'Black Ops 4' Update: Treyarch Still Undecided On Battle Royale Player Count

Activision officially revealed “Call of Duty: Black Ops 4” yesterday and confirmed that it will have a Battle Royale mode and it won’t have a single-player campaign. Developer Treyarch has revealed that it’s still undecided on the player count on the Battle Royale mode and it also explained why it ditched the single-player mode.

“We haven't actually decided,” Treyarch studio design director David Vonderharr told GameSpot. “We have to create the best experience, and to create that experience in a ‘Call of Duty’ universe, you have to try various flavors of that until you find the right one.”

The Battle Royale mode in “Black Ops 4” is called Blackout and it will feature a map that is around 1,500 times larger than Nuketown. The Blackout map will also be the largest map ever created for a “Call of Duty” game. Treyarch promises that Blackout will deliver a Battle Royale game mode “the ‘Black Ops’ way” and players will be able to navigate the map in land, sea and air vehicles.

The Blackout Battle Royale mode in “Black Ops 4” is pretty much like “Fortnite Battle Royale” and “PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds” but done with the “Call of Duty” twist. Players will be tasked to scavenge for weapons and equipment, while trying to fend off other players and try to be the last man standing.

“It’s absolutely going to be at launch,” Treyarch senior producer Yale Miller told Attack Of The Fanboy. “All we’re saying is that it’s hands-down more than we’ve ever done before. That is obvious. The exact number, again, we’re basing it on the map and, like, engagements. Making those engagements feel as Black Ops and Call of Duty as possible. So that’s something we’re doing play tests on all different sizes before landing on a final.”

Aside from delivering its own flavor in the Battle Royale mode, “Black Ops 4” also stands out from the rest of the “Call of Duty” franchise for not having a single-player campaign. Treyarch co-studio head Dan Bunting revealed that they never even intended to include one in the first place.

“Going back to the very beginning of Black Ops 4 development, we never had set out to make a traditional campaign. We always started from the place of, we're going to make something different with this game that was going to be inspired by how our community was interacting with Black Ops 3 and the games over the years,” Bunting told Eurogamer.

“There was never a traditional campaign. We've always wanted to tell stories in different ways. We've always wanted to celebrate our community, especially how you play the game with friends. The heart and soul of this game is how you play games with friends and we wanted to do more with that than we've ever done before.”

“Call of Duty: Black Ops 4” is scheduled to be released on Oct. 12 for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC. Those who pre-order the game will be able to take part in the beta test. Activision hasn’t revealed the date for the “Black Ops 4” beta, but the publisher should provide more details on that during E3 2018 next month.