Despite a lot of attention now starting to turn towards the next steps for the franchise, the post-launch content ofCall of Duty: Black Ops 6is showing no sign of slowing down. The recently launched third in-game season ofBlack Ops 6andWarzonehas been quite eventful, seeing the highly-anticipated re-introduction of the original Verdansk map to the battle royale, withBO6’s core multiplayer and Zombies also receiving a lot of love.
Season 3 ofCall of Duty: Black Ops 6has many maps, modes, weapons, and operators in store, while also having a big focus on in-game events with attractive rewards that players can work towards. The first major event for Season 3 ofBlack Ops 6is the Black Ops Tribute event, which does well to honor the overall legacy of the longstanding Treyarch sub-franchise. Fans were quick to notice the major operator unlock of the event, with the John Black Ops skin giving a fun nod to a meme that has followed theBlack Opsseries for quite some time.
The Black Ops Tribute Event Covers One Iconic Community Element of the Series
Season 3 ofCall of Duty: Black Ops 6launched on April 2, bringing back some iconic past game modes like Sharpshooter and Demolition, while also drawing a lot of attention through its re-introduction of the fan-favorite Firing Range map to the series. In terms of events, the Black Ops Tribute event launched closer to the launch of Season 3, with the additional Blaze of Glory and Got Your Six Events coming later on throughout the season.
Black Ops 6’s Tribute event kicked things off on April 17, and is set to run until May 1. During this period, XP earned across multiplayer, Zombies, and evenWarzonewill count towards a total of 17 unique unlocks tied to the event, eachcelebrating the legacy ofBlack Opsas a whole. Alongside rewards like the Death Machine scorestreak and a new Nail Gun Special Weapon, many fans have their eyes on the final reward for the Black Ops Tribute event: the John Black Ops operator skin.
The in-game rewards tied toBlack Ops 6’s Black Ops Tribute event also include the likes of the Close Shave perk, emotes, GobbleGums, and the Thermite lethal forWarzone.
While the Black Ops Tribute event is available withinWarzone, the John Black Ops reward is only unlockable for players who ownBlack Ops 6, coming as a brand-new operator for fans to embody on the battlefield. The concept of “John Black Ops” largely stems from the shadowy faceless operators that appear on the iconiccover arts of mostBlack Opsgames, usually kneeling or sitting, with the community affectionately coining the name for these vague yet deeply recognizable figures.
John Black Ops is a Fitting Tribute to the History of Call of Duty: Black Ops
The term John Black Ops can extend to any, usually silent, protagonist throughout theBlack Opsseries, making the meme’s inclusion in the Tribute event a very fitting nod to the wide range of playable characters that have appeared in the sub-franchise’s campaigns over the years. Ironically, the John Black Ops operator does not appear within the dedicated Rogue Black Ops faction ofBO6, instead appearing as aCrimson One operator, with this causing some confusion but ultimately adding another layer of humor to the character’s inclusion in the game.
Many elements ofBlack Ops 6, such as itscampaign and Zombies formula, have been praised for the ways they have returned to and honored a lot of traditionalBlack Opselements, with the recent Tribute event being just another example of the respect that the title pays to the series' history. The John Black Ops meme itself was born from the wide catalog of iconic games that belong to theBlack Opsname, making the inclusion of the operator in Season 3 an excellent way to bring the meme full circle during a time of celebration.
