Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is official: 'A dark new chapter' will be ...

I really thought Activision and Microsoft would drag it out at least until June, but nope, one day after launching a not-really-cryptic teaser site at thetruthlies.com, it's official: Call of Duty is going back to Black Ops.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, as it's officially known, will—as expected—be revealed on June 9 at the Black Ops 6 Direct stream, which will follow immediately after the Xbox Game Showcase. Details on what we can expect at the show haven't been shared, but Activision said it will be a "full reveal," which will presumably include whether they stick with the numbering scheme in the official title.

The current expectation is that Black Ops 6 will carry the series forward from the 1980s setting of the previous game, Black Ops: Cold War, to the Gulf War of 1990-91. That doesn't seem like an unreasonable move, but the teaser site isn't letting anything slip on that front: A third video, added today, features a faux-"breaking news" clip of monuments in the US, UK, and Germany defaced with various "truth-and-lies" graffiti, all of them bearing the orange Cerberus logo. (Which, for the record, I don't think has been officially described as a Cerberus logo by anyone yet, but I've been calling it that and nobody's told me to stop, so I'm sticking with it until informed otherwise.)

Frankly, I think I like the way Activision has pulled back the curtain at this early stage: There's still lots to figure out and speculate about, particularly given the way all the early teasing has focused on a fictionalized homefront. But at least now we can stop pretending we don't know which Call of Duty is coming this year.

One of the shakycam-style videos posted at thetruthlies.com.

The Xbox Games Showcase begins at 10 am PT/1 pm ET/6 pm BST on June 9, available on platforms including YouTube, Twitch, and Facebook, and will be a pretty big deal in itself—it's going to be the first one featuring games from Activision and Blizzard, alongside all its other studios. The Black Ops 6 Direct will follow directly after.