The multiplayer beta for Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 is done and dusted, but beta season is still in full swing, with the Blackout battle royale mode next up in September.
This is Call of Duty’s first foray into the battle royale genre, and so there is a lot of high expectations from fans in anticipation of Blackout, which is still somewhat shrouded in mystery.
Even the release date for the beta itself hasn’t been officially, announced, but there are a few clues which should narrow it down and players can start looking forward to getting their first royale win in CoD.
The first thing to note is that you shouldn’t delete the multiplayer beta application from your PS4 or Xbox One, as this same file will be updated and used again for the Blackout beta.
On August 14, Treyarch confirmed the start of the beta would be September 10, first on PlayStation 4, with other platforms to follow.
For the multiplayer beta, PlayStation 4 had it a weekend early, but since the battle royale beta is launching on a Monday, it is unclear how long it will be exclusive to the Sony platform.
Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest updates on Esports, Gaming and more.
They also confirm in the announcement that solos, duos and ‘quads’ will be available in the beta.
Prepare accordingly.#Blackout pic.twitter.com/X70KVQ75gU
— Call of Duty (@CallofDuty) August 14, 2018
Finally, while we know very little officially about what the battle royale mode Blackout will entail, a Redditor did leak a lot of features which seem fairly realistic as what we could expect. So this is what we have to go on at this stage.
This is not official, and was posted back on July 17, so things could have changed between then and the beta start.
- Largest map in Call of Duty history, but lots of focus on verticality. As seen in the teaser, the map features pieces of iconic maps from previous games. Nuketown is located in the middle of the map as an island, surrounded by water, set after the nuke is dropped. The layout and theme of Nuketown in Blackout is similar to that of Nuketown Zombies from Black Ops 2.
- Aiming for at very least 50 players, currently testing 64 players right now with plans to increase if possible.
- Health is 150HP, replenished via scavengable Medical Kits. Equipping scavenged Armor allows the player to take 1 extra shot, Armor Piercing Rounds will counter the effect of Armor.
- Limited Inventory slots, increased space via scavenged Backpacks.
- Weapon loot has rarity, depending on the rarity your weapon will have different attachments (Higher Rarity = Better/More Attachments). *Subject to change, there are currently talks about attachments being scavenged rather than rarity-dependent.
- Consumable abilities such as the Multiplayer Specialist Abilities. For example, Torque’s Portable Barricade with 1x use, Ruin’s Grapple Hook with limited uses, and Nomad’s Dog which can be commanded to follow the player or guard an area.
- Equipment such as the Recon RC, an RC-XD without explosives, can be scavenged and give the player an advantage. Currently, a Monkey Bomb equipment which doesn’t explode can be found, likely a placeholder for a Decoy Grenade.
- Land, air, and sea vehicles as seen in the teaser. The ATV is the only fully-functioning vehicle in the current build.
- The Storm/Gas mechanic is currently a simple visible wall that closes in on the map.
- While players simply parachute into the map. *Subject to change, talks of moving to a spawn-in system similar to Call of Duty: Online are happening.