There's been some concern in the Call of Duty community over the past 24 hours about a screenshot that's been doing the rounds showing a paid service for audio in Black Ops 6, but fortunately it's not as concerning as first feared.
Basically, there's something called 'Immerse Spatial Audio' in Black Ops 6 that's made possible by a company called Embody. This technology "increases the directional accuracy of sounds played in the world", and can be used as part of an 'Enhanced Headphone Mode' in BO6 that's available to all players for free on Xbox Series X|S.
As you can see below though, there's been some confusion that Spatial Audio requires payment in Black Ops 6:
So, just to be clear, the above statement is not correct. The free trial and payment option that's mentioned in the image is for a "Personalized Profile" that will customise the sound "to your unique physiology". Here's how Embody explains it:
FREE - Universal Profile is your entry vector to a deeper level of spatial awareness and accurate 3D sound. Fine-tuned to the unique sound world of Call of Duty, every explosion and footstep are perfectly balanced so you can hear every detail of the battlefield with precision.
PAID - Take your tactical hearing to the next level with a Personalized Profile. With spatial sound customized to your unique physiology, every sound is balanced with precision in the 3D soundworld. Create your Personalized Profile in Enhanced Headphone Mode Configuration and try it free for 30 days. Then click the “Get Immerse Gamepack” button to unlock for 5 years with a one-time payment of $19.99 USD.
The TL;DR here is that you do not need to pay extra money for better audio in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 unless you really want to. Based on what Activision has said about audio so far, it sounds like the free options will be more than enough!
Anyway, we'll all get to find out very soon, as Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 officially arrives at 00:00am on Friday, October 25th in every region. That means we'll start getting impressions from the New Zealand launch in less than 24 hours!