayer: Turbo Tilt (Nuketown pinball, 6v6/2v2), Freerun: Descent obstacle course, and Cranked Moshpit returning LTM.
- Warzone: Black Ops Royale returns to Avalon; Loaded Resurgence (44-player Weekend LTM) with the new Quickdrop Kit; Special Delivery Drones for free camos.
- New weapons: Mace melee (free via the Last Call event), plus the RK-9 Calibrated Strike System and Peacekeeper MK1 Gauss Accelerator attachments.
- How to be ready: Level your Zombies loadout, bank GobbleGums, finish your camo grind, and warm up movement before the Main Quest race — details below.
"Season 05 Reloaded closes out the Black Ops 7 Zombies storyline with Rex Infernus… Season 05 Reloaded launches on August 20." — Call of Duty Blog, Black Ops 7 Season 05 Reloaded: Full Intel (callofduty.com, August 13, 2026)
Season 5 has been one of the busiest stretches of the Black Ops 7 year, and Reloaded is the crescendo — the send-off for the Zombies saga plus a fresh wave of Multiplayer and Warzone content. If you've been sitting on GobbleGums or debating which camo to chase, this is the drop to prepare for. Below is the full, source-verified rundown and a practical prep plan so you're not grinding basics on launch night.
When does Season 5 Reloaded release?
Season 5 Reloaded goes live Thursday, August 20, 2026 at 9:00 AM PT across all platforms simultaneously, according to the official Call of Duty Blog. That's the standard mid-season cadence: Season 5 itself launched July 23, 2026, and "Reloaded" lands roughly four weeks in.
| Region | Local unlock time (Aug 20) |
|---|---|
| Pacific (PT) | 9:00 AM |
| Eastern (ET) | 12:00 PM |
| UK (BST) | 5:00 PM |
| Central Europe (CEST) | 6:00 PM |
The Rex Infernus Main Quest unlocks at that same moment — 9:00 AM PT — so if you're chasing a first-day easter-egg solve, that's your start gun. Treyarch is running a ZombieZone livestream with creators cbgray and evanf1997 (plus Treyarch devs) beginning with an 8:00 AM PT pre-show; tuning in on Twitch earns a unique Zombies emblem.
What's new in Black Ops 7 Zombies? (Rex Infernus)
Rex Infernus is the next and final round-based Zombies map for Black Ops 7 — the finale of the storyline, where the crew confronts the Warden to save reality itself. In-game, the Warden greets you with a line that sets the tone:
"The end of your miserable lives is at hand." — The Warden
Here's everything confirmed for the finale. (For the full deep-dive on the map's setting and reveal, see our Rex Infernus release date and map breakdown.)
New enemies. The Deathspinner is a fast, swarming spider-type that fires a ranged web projectile to slow the crew — manageable solo, dangerous in numbers. The elite Web Mother screams and lunges, blanketing the area in webbing that slows you and cocoons regular zombies into environmental hazards.
New Titan Trap. Draws in nearby zombies and slams the ground to smash them — powerful, but step clear on activation or you'll eat the Titan's flurry hits yourself.
New Perk-a-Cola — Widow's Wine. When a melee attack drops your health low, you retaliate with an explosion of webs. Its Major Augments include Widow's Bite (melee kills on cocooned enemies can overcharge health), Hatchling (web explosions summon a friendly Deathspinner), Web Spinner (a temporary slowing field), and Tangled Web (cocoons Normal/Special enemies, slows Elites).
New GobbleGum — Fully Packed (Ultra). One bite instantly upgrades your current weapon to Pack-a-Punch Level III — a massive early-round tempo swing. In Dead Ops Arcade it grants a Tactical Armor Vest or a full set of plates instead.
New Mystery Box weapons. Two Ultra-Rarity legacy guns join the box: the TR2 Marksman Rifle and the Olympia Shotgun, each with stats rivaling a Wonder Weapon, full Pack-a-Punch progression, and Ammo Mod capability.
