The Nuke in Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is a hidden, high-end killstreak that rewards flawless play. It sits on top of the game’s scorestreak ladder and mirrors how recent Call of Duty titles handle tactical nukes and “Nuclear” medals.
Black Ops 7 Nuke kill requirement
In Black Ops 7 multiplayer, the Nuke is earned by chaining 30 kills in a row without dying.
This mirrors how the Tactical Nuke works in recent games like Modern Warfare (2019), Black Ops Cold War, Black Ops 6, and the listed Black Ops 7 entry: all of them gate the Nuke behind a 30‑kill streak rather than the 25‑kill requirement from older titles like Modern Warfare 2.
| Game | Streak name | Kill requirement | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Modern Warfare 2 (2009) | Tactical Nuke | 25 | Ends the match immediately in the user’s favor. |
| Modern Warfare (2019) | Tactical Nuke | 30 | Hidden killstreak; kills must be from the player, not streaks or vehicles. |
| Black Ops Cold War | Nuke | 30 | Hidden scorestreak; does not end most matches. |
| Black Ops 6 | Nuke | 30 | Hidden killstreak; coded as streak_nuke. |
| Black Ops 7 | Nuke | 30 | Hidden killstreak; functions similarly to Black Ops 6. |
| Black Ops 7 (medal) | Nuclear Killer | 30 | Multiplayer Dark Ops challenge for a 30‑kill gunstreak. |
What counts toward a Nuke in Black Ops 7
The Nuke is tied to a pure killstreak, not a points total. To earn it, you must string together 30 consecutive enemy kills in one life. Gameplay and challenge descriptions show that:
- The streak can be built with primary and secondary weapons.
- Lethal equipment (such as grenades) can contribute to the streak.
- Field Upgrades and similar deployables that deal damage also contribute.
This lines up with the wording used elsewhere in the series where recent nukes are described as requiring kills “with weapons, lethal equipment, and Field Upgrades” rather than score from objectives or support tools.
Scorestreak kills and the Nuke
Black Ops 7 keeps the Nuke separate from the standard scorestreak system. The Nuke is listed as a hidden scorestreak in the game’s streak table, but it cannot be bought with score in the same way as UAV or VTOL Warship.
That design continues the pattern set in Modern Warfare (2019), where the Tactical Nuke requires 30 personal kills and does not count kills earned by killstreaks such as VTOL Jet, Chopper Gunner, or Ground War vehicles. The Black Ops 7 scorestreak list shows the Nuke as “Hidden” at the end of the ladder, with everything else unlocked by score from kills and objectives.
Practically, that means you can use streaks like HKDs, Watchdog Helo, or VTOL Warship to control the map and force enemies into predictable routes, but you should not rely on those streaks’ kills to move the Nuke counter. The safest assumption is that only your own weapons, lethals, and Field Upgrades push you toward the 30‑kill threshold.
How the Nuke behaves once earned
Once the 30‑kill streak is hit, a dedicated prompt appears to activate the Nuke. Activating it starts a visible countdown for every player in the match, with a siren audio cue and a map‑wide flash at detonation. The animation and timing closely mirror other recent nukes:
- A short on‑screen timer counts down to impact.
- All operators on the map are killed in the blast, regardless of team.
- Active scorestreaks and vehicles are destroyed.
In Black Ops 6, the Nuke also triggers a bespoke ending screen and even splits into multiple warheads mid‑air. Black Ops 7 is described as functioning similarly, carrying forward the same “match‑ending superweapon” identity that began with the original Tactical Nuke in Modern Warfare 2.
Nukes vs. Nuclear medals and Dark Ops in BO7
Alongside the Nuke itself, Black Ops 7 tracks high streaks through medals and Dark Ops challenges. For multiplayer, the key progression is:
| Medal / challenge | Requirement | Mode |
|---|---|---|
| Relentless Killer | 20 kills without dying | Multiplayer Dark Ops |
| Brutal Killer | 25 kills without dying | Multiplayer Dark Ops |
| Nuclear Killer | 30 kills without dying | Multiplayer Dark Ops |
The “Nuclear Killer” Dark Ops challenge lines up exactly with the Nuke requirement: both trigger at 30 kills in a single life. Nuking a lobby on a map like Nuketown 2025 is essentially the practical version of unlocking that top‑tier medal.
Why 30 kills instead of 25 again?
The kill requirement reflects how Call of Duty has slowly raised the bar for its most powerful streak. Modern Warfare 2’s 25‑kill Tactical Nuke was easy enough to chain with powerful air support that it could tilt public matches heavily in favor of a single dominant player.
From Modern Warfare (2019) onward, the series shifted Nukes to 30 kills and tightened the rules around what counts. In Modern Warfare (2019), streak and vehicle kills are explicitly excluded; the player must do all 30 themselves. Black Ops Cold War and Black Ops 6 also sit at 30 and treat the Nuke as a hidden reward. Black Ops 7 follows that same template, keeping the Nuke rare enough that even high‑skill players do not see it every match.
For practical purposes, treat the Black Ops 7 Nuke as a 30‑kill gunstreak that happens to vaporize the match when you finally hit it. If you are hunting it, build around survivability and map control, and assume that only the kills you directly cause with weapons, lethals, and Field Upgrades are getting you closer to that button.
