Today’s the day players can dip their toes into Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, the latest instalment of the franchise. Activision has made a bit of a U-turn with the new entry, promising to tone down the crazy cosmetics following a lukewarm response to the trailer, especially in the wake of rival Battlefield 6 and its own successful open beta period.

Outlined in the Black Ops 7 editions guide, anyone who pre-ordered the game can play in the Early Access beta starting today, October 2nd (there are a few other ways of sneaking your way in, too). Everyone else can look forward to the open beta, which will be available on October 5th. That gives all you early birds a chance to play the game for a few extra days. The beta period will end on October 8th, just ahead of Battlefield 6’s release.

When does the Blacks Op 7 Early Access beta start?

Kicking off on October 2nd (crossing over into the 3rd for some regions), 10 AM PDT is the time to remember for the Early Access Beta for Black Ops 7. Here’s how that looks across the world:

• U.S. Pacific Time: 10 AM PDT
• U.S. Eastern Time: 1 PM EDT
• London, UK: 6 PM BST
• Berlin, Germany: 7 PM CEST
• Mumbai, India: 10:30 PM IST
• Tokyo, Japan: 2 AM JST, October 3rd
• Sydney, Australia: 3 AM AEST, October 3rd
• Auckland, New Zealand: 6 AM NZST, October 3rd

Our countdown clock above also makes it obvious as to when the Early Access beta kicks off. If you don’t see a clock, that means it is already underway. Just make sure you have Secure Boot enabled if you want to play Call of Duty: Black Ops 7.

Who has early access to the Black Ops 7 beta?

Like we said above, anyone who pre-ordered the game has early access. A code is provided to you via email – you should have an ‘Early Access Beta token’ that is redeemable at callofduty.com/betaredeem – no matter which edition of Black Ops 7 you decided to pre-order. Otherwise, active Xbox Game Pass Ultimate or PC Game Pass subscribers are also eligible for early access. Keep in mind that Xbox recently upped the price of its Game Pass subscription service.

If you want to get into the beta for free, you’ve missed your chance. The official Call of Duty channel on Twitch was running a Twitch drops program for early access codes, but the stream already took place on September 30th.

You can read more about accessing the Black Ops 7 beta on Activision’s website here.

About the Author

Jack Goodall

At PC Guide, Jack is mostly responsible for reporting on hardware deals. He also specializes in monitors, TVs, and headsets and can be found putting his findings together in a review or best-of guide.