Fix: Call of Duty Cold War Not Connecting to Online Services Error

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is the latest first-person shooter video game that has been developed by Treyarch and Raven Software & published by Activision. As it has plenty of game modes, Call of Duty fans are falling in love with this title after the Modern Warfare (2019), obviously. But somehow players are experiencing that Call of Duty Cold War Not Connecting to Online Services for some reasons. If you’re a victim, you can follow this troubleshooting guide.

Needless to say that online multiplayer video games have already several issues with the online connectivity to the servers. Meanwhile, plenty of error codes, internet connectivity issues, etc can be found while playing online games. The “Cannot Connect to Online Services” error or “Connecting to Call of Duty Online Services” error is irritating several Black Ops Cold War players. Luckily, there are a couple of workarounds mentioned below that should work for you.

1. Check Activision Online Services

Whenever there is an issue with the online game connectivity with the game server, it’s better to check the server status or online service status first. In this case, you’ll need to visit the Activision Online Services page to check it.

Once you’re on the page, select the Black Ops Cold War game.

Fix: Call of Duty Cold War Not Connecting to Online Services

Click on Refresh > You can see All Platforms ONLINE. It means there may be an issue with your internet connection.

But if in case, there is a server issue then you should wait for a couple of hours and try refreshing the page again to check it.

2. Run Game and Launcher as Administrator

It’s also worth mentioning that running the game exe file and the client exe file is very necessary on Windows to give an administrator access whatsoever. To do so:

Right-click on the installed BlackOpsColdWar.exe.exe file.
Select Properties > Click on the Compatibility tab.

Enable the Run this program as an administrator checkbox.
Click on Apply and hit OK to save changes.

Similarly, whether you’re using the Steam client or Battle.net client, you’ll have to do the same for your client as well.

3. Disable Windows Firewall

By default, the Windows Firewall program always enabled and it may prevent ongoing connections of any specific game or program to protect your computer from malware or online attacks. Now, if you think that the Windows Firewall program is troubling you somehow, make sure to temporarily disable it.

Click on the Start Menu > Type Windows Firewall and click on Windows Defender Firewall from the search result.

Now, click on Turn Windows Defender Firewall on or off from the left pane.

Make sure to turn off both the Private and Public options > Click on OK.

It should fix the Call of Duty Cold War Not Connecting to Online Services issue completely. However, if you don’t want to turn it off then you can allow the game files to run through the firewall. To do that:

Click on the Start Menu > Type Windows Firewall and click on Windows Defender Firewall from the search result.
Click on Allow an app or feature through Windows Defender Firewall from the left pane.

Now, click on Change settings > Go to Allow another app…
Locate and select Black Ops Cold War (BlackOpsColdWar.exe) > Select both the Private and Public checkbox to allow it.
Once added, launch your game and check if the problem is still bothering you or not.

4. Update Networking Driver

The chances are high enough that somehow your networking adapter driver becomes outdated and that’s why the online game server connectivity issue appears a lot. In that scenario, you should check for networking driver updates. To do this:

Press Windows + X keys to open the Quick Access Menu.
Select Device Manager > Double-click on Network adapters.
Now, right-click on the active network adapter.

Select Update driver > Choose Search automatically for drivers.
If there is an update available, it’ll automatically download and install the update.
Once done, you can restart your computer to apply changes.
Finally, you’ll be able to fix the Call of Duty Cold War Not Connecting to Online Services issue.

5. Link Activision and Blizzard Account

This is one of the most common mistakes that Activision players usually perform while playing Blizzard games using the Battle.net client. Make sure to link both of your Activision and Blizzard accounts to connect the Activision Online Services easily. To do this:

Visit the Activision webpage > Click on LOGIN from the top-right corner.
Enter your account credentials and sign in.
Now, click on PROFILE from the top-right corner.
From the ACCOUNT LINKING section, simply choose Link With Battle.net Account.
Once done, you’ll be able to play the BOCW game easily.

6. Verify Game Files

Here we’ve shared verify game files method for both the Steam and Battle.net client users.

Steam Users:

Open the Steam client > Go to Library.
Right-click on the COD: Modern Warfare game.
Click on Properties > Select the Local Files tab.

Then click on Verify Integrity of Game Files.
Wait for the process to complete and restart the game to check whether the issue has been fixed or not.

Battle.net Users:

Open the Blizzard Battle.net client > Now, locate the COD: Black Ops Cold War game.
Click on Options > Select Scan and Repair.

Wait for the process to complete and make sure to restart your client to apply changes.
Now, you can try running the BOCW game on your computer again.

That’s it, guys. We assume this guide was helpful to you. Feel free to ask in the comment below for additional queries.

Fix: Call of Duty Cold War Not Connecting to Online Services Error