Spider-Fear Strikes: 'Black Ops 6' Unveils Arachnophobia Mode

CoD has announced new features added to Black Ops 6 with its official release right around the corner. Moreover, as the game launches into Game Pass day one, analysts have given their predictions on how CoD will affect Xbox's subscription service.

Black Ops 6 Update Adds Arachnophobia Mode and New Accessibility FeaturesArachnophobia Mode Turns Spider Zombies Into Leg-Less Floating Critters, Basically

Ahead of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 official release on October 25, the Call of Duty devs announced it is adding a new arachnophobia toggle feature in Black Ops 6 Zombies, the game's survival that has, yes, zombies. The arachnophobia setting allows players to change the appearance of spider-like enemies in Zombies without affecting the overall gameplay.

The change that happens when the feature is toggled on basically boils down to aesthetic changes. Exhibit A in the screenshot above: the spider zombie loses its legs which, funnily enough, makes it seem like it's floating in the air. Terrifying imagining it happen in real life, but the leg-less spider zombies leave some confusion. For one, it's unclear whether the spider zombie's hitbox becomes smaller in proportion to its new appearance as the dev team didn't go much into detail regarding the change, but it's safe to assume that's the case in the shooter game.

Also arriving to Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Zombies is the "Pause and Save" feature that lets players in Solo matches to pause, save, and load into games while in full health. With the return of the "Round-Based" mode in Zombies, the devs said that this pause and save ability can "can make all the difference in gameplay for some players," especially so as Round-Based maps are packed full of challenges wherein you have to start all over again from the first round if you die.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Could Bring Additional 2.5M Players To Game PassCall of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Game Pass Day One Launch a Double-Edged Sword

Upon its release, industry analysts have predicted that Black Ops 6 could boost Xbox Game Pass' total subscribers as Microsoft implements its new strategy to its gaming subscription service. Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, analysts said they expect to see millions of subscribers join Game Pass especially taking into account that Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, the latest entry in one of the most popular shooter games worldwide, launches Day One.

The game is the first Call of Duty title to launch day one on Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass, and though the move is seen as potentially detrimental to game sales, analyst Michael Pachter remarked that putting Black Ops 6 in Game Pass could "result in between three to four million people signing up to Game Pass to access the title."

On the other hand, analyst Piers Harding-Rolls told the news site that this will only result in a "10% increase in Game Pass Ultimate subscribers," estimated to be around 2.5 million subscribers. Additionally, these subscribers will likely not be completely new users, taking into account the possibility of existing subscribers upgrading from Game Pass Core and Game Pass Standard to Game Pass Ultimate to access Call of Duty.

Meanwhile, Katan Games' Dr Serkan Toto noted that the success of Black Ops Cold War on Game Pass is an exigency that's demanded from Xbox. "We all know that Microsoft's gaming unit has not been growing as expected, which is why Microsoft greenlit the Activision Blizzard mega deal in the first place," he said, according to GamesIndustry.biz. "Now the pressure on Xbox is sky high: If Call of Duty will not make the Game Pass business model work, what possibly can?"

For more details on Black Ops Cold War's release, gameplay, and more, check out the related articles in the section below! And if you're looking into learning about our experience playing the game before you get your hands on it, check out our Black Ops Cold War review linked down right there. Spoiler: Zombies mode is heaps fun again!