For the most dedicated of Call of Duty players, ranked play is a chance to really flex your skills against the best. It's a mode that prioritizes actual competitive play over camo grinding or just trying to build your KD. In ranked play, you're rewarded for winning primarily, so climbing that ladder means you'll have to work with your teammates.
It also uses the same competitive ruleset that the professional Call of Duty League will be using in multiplayer. This includes voting for vetoes on maps and modes.
Ranked play is almost here in Black Ops 6, so here's when you can play and what rewards you can get yourself.
When does ranked play go live in Black Ops 6?
Ranked play will currently go live on Thursday, November 21, and based on the current timescale it's likely it will drop around 10 a.m. Pacific (6 p.m. GMT).
Though as we saw with Warzone going live early, this could always change [Author's note: It did.] Once live, it'll be accessed through the main splash screen, separately from the regular multiplayer mode.
Requirements to join the ranked play mode in Black Ops 6
To make sure that everyone has met a minimum standard before beginning their ranked play journey, first you'll have to have played a decent amount of multiplayer.
The base requirement to get into ranked play is that you have 50 wins in multiplayer. It's not a huge amount, though if you haven't played much yet, obviously it'll take some time to accumulate. For those of us who have been playing since launch, most players, even terrible ones like myself, should be eligible.
To check how many wins you have, you can go into the Combat Record on the Barracks tab. If you haven't yet hit 50, remember that if you leave a match before it's complete, it's counted as a loss, regardless of what the team actually achieved. So stick it out, you never know when a win will be pulled from nowhere.
Black Ops 6 ranked play progression and rewards
There are several tiers to work through in ranked play. As you work through them, you'll be rewarded with the operator skins shown in the gallery above.
- Bronze
- Silver
- Gold
- Platinum
- Diamond
- Crimson
- Iridescent
- Top 250
Progression through the tiers is based on Skill Rating (SR) which is described by Activision as such:
"Progress through Ranks by earning SR by winning Ranked Play matches. SR is awarded after each Ranked Play win and the amount earned is determined by the player’s distance away from their projected Rank, their match performance, and the margin of victory. SR is deducted after losses."
So unlike the regular XP grind in multiplayer, to progress in ranked, you need to win games.
For the top player on the leaderboards at the end of the ranked season, a special operator skin will be rewarded. You can only hope that it goes to someone deserving and not someone *cough* cheating.
At the end of a season, those ranked Bronze or Silver won't be affected by any rollback and can continue where they left off. Gold and Platinum ranked players will be reset to the first tier of each, respectively, while players at Diamond and above will reset to the first tier of Diamond.
What maps and weapons will be restricted in Multiplayer Ranked Play?
We don't yet have a definitive list of maps, weapons or equipment that will be affected by CDL restrictions. The rules for Ranked Play in Multiplayer and Warzone alike are dependent on the restrictions and gentlemen's agreements laid out by Treyarch, The Call of Duty League, and feedback from the players.
This year, Ranked play is kicking off early in Call of Duty, and the official 2025 ruleset is still yet to be determined. Players can expect the official ruleset to be solidified by December 6. The CDL did, however, come to a gentlemen's agreement to restrict the popular XM4 assault rifle very early in Black Ops 6's lifespan. If that's one of your favorite weapons, you should not be surprised to see it missing from the loadout list for Ranked. Until the official ruleset and restrictions kick in, players can expect to find more ARs and SMGs than usual amongst loadout options. Don't get used to them, though.
The CDL has also currently agreed to remove Rewind from the map rotation for the Control game mode. However, Treyarch has decided to leave Rewind in play at this time.
While it hasn't been announced by Treyarch or the CDL, you can probably expect the Recon specialist to be struck from Ranked play, too.
Can I play with friends in Ranked play?
What's even the point of Call of Duty if you can't play with the squad, right? Of course you can play Ranked Play with your friends, but there are some notable caveats. Ranked play features squad sizes of 4, so if you've got some extra pals tagging along you'll need to head back over to a 6v6 or 10v10 playlist, instead. If you are dragging your besties into Ranked play with you, you'll want to all be on the same skill level or close to it, as the highest ranked player's skill level is the baseline for matchmaking in Black Ops 6.
When does ranked play arrive in Warzone?
The battle royale mode of Black Ops 6, Warzone, which was recently integrated with this year's game, will also get ranked play. But it won't be coming on the same day as ranked in multiplayer.
The current roadmap for Warzone runs through December 5 with no mention of ranked play at all. Indeed, we're told that the first details will arrive with information of Season 1 Reloaded in early December.
Ranked for Warzone is pegged at a "mid-season" release right now, which is when we'd expect to be seeing the refreshed Reloaded content drop arrive.