Main Quest rewards. Complete the Rex Infernus Main Quest for the "Bloodthorn" Wonder Weapon Skin, a Calling Card, and 10,000 XP. Collecting all Intel (Audio Logs, Documents, Artifacts) earns another Calling Card and another 10,000 XP, and finishing the quest before Directed Mode arrives nets a unique Calling Card variant. The Mastery Challenge adds an Animated Calling Card and 10,000 XP on top.
Cursed Mode. For the hardcore: Cursed Mode strips the safety rails — no Main Quest guidance, a limited HUD, and a starting Pistol. If you want the cleanest brag, this is it.
What's new in Multiplayer?
Turbo Tilt (brand-new, 6v6 / 2v2, small). You fight inside a giant Nuketown-themed pinball machine — the "Nuketown Turbo Era Rampage" cabinet hosted by Archie Atom. Bumpers, ramps, flippers, and rolling pinballs are all live hazards, with callouts to the classic cul-de-sac (the Bus, the House, the central blast). Expect frantic, close-quarters lanes.
Freerun: Descent (new course). A second Freerun obstacle course: 10 Operators race a timed descent across seven zones of wall jumps, slides, Wingsuit sections, target training, and Grappling Gun segments. Fall off and you take a fault and respawn at your last checkpoint. Rewards:
| Objective | Reward |
|---|---|
| Complete the course 3 times | "Eyes on Screen" Emblem + 1,000 XP |
| Collect all Ciphers | "Catch Air" Weapon Charm + 2,500 XP |
| Finish under 12 minutes with fewer than 10 faults | "Gridlock" Universal Weapon Camo + 5,000 XP |
Cranked Moshpit (returning LTM). Get an elimination to start the Cranked timer — hit zero and you explode. Each killstreak milestone in a life stacks buffs, from increased movement (1-streak) up to increased score and headshot damage (5-streak), where the double-score buff rockets you toward high-end Scorestreaks. It rotates through Cranked Team Deathmatch, Kill Confirmed, Hardpoint, and Demolition.
What's new in Warzone?
Black Ops Royale returns to Avalon. A Blackout-inspired BR with no Loadouts, no Gulag, and no Buy Stations — wingsuit in, scavenge weapons, hunt Attachment Kits to raise rarity, and outlast 24 rival squads on the full map.
Loaded Resurgence (Weekend LTM, 44 players). Drop into Rebirth Island, Haven's Hollow, and Fortune's Keep with your custom Loadout weapons from the start and on redeploy — but Perks are earned only through eliminations, up to a powerful Specialist Perk. New to it: the Quickdrop Kit, a stackable reward (earned via a Most Wanted Contract) that cuts your squad's redeploy time.
Special Delivery Drones. Shoot one down and survive to claim free camos — the "Heavy Metal" camo in Battle Royale (Verdansk and Avalon) and the "War Machine" camo in Resurgence.
Call of Duty - Ranked Boost
Get ranked boost in 10 minutes
Every new weapon and how to unlock it fast
Reloaded's new weapons are grind-gated, which is exactly where a smart prep plan pays off:
- Mace (Melee). A two-handed melee with long lunge range, high damage, and slow swing speed — 30 levels, Mastery Badges, Blueprint support, and Universal Weapon Prestige Camos at Prestige 1, 2, and Max. It's a free Last Call event reward, unlocked through XP earned in MP, Zombies, Endgame, or Warzone.
- RK-9 Calibrated Strike System (RK-9 SMG barrel). A Weekly Challenge reward — bloom rounds that expand mid-flight for max damage in an ideal range band, with an on-screen indicator.
- Peacekeeper MK1 Gauss Accelerator (fire mod). A Weekly Challenge reward that silently fires two accelerated projectiles at once with better ballistics but worse handling.
The fastest route to all of it is XP volume. If you'd rather skip the grind than farm challenges for a week, our team can level your account, unlock camos, or run easy lobbies so you drop into Rex Infernus already stacked. See the fast-XP and prestige guide for the free methods, or the full Season 5 new-weapons guide for the base-season arsenal.
Events, Endgame, and store content
Last Call event (END/MP/ZM/WZ). The headline event celebrating Rex Infernus — earn XP anywhere to unlock the Mace melee and two Operator Skins on the free track ("Soph" Zaveri, "Trimmed" Richtofen), with a Premium track adding more skins, three Weapon Blueprints, and a Gun Screen.
Freerun: Descent Challenge (MP). Go for fastest times to earn the "Bullseye" and "Magnesis" Weapon Camos, calling cards, a charm, and a Peacekeeper MK1 blueprint.
Warzone Ranked Series event (WZ). A 50-player leaderboard event with Emblem and Weapon Camo rewards across all Ranks, plus bonus rewards for securing Ranked wins.
Endgame — last chance for free. Reloaded is your final window to play Endgame free through the Warzone menu; at Season 6 it becomes Black Ops 7-owner only. The three-track Burn Run Assignment continues on Avalon: Old Arsenal (500 Power), High Town (Combat Rating 30 → 1,250 Power), and Low Town (Combat Rating 45 → 2,000 Power), each with a Random Reward.
How to be ready for Season 5 Reloaded (prep checklist)
The players who solve the Main Quest first and top the new leaderboards are the ones who prepped. Before August 20:
- Finish your camo grind. Reloaded resets attention to new content — mop up any Gold/Diamond/Mastery weapons now so you're not double-grinding. Chasing the top camos? Our mastery camo unlock service clears them fast.
- Level your Zombies loadout. You want your best guns high before the finale so Pack-a-Punch and the new legacy weapons hit their ceiling. Account and weapon leveling skips the farm.
- Warm up movement. Freerun: Descent and Turbo Tilt reward slide/jump fluency — the sub-12-minute "Gridlock" camo run is a movement check.
- Bank GobbleGums and Salvage. Stack Ultra GobbleGums (Fully Packed will be huge) and Salvage so you can Pack-a-Punch early on Rex Infernus.
- Sort your Warzone grind. For the new Resurgence camos and Ranked Series climb, easy lobbies to warm up or level fresh weapons help — see how bot lobbies work in BO7.
Ready to drop in stacked?
Reloaded is a lot of grind stacked into one window — a finale easter egg, new camos, a new weapon, and two ranked/leaderboard events. If you'd rather spend launch day playing the finale instead of farming for it, timesaver.gg can get you there fast:
Skip the grind and hit the ground running on August 20:
- CoD Camo Unlocks (BO7) — mastery camos, fast and secure
- CoD Account & Weapon Leveling — skip the grind, pro players
- CoD Bot Lobbies — easy lobbies, level fast
Frequently Asked Questions
What time does Black Ops 7 Season 5 Reloaded release? Season 5 Reloaded launches August 20, 2026 at 9:00 AM PT (12:00 PM ET / 5:00 PM BST) on all platforms, per the official Call of Duty Blog. The Rex Infernus Main Quest becomes playable at that same time.
Is Rex Infernus the last Black Ops 7 Zombies map? Yes. Activision confirms Rex Infernus is "the next and final Round-Based Zombies map" for Black Ops 7 — it closes out the storyline as the crew faces the Warden. A separate Directed Mode is expected to arrive for the map after launch.
Do I need to buy Black Ops 7 to play Season 5 Reloaded content? Zombies, Multiplayer, and the full Rex Infernus experience require Black Ops 7. Endgame is playable free through the Warzone menu until Season 5 ends — Reloaded is the last free window before it becomes BO7-owner only in Season 6. Warzone itself remains free-to-play.
What is Cursed Mode on Rex Infernus? Cursed Mode is a harder version of the map that removes Main Quest guidance, limits your HUD, and starts you with only a Pistol. It's aimed at experienced Zombies players who want the toughest possible finale run.
How do I unlock the new Mace melee weapon? The Mace is a free reward on the Last Call event track — earn XP in Multiplayer, Zombies, Endgame, or Warzone to progress the event and unlock it. It has 30 levels plus Universal Weapon Prestige Camos at Prestige 1, 2, and Max.
What is Loaded Resurgence in Warzone? Loaded Resurgence is a 44-player Weekend LTM on Rebirth Island, Haven's Hollow, and Fortune's Keep where you spawn with your custom Loadout weapons but must earn Perks through kills. The new Quickdrop Kit, earned via a Most Wanted Contract, reduces your squad's redeploy time.
