Everything We Know (So Far) About CoD: Black Ops 4 ‘Blackout’ Battle Royale Mode

Recent days have seen a lot of information released about Call of Duty: Black Ops 4’s highly anticipated ‘Blackout’ battle royale mode.

GameInformer, who has been given early access to ‘Blackout,’ has revealed a lot of details about the mode that encompass a variety of its aspects, including player count, weapon rarities, vehicles, Zombies, and much more.

Because the information is so extensive, we have compiled it all here in one place for your convenience and also provided links to individual articles that provide more detail about each topic.

• Read More: How and When to Watch Treyarch’s Special Live-Stream Preview of Black Ops 4 ‘Blackout’ Private Beta

We will also update this article if and when more information about ‘Blackout’ is revealed.

Trailer

Treyarch released a new trailer for Blackout on September 6 showing gameplay, locations, vehicle interactions, and more.

Map and Locations

The full Blackout map has been revealed, and it will contain 14 named locations:

• Estates: The rich neighborhood has a giant helipad where Little Bard can spawn. Good location if you want a shot at getting a chopper early.
• Construction Sites: The unfinished skyscraper has a ton of loot and lots of opportunities to base jump out of the high areas to safety if things get hot.
• Array: A few slices of elevation and play centered around the big relay dish make for a brutal warzone with lots of cover.
• Nuketown Island: Lots of gear underground in the bunkers and lively action potential above ground, spurred on by a sign that identifies how many players are active here.
• Firing Range: The hottest of the hot spots if you want instant action with plenty of players this is your go-to destination.
• Hydro Dam: Big base jumps and deadly falls make up the critical point at the end of the map’s length forking river.
• Asylum: You never know if you’re going to run into zombies as well as other players landing here, and while an early zombie supply stash is tempting, undead interference during your early loot-and-scoot can be dangerous.
• Cargo Docks: Lots of elevation changes, a ship to roam on, and a giant crane arm. Great place to pick up boat spawn.
• Factory: Lots of battles that go indoor/outdoor, with rooftop ambush action.
• Fracking Tower: Tower located in a depression, highly exposed to the hills surrounding it.
• Turbine: Bridge-to-bridge combat, large internal and exterior areas. Lots of desert and rocks to battle behind.
• Rivertown: Urban combat, building to building fighting, perfect for close range encounters. Only area on the map surrounded completely by water.
• Train Station: Long sight lines and train car-to-train car combat.
• Lighthouse (not labeled): Will be across from the Cargo Docks on the southwestern quadrant of the map. 

Player Count

The initial player count in Blackout will be 80, although that number could change based on community feedback. 

Vehicles

So far, there are four confirmed vehicles that will be in Blackout. Each of these vehicles will have their own set of unique characteristics, but they will be loud and not hard to destroy, in order to keep them from being overpowered.

Land:

• Cargo Truck (holds one driver, four passengers)
• ATV (one driver, one passenger)

Sea:

• Zodiac Inflatable Boat (one pilot, one passenger)

Air:

• Little Bird Helicopter (one pilot, four passengers)

Player Entrance

Players will enter the Blackout map via a helicopter, and will jump and glide down to the location that they want to land at. 

Players will be equipped with special wingsuits that will allow them to glide down safely, and they can use the wingsuit throughout the game to avoid falling from great distances.

Health and Healing System

Just as in the Multiplayer, players will start off with 150 health in Blackout, which will be the maximum health in the mode.

There will be various healing consumables players can use to increase their health, and standard bandages can be used to reach max health, unlike other popular battle royale genres.

More details – How Player Health and Healing Will Work in CoD: Black Ops 4’s ‘Blackout’ Battle Royale Mode

Perks and Consumables

There will be a variety of perks and consumables in Blackout, and they can all only be used for a limited time in-game, meaning that their effects will not be permanent. 

• Paranoia: Gives an audio alert when you’re targeted by an enemy
• Skulker: Move faster while crouched and prone
• Stimulant: Increases max health by 100 points
• Outlander: Reduced damage from circle. Increased speed while taking damage from circle.
• Looter: Reveal nearby stashes and items
• Iron Lungs: Hold your breath longer while shooting sniper rifles or diving underwater
• Consumer: Reduces times it takes to use items, heal, or revive teammates by 20%.

Characters

There are going to be 20 characters available to choose from in Blackout, and more will be added once the game is fully released. 

These characters include familiar names from the Black Out series, both from the Campaigns and Multiplayers. Players can unlock these characters by completing specific challenges and objectives.

Zombies

Blackout will feature Zombies that players can interact with an eliminate. While killing Zombies will not be necessary for winning matches, they will be prone to dropping special Zombies loot, including the classic Ray Gun and Monkey Bomb.

