10 Things to Do Before the Black Ops 3 Release Date

The Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 release date is just over a day away and there are some things that you can do to prepare for the release right now. This will help you start playing faster and avoid some of the frustrations we see with new game releases.

Use this list of things to do before the Black Ops 3 release date to prepare your computer or console for the new Call of Duty game now.

The odds are good that you are already at full hype level for Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 and you might think you are prepared, but it is still a very good idea to look at this list of things to do to make sure your order goes smoothly.

The Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 release date is November 6th, but that’s in the Eastern time zone, so users further west can start playing on November 5th.

Wether you plan to play Black Ops 3 on Xbox One, PS4, PC or on older consoles, there are several steps to take now and things to know that will give you an edge when the release date arrives.

Check Midnight Black Ops 3 Release Events

There are a lot of midnight Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 release events taking place on November 5th and at the start of November 6th, but not all stores are hosting. For stores that are selling the game at midnight, double-check when sales start. Here’s a breakdown.

• Eastern – 12:01 AM November 6th
• Central – 11:01 PM November 5th
• Mountain – 10:01 PM November 5th
• Pacific – 9:01 PM November 5th

While Best Buy will offer midnight release events at many stores, this is not happening at every location. Double check your store before you head out. More GameStop locations are open for the event, which is an option for gamers in smaller cities. Walmart is another option for midnight sales.

Lock in Black Ops 3 Deals

Most of the Black Ops 3 deals end on or near the release date. If you are still looking for the best place to buy the game, there is limited time to save.

Anyone can get a $25 gift card at Dell with BLOPS 3 or $10 in rewards at Best Buy.

The Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 pre-order bonuses will also cease soon, so make sure you check this out now.

Double Check Black Ops 3 Order

Many of gamers ordered Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 earlier this year to get in on the beta, and that means things may have changed since you ordered. Now is a good time to check to make sure that your order is processing on target.

Double check your address if you moved recently and your credit card information since many banks have sent out updated credit and debit cards to comply with Chip and Pin legislation — which led to new numbers and CCV numbers.

Spend two minutes to log in and make sure your order is on track, especially if you have a Juggernog or are getting it delivered to your house.

Learn About Specialists

The Specialists are a key part of the Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 multiplayer experience. If you missed out on the beta, this is a good time to refresh yourself with the different specialists and the choices you will need to make.

There are nine specialists in Black Ops 3 with unique looks and special powers. You can choose to unlock a weapon or a special power when you use an Unlock token. Each specialist requires an unlock token to activate and a separate unlock for the other feature, depending on what you pick.

Understand New Black Ops Movement

If you are one of the millions of players still invested in Black Ops 2, you’ll want to learn about the new movement system in Black Ops 3. The video below from the beta outlines how the new movement works in Black Ops 3.

This is not the same as using a jetpack in Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, but there are definitely new ways to move around the maps that you will want to learn about.

Black Ops 3 Cybercore Prep

You can use cybernetic enhancements to help get an edge while you play through Call of Duty. There are Tactical abilities, stealth abilities, control options and Chaos capabilities you need to know about.

Watch the videos above to see how you can use these new Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 Cybercore options that will give you an edge on the battlefield. There are four Cybercore videos above that we suggest you watch.

Free Up Space On Your Hard Drive

You may need to free up space on your hard drive to download or install  Call of Duty: Black Ops 3.

On PC you need 60GB of free space for Call of Duty: Black Ops 3. On the PS4 40-45GB of space and a similar size on the Xbox One.

One issue we ran into with Halo 5, was that we needed to free up space on the internal Xbox One hard drive to install a patch, even though there was a lot of space on the external drive.

Preload Black Ops 3

You can now preload Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 on PS4, Xbox One and PC if you pre-ordered digitally.

This allows you to start the huge download now, so that it is ready when the Black Ops 3 release time arrives in your location.

With a huge file like this it may take a day to download, so if you are buying digitally, start your pre-load on your console.

Update Graphics Drivers for Black Ops 3

If you plan to play Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 on your PC, this is a good time to update your graphics drivers. Nvidia released new drivers today. If you are on Windows 10, this should fix a Gsync problem that frustrated many gamers.

No word on new AMD drivers for Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 at this time.

Where to Look for Help with Black Ops 3 Problems

There will likely be Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 problems on the release date and possibly even during the weekend. It’s almost impossible to launch a game of this scale without something happening.

Follow Treyarch, Activision, Activision Support and CallofDuty on Twitter for updates on any widespread issues or problems.

You can also follow Xbox Support, PlayStation and Steam for help with your specific console or version.

This is the official Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 support page, that will help you solve many Black Ops 3 problems as well.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 Release Date

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The Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 release date is November 6th on disk and on digital. When this date arrives, you can walk into any video game store and buy the basic version of the game without a pre-order. You will not likely find a Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 Juggernog edition available at this point in time, but the basic game will not be in short supply at stores -- and if there are any issues you can always buy it digitally. The Black Ops 3 release date comes to all consoles and to the PC at the same time. There are a lot of options to get the game as soon as it goes on sale.

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