Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 to feature ambitious battle royale mode titled Blackout

In 2007, Call of Duty redefined FPS games with its fast-paced multiplayer that added perks, killstreaks, and so much more. Many games followed in its footsteps as it served as the evolution of competitive multiplayer. Now, Call of Duty will be the one taking a page from other games.

With the rise of the battle royale genre in games like Fortnite and PUBG, Treyarch and Activision saw a major opportunity with Call of Duty: Black Ops 4. Take the basic concept of battle royale and put a unique spin on it that makes it unique to Call of Duty. With that said, Activision seems to be building the most ambitious battle royale game to date.

In a new mode that comes with Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 titled Blackout, a large group of players (speculated to be between 100 – 140 based on hints in the trailer) will drop into one large map that is a culmination of the entire Black Ops franchise. You can play as iconic campaign or zombies characters like Sgt. Woods, Mason, Reznov, Hudson, and more. Players will have access to mechanics, weaponry, and killstreaks from previous games such as the RC-XD and what makes this probably the most unique… classic Call of Duty maps and locations are scattered around this large map.

Players will use vehicles to traverse land, air, and sea and the “towns” you’d see in something like Fortnite or PUBG are Call of Duty maps that you know and love. Treyarch hasn’t shown any actual footage of the mode yet but if we were to speculate, there are large open spaces in-between these maps like the ones we have seen in other battle royale games. The map does sound pretty massive regardless as Treyarch has confirmed it will be 1,500 times larger than the classic compact multiplayer map, Nuketown.

We’re still trying to grasp how the whole thing works for ourselves but it’s unique and could kick Fortnite off as the battle royale king. Call of Duty has the advantage of refined gunplay and smooth mechanics that the teams have been mastering for nearly two decades while Fortnite and PUBG are still finding their footing. With a unique combination of well-made gameplay and an interesting premise that only Call of Duty can offer, it’s sure to catch the eyes of many battle royale fans.

Blackout will likely get a proper reveal at E3 in June or in the coming months but it’s not the only major change coming to the FPS series. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 will also be making radical changes to its multiplayer in the form of boots on the ground combat, 5 v 5 matches, no regenerating health, and much more. You can click here to see the reveal trailer for multiplayer. Blackout will be replacing this year’s single-player campaign so if you were hoping to find a story in this year’s Call of Duty, you’re out of luck.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 releases on October 12th, 2018 for Xbox One, PS4, and PC.