Initially released in September 2021, the first season of the dystopian Netflix show Squid Game took the world by storm with a narrative featuring marginalized people fighting tooth and nail for survival for the entertainment of the rich and powerful.
Naturally, this means the hit show is now featured in a crossover event with Call of Duty to celebrate the release of its second season.
The Call of Duty Squid Game event kicks off on Jan. 3, 2025. While the update introduces new game modes for Black Ops 6 and Warzone, it also emphasizes monetizing content more than ever, featuring a new premium event rewards track, according to the official blog post.
Here’s everything you need to know about the Call of Duty Squid Game update, including when it comes out, what extras you can earn for free and which ones you’ll need to pay for.
When is Call of Duty Squid Game’s release date and time in Black Ops 6?
The new update includes skins for Squid Game guards and players alike.
The brand new Squid Game content drop will launch simultaneously across Black Ops 6 and Warzone on Friday, Jan. 3. Here’s when you’re able to jump into the new limited-time modes (LTMs) in your time zone:
Eastern Standard Time: Jan. 3, 2025 at 12 p.m.
Central Standard Time: Jan. 3, 2025 at 11 a.m.
Mountain Time: Jan. 3, 2025 at 10 a.m.
Pacific Time: Jan. 3, 2025 at 9 a.m.
PC players will be able to preload the new Black Ops 6 and Warzone updates ahead of time, while console players will only have access to the newest patch several hours before it hits the live servers. This is the norm for Call of Duty HQ launcher’s updates.
Squid Game LTMs bring the games to life
New limited-time modes for multiplayer, zombies and Warzone aim to bring the Squid Game thrill to Call of Duty, capturing the mixed feeling of childlike fun with imminent doom. These game modes are based around some of the most iconic in-show games from the Netflix series.
Multiplayer
There’s some element of “red light, green light” in most of the LTMs.
There are three Squid Game playlists coming to Black Ops 6 multiplayer: red light, green light, pentathlon and Squid Game moshpit.
Red light, green light takes place in the Red Card stadium (finally, that wide open space is good for something) where players will play three rounds of the popular children’s game.
Each round is two minutes long. In the first round, no weapons are on the field — but in rounds two and three, players will fight with melee weapons and finishing moves when Young-hee calls out “green light,” drastically raising the stakes in this free-for-all.
Pentathlon is an homage to a game from the newest season of Squid Game, but it’s a fairly straightforward multiplayer playlist. It includes Domination, Kill Confirmed and Hardpoint game modes, as well as two new Squid Game-inspired modes.
Piggy Bank Team Deathmatch is a mode that adds extra points to a piggy bank for every kill made during a match. At a certain point during the fight, the piggy bank will become accessible to all players, and the teams will have to fight to claim the extra points.
Roulette is a new game mode that emulates One in the Chamber — with a twist. As you eliminate enemies with your “one shot, one kill” pistol, there’s a chance that it blows up in your hands, eliminating you as well.
The final LTM is the Squid Game moshpit, which adds the piggy bank and the Roulette handgun into normal Team Deathmatch, Domination and Hardpoint modes. An additional feature unique to the moshpit playlist is the red light, green light scorestreak, which forces the enemy team to stop moving or face elimination.
Zombies
Dead Light, Green Light will force players to spend their points as soon as possible, rather than save them up for massive purchases later.
The new Dead Light, Green Light LTM is available on Liberty Falls and Citadelle des Morts. The good news is that moving around during a red light won’t get you shot by an armed guard. The bad news is that it’ll completely ruin your points economy.
That’s because the entire premise of the zombies LTM hinges on giving and taking away your ability to buy armor, weapons and perks if you violate the principle of the game. During Young-hee’s “green light” phase, players will earn double points, helping them run around the map and make necessary purchases much more efficiently.
The “red light” phase threatens to punish players for not spending enough, as movement during this time gradually depletes accumulated points. Frankly, if you’re not moving, you’re probably getting nibbled on by the undead — so it’s important to spend points while you have the green light.
The final twist is the special “dead light” call out, which signals that you’re about to get jumped by a really nasty, ravenous horde. This is where the bigger, meaner enemies like the Abominations and the Amalgams come out, so you’ll want to adequately prepare for a tough fight.
Warzone
Squid Game actually makes a lot of sense for a game like Call of Duty Warzone.
Squid Game is perfectly positioned for a battle royale, and Warzone is taking full advantage of that by transforming Urzikstan into an arena for a rotating set of themed challenges. As each round concludes, the worst performing squads will be eliminated, taking you a little bit closer to victory.
The Warzone mode can also be interrupted by red light, green light — meaning players can get stuck in a precarious position on the map at just about any time if they don’t play strategically.
Free rewards — and a premium event pass
This update brings a new mini battle pass to the Squid Game event.
The new event launches with unlockable rewards — mostly calling cards, emblems and a smattering of double XP tokens — culminating in a new weapon unlock. In this way, it is not unlike previous Black Ops 6 events.
Ironically enough though, it’s the Squid Game event that introduces a new way to siphon cash out of your wallet with a new premium event pass.
If you want to earn the new weapon blueprints and the Front Man operator skin, you’ll have to buy the new event pass — think of it as an additional, smaller battle pass to complete that doesn’t encompass an entire season.
If we’re unlucky enough that extra battle passes become the norm, any player that cares about collecting the items from every event will need to cough up more cash for battle passes (and probably need to enter the Squid Game themselves to afford it).
New Squid Game tracer packs in the shop
In addition to the premium event pass, three new Squid Game-themed microtransactions are being added to the Call of Duty store.
The Pink Guards Tracer Pack includes the Masked Manager, Masked Soldier and Masked Worker operator skins, the Game Guard SMG blueprint, the Rule Master assault rifle blueprint and an assortment of emblems, reticles, weapon charms and calling cards.
The VIPs Tracer Pack includes the Panther Mask VIP and Lion Mask VIP operator skins, the Choicest launcher blueprint, the Lacquered sniper rifle blueprint, the Satin Slayer SMG blueprint, the Death Plated frag grenade skin and an assortment of goodies including a finishing move, emblem, calling card and loading screen.
This is by far the goofiest tracer pack in the content drop, but I’m sure it’ll stop some people dead in their tracks.
Finally, there’s the Young-hee Tracer Pack — yes, you can play as the creepy “red light, green light” girl herself. In addition to the new operator skin, the bundle includes the Don’t Move assault rifle blueprint, The Curator marksman rifle blueprint and a host of other odds and ends including a new finishing move, emblem, decal, spray, calling card and emote.
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