Call of Duty: Black Ops 4

"Black Ops is back! Developed by Treyarch, Call of Duty®: Black Ops 4 takes the top-selling franchise in Call of Duty® to new heights. The title is tailored to the millions of Call of Duty: Black Ops fans worldwide who continue to engage and play together. Forget what you know, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 is set to deliver a revolutionary experience."

- Official Description

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 (stylized as Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII) is a first-person shooter video game developed by Treyarch for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One and by Beenox (with assistance from Blizzard Entertainment) for Microsoft Windows. The game was released on October 12th, 2018.

Featuring no traditional campaign mode for the first time in the franchise, Black Ops 4 puts all its attention into three distinct modes: Multiplayer, Zombies, and the all-new battle royale mode Blackout. However, the game will include single-player Solo Missions that focus on the lore and stories of the game's multiplayer characters, or "Specialists." Multiplayer is traditional, yet redefined, featuring gritty, grounded, fluid multiplayer combat. Zombies contains brand new experiences along with more customization on how the player wishes to play, with the deep gameplay and easter eggs that its fans have come to expect. Blackout is a brand new addition to the Call of Duty franchise. It is Treyarch's take on the battle royale genre of games, where the universe of Black Ops comes to life in one massive battle royale experience featuring the largest map in Call of Duty history, signature Black Ops combat, characters, locations and weapons from the entire Black Ops series.

An official announcement trailer for the game was released on March 8, 2018, in addition, a community reveal event was held on May 17, 2018. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 is the 15th game in the Call of Duty franchise and Treyarch's second to be developed in a three-year development cycle.

It is the fifth game in the Black Ops series, following Call of Duty: World at War, Call of Duty: Black Ops, Call of Duty: Black Ops II and Call of Duty: Black Ops III. It is set between Black Ops II and Black Ops III in the multiplayer narrative, as well as the Specialist