Blackout beta day 6 update adds new characters, item spawn changes and more – Full Patch Notes

The Call of Duty Blackout is now on day 6 of it’s beta, with all platforms (PC, PS4 and Xbox One) able to jump in and play, and a new update has brought lots of improvements and new additions.

The biggest new feature is the ‘Close Quarters Frenzy’ playlist, which you can find more details on here.

The lobby sizes on PC and Xbox have now been increased to 88 players, matching that of PS4, and new character skins are also available to play as in game.

If you are a PC player who hasn’t pre-ordered or managed to get a code by other means, you will be glad to know you can know download and play the Blackout beta, simply by having a Battle.net account.

Finally, Treyarch have also changed the spawn frequency of certain items – including level 3 armor. This will now spawn on the map less frequently, meaning you should encounter it less, but it is even more valuable should you be lucky enough to find it yourself.

See below for the full patch notes for the update on day 6 of the beta, via Reddit.

Blackout beta day 6 update – Patch Notes

Today’s a big day! The Blackout PC Open Beta is now live for all PC players, and we’ve introduced the new Close Quarters Frenzy playlist for Duos, combining our Fast Collapse and Close Quarters playlists into one frantic rush to survive the Collapse using only SMGs, shotguns, handguns, and fists.

We’ve also got something special for Zombies fans – our Black Ops 4 Zombies characters and the Origins cast have been unlocked in the Character menu. Bruno, Diego, Scarlett, and Stanton are dropping in with Dempsey, Nikolai, Takeo, and Richtofen as we speak. See you at the Asylum.

Our maximum player count has also increased to 88 per match on Xbox One and PC, and remains at 88 players per match on PS4. We’ve made new updates to the game as well, including a reduction in the frequency of Level 3 Armor found in each match, various stability fixes, and tweaks to the SG12 shotgun and Equipment capacity. See below for the full list.

We’ve been tracking some new hot-button topics among the community today, including:

• Aim Assist Tracking: Some players have experienced Aim Assist causing their reticles to slightly track enemies through hard surfaces. We’re aware of the issue and are investigating.
• Dying During Initial Wingsuit Deployment: Occasionally, some players have been eliminated immediately after deploying from the helicopter. We have to admit this one can be funny to watch… but not so much when it happens to you. We’re on the case.
• Invite Issues on Xbox One: We’ve seen reports of issues with trying to invite friends to a party on Xbox One. We’re actively tracking this issue. In the meantime, try joining on a friend through the Social menu instead.
• Crashes/Launch Issues on PC: Yesterday was the first day of the PC Beta, and as such, we’re tracking a handful of reasons for crashes and issues launching the game across various PC setups. For more details on our PC-specific updates to the Beta, follow u/TreyarchPC on Reddit and @TreyarchPC on Twitter.

We’ve made the following updates across the Beta today (Global):

• General:
  • PC Open Beta now live
  • Maximum player count raised to up to 88 per match on Xbox One and PC
• Playlist Update:
  • Changed Featured playlist to Close Quarters Frenzy (Duos only)
    • Faster Collapse with SMGs, shotguns, handguns, and fists only
• Character Updates:
  • Black Ops 4 Zombies cast unlocked in Character menu (Bruno, Diego, Scarlett, Stanton)
  • Origins cast unlocked in Character menu (Dempsey, Nikolai, Takeo, Richtofen)
• Miscellaneous:
  • General stability fixes
  • Improved Killcam to only show relevant player names
• Game Tuning:
  • Item Spawns
    • Reduced the spawn frequency of Level 3 Armor, VAPR-XKG, and Koshka
  • Weapons
    • Increased SG12 semi-auto shotgun damage at medium range
  • Equipment
    • Decreased the maximum number of most types of Equipment a player can carry in an Inventory slot

We’ve also made the following general fixes specific to PC:

• Miscellaneous:
  • General stability and UI fixes
  • Killcam enabled
  • Fixes for After Action Report stat tracking