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Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 debuts to 'Mixed' reactions on Steam as players complain about wonky performance, crashes, and the CoD launcher

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is facing criticism due to performance issues, frequent crashing, and a cumbersome launcher, while the campaign's always-online requirement adds to the frustration, despite positive reviews for its story.

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Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is now out in the wild, and while its unexpectedly meaty campaign is receiving more praise than any other singleplayer CoD mode in recent memory, players are still finding trouble elsewhere.

At least on Steam, the game debuted to a 'Mixed' aggregate rating based on over 2000 user reviews and counting. Most negative reviews complain about the game's generally wonky performance issues in multiplayer, some frequent crashing, and the obtuse Call of Duty launcher that makes it a hassle to even get into the shooter.

"I bought it yesterday and haven't been able to play one single  game," one player wrote. "It always closes when I try to start the game. I reinstalled it and still, I can't even load into the menu." Another simply called it "Call of Crashes 6."

The issues also seem to be affecting solo play in the campaign. Activision previously announced that the campaign would have an always-online requirement, meaning you can't play it unless you're connected to the internet, so whatever server problems are affecting multiplayer lobbies are also hurting campaign enjoyers. "I am only 25 minutes into the campaign and I have been disconnected 3 times so far," a third player wrote.

The other major area of complaint is the Call of Duty launcher that groups together Warzone and the premium mainline games under one roof. Several reviews detail how the launcher can take several minutes to load and update, and it's a process that you'll need to repeat if you're trying to switch between campaign and multiplayer.

Either way, Black Ops 6's other reviews seem generally positive for those who have been able to play the game unscathed by all the tech troubles. Just, if you're planning on jumping into Zombies mode, make sure you avoid the arachnophobia mode - it might unlock a new fear you never knew existed.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 made us feel like we were in 2010 again, in the best way possible.