Zombies will spawn in at least four specific locations on the map, which will be highlighted with a ray of light. Each location will spawn about 5-8 Zombies, since Treyarch don’t want to overload the map with Zombies.

More details – CoD: Black Ops 4 ‘Blackout’ Mode Will Feature Interactive Zombies and Zombie Loot

Weapon Rarities

Although David Vonderhaar said that there will not be any weapon rarity variation in Blackout, there do appear to be gold versions of certain weapons that can be found in Special Chests. 

These Special Chests are not guaranteed to spawn in every game, but their spawn locations will remain consistent for the matches they do spawn into. 

The gold weapons acquired from these chests will have pre-equipped attachments and enhancements.

More details – How Weapon Rarities Will Work in CoD: Black Ops 4 ‘Blackout’ Battle Royale Mode

Blackout by Numbers

A statistical list has been released containing how many of each type of item that will be in Blackout. These are current numbers however, and could change before and/or after the game is released. 

• 3 tiers of health and armor
• 8 primary ammunition types
• 12 equipment items
• 17 consumable perks
• 17 weapons attachments
• 24 different weapons
• 125 items total

Additional and Miscellaneous Information

• Fall Damage is active
• Friendly Fire is on
• RPGs are available on the map and can be used to take out vehicles
• Players can carry 2 primary weapons.
• If you are not carrying a weapon, a melee knife is used
• Treyarch is targeting 60FPS for all platforms. There is no FPS lock
• Emotes are planned but not in beta
• Treyarch Testing split-screen for Blackout
• Not a simulation
• Blackout might take place in North California
• Treyarch is not ruling out adding characters from other Call of Duty games, but they’re current plans include Treyarch based characters
• Blackout will have limited time events events to use/unlock certain content
• There are a few types of Armor
• No plans for players to pick up clothes in matches
• Players can trade items between players, presumably within squads.
• Dead players will drop their stashes, which you can loot. If you pick up a weapon that is quest related, you can take over the quest.
• It’s possible circle can close in on pack of zombies
• Circle will be randomly directed in games. They don’t want it closing outside of the map or in water places too often.
• Blackout indirectly affects other game modes
• Blackout features a “victory quote” when you win, but specifics not revealed
• Blackout is all first person only; there’s no third person. “We develop first person shooters and put them on the internet.”
• The point of the beta is to ensure game tuning, item tuning, progression are all on track to the numbers Treyarch
• No information on Blackout going standalone, Vahn says he “makes the shoe” and not the business decisions’
• GameInformer asks if you can camp in a tub, Vahn says that won’t work and you won’t win like that.
• Players can find Ruin’s Grappling Hook and use this. Any character can use the hook, you don’t have to be Ruin to use it. Many specialist abilities are available on the map to find and use
• Horns on vehicles can be honked
• There’s no other weather than the day setting.
• There is a melee weapon in Blackout that has to do with Zombies
• Asked about Zombies lore, Vahn says “nova gas symbology, circle outside”
• Raven Software are working with Treyarch on Black Ops 4
• No voiced lines/dialogue between characters in BO4 in Blackout
• At least one Mason in Blackout
• There is no cross platform play
• The circle may be made of Nova Gas, Vahn says being caught outside is “bad news”
• Getting stuck outside causes player to hallucinate
• The circle can cause vehicles to malfunction. For example, helicopters may start to not function properly and crash.
• Treyarch says that the Blackout map, throughout development period, has been re-booted 3 times.
• There will be more weapons, vehicles, items, map updates, and more on the way beyond launch.
• When you pick up attachments, they will auto equip onto your primary weapons. Players can go to the menus and adjust as they like.
• There is a consumable reconnaissance robot in Blackout. You can prop up and search around the area to see where enemies are using the robot, but it leaves you exposed to being killed while you control the robot.
• There is basketball courts on the map. You can play basketball, but picking up the basketball takes up a primary weapon slot. There are other “just for fun” stuff on the map too.
• You can spectate other players once you are eliminated.
• Sensor Dart is available in Blackout and can share enemy location on radar. The dart can be stuck to a car/chopper to give info as you move across the map.
• You can open/close elements like garages, doors, etc.
• Bullet Drop is in Blackout and takes a bit to get used to compared to other Call of Duty modes
• The skyscraper in Blackout was originally “much, much taller” in the map, but Treyarch reduced its height because it would cause players to get dizzy running up/down.

As one would expect, Treyarch are planning on using community feedback from the Private Beta to change various aspects of Blackout before Black Ops 4 fully releases on October 12.

The Blackout Private Beta goes live on September 10 at 10 AM PT for the Playstation 4, while Xbox and PC players will have to wait for their beta on the 14th. 

The Private Beta will end for all platforms on September 17.

Sources – charlieINTEL, GameInformer