Story. The story takes place across two separate arcs, one recounting events in 1986-1989, a few years after the events of Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War and 18 years after Mason stops Dragovich and Nova 6, and the other following characters in the year 2025.

Black Ops takes place between 1961 and 1968 during both the Cold War and the Vietnam War, 16 years to 23 years after the events of World at War. It portrays a secret history of black operations carried out behind enemy lines by the CIA.