Call of Duty: Black Ops II is a 2012 first-person shooter game developed by Treyarch and published by Activision. It was released for Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 on November 13, 2012, and for the Wii U on November 18 in North America and November 30 in PAL regions. Black Ops II is the ninth game in the Call of Duty franchise of video games, a sequel to the 2010 game Call of Duty: Black Ops and the first Call of Duty game for the Wii U. A corresponding game for the PlayStation Vita, Call of Duty: Black Ops: Declassified, was developed by nStigate Games and also released on November 13. Ports for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5, developed by Iron Galaxy Studios, were released on July 9, 2026.

In the 1980s, the player switches control between Alex Mason and Frank Woods, the former being one of the protagonists from Black Ops, while in 2025, the player assumes control of Mason's son, David (codenamed "Section"). Both time periods involve the characters pursuing Raul Menendez, a Nicaraguan arms dealer and later terrorist, who is responsible for kidnapping David in the 80s and later sparking a Second Cold War in 2025. The campaign features non-linear gameplay and has multiple endings. Locations featured in the game include Angola, Myanmar, Afghanistan, Nicaragua, Pakistan, the Cayman Islands, Panama, Yemen, the United States, and Haiti.

Development for the game began soon after the release of Black Ops, with Activision promising that the follow-up would bring "meaningful innovation" to the Call of Duty franchise. Black Ops II is the first game in the series to feature futuristic warfare technology and the first to present branching storylines driven by player choice as well as selecting weapons before starting story mode missions. It also offers a 3D display option. The game was officially revealed on May 1, 2012, following a set of leaked information released during the previous months.

Black Ops II received mostly positive reviews from critics, with praise for its gameplay variety, story, multiplayer, Zombies mode, and villain, while its Strike Force missions received criticism. Retrospective reviewers consider it one of the best games in the series. The game was a commercial success; within 24 hours of its release, it grossed over $500 million. It had remained the largest entertainment launch of all time until the release of Grand Theft Auto V (2013). By November 2013, the game had sold over 24 million copies, making it one of the series' best-selling entries.

Sequels to the game continued or expanded the storyline: Call of Duty: Black Ops III (2015) acts as a direct sequel; Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War (2020) is set between the events of Black Ops and Black Ops II; Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 (2024) is set after Black Ops II's flashback missions; and Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 (2025) is set after the events of Black Ops II.

Black Ops II is the first Call of Duty video game to feature branching storylines, in which the player's choice affects both the current mission and in turn, the overall course of the story. Known as "Strike Force missions", these branching storylines appear during the 2025 storyline and feature permadeath. The success or failure of these missions can have ramifications for the wider campaign storyline. Choosing one of the missions locks out the others unless the player begins a fresh campaign.

Strike Force missions allow the player to control a number of different war assets, such as unmanned aerial vehicles, jet fighters and robots. If the player dies in a Strike Force mission, the campaign continues recording that loss, as opposed to letting the player load a previously saved checkpoint. The player's progress in the Strike Force missions may go on to change even the plans of the story's antagonist, Raul Menendez. By the end of the game, the player may have changed the results of the new Cold War.

Similarly, in the main story missions, there are certain points where the player is given different choices and paths to progress, which could have an effect on the gameplay, as well as the story. Black Ops II is also the first game in the series to allow the player to customize their loadout before beginning a mission, creating freedom in choosing how to approach a mission.