Call of Duty: Black Ops II is a 2012 first-person shooter game developed by Treyarch and published by Activision. It was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 on November 12, 2012, and for the Wii U on November 18 in North America and November 30 in PAL regions.[1][2][3][4][5] Black Ops II is the ninth game in the Call of Duty franchise of video games, a sequel to the 2010 game Call of Duty: Black Ops and the first Call of Duty game for the Wii U. A corresponding game for the PlayStation Vita, Call of Duty: Black Ops: Declassified, was developed by nStigate Games and also released on November 13. The game's campaign follows up the story of Black Ops and takes place in the late 1980s and in 2025. In the 1980s, the player switches control between Alex Mason and Frank Woods, the former being one of the protagonists from Black Ops, while in 2025, the player assumes control of Mason's son, David (codenamed "Section"). Both time periods involve the characters pursuing Raul Menendez, a Nicaraguan arms dealer and later terrorist, who is responsible for kidnapping David in the 80s and later sparking a Second Cold War in 2025. The campaign features non-linear gameplay and has multiple endings.[6] Locations featured in the game include Angola, Myanmar, Afghanistan, Nicaragua, Pakistan, the Cayman Islands, Panama, Yemen, the United States, and Haiti.
Development for the game began soon after the release of Black Ops, with Activision promising that the follow-up would bring "meaningful innovation" to the Call of Duty franchise. Black Ops II is the first game in the series to feature futuristic warfare technology and the first to present branching storylines driven by player choice as well as selecting weapons before starting story mode missions. It also offers a 3D display option. The game was officially revealed on May 1, 2012, following a set of leaked information released during the previous months.
Black Ops II received mostly positive reviews from critics, with praise for its gameplay variety, story, multiplayer, Zombies mode, and villain, while its Strike Force missions received criticism. The game was a commercial success; within 24 hours of going on sale, the game grossed over $500 million.[7] It had remained the largest entertainment launch of all time until September 2013, when Take-Two Interactive announced that Grand Theft Auto V had grossed $800 million in its first day of release.[8] It went on to sell 7.5 million copies in the U.S. in November 2012, making it the highest-grossing game of the month.[9] A sequel, Call of Duty: Black Ops III, was released in 2015.[10] Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, set between Black Ops and Black Ops II, was released on November 13, 2020.[11][12] Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, set after Black Ops II's flashback missions, was released on October 25, 2024.[13]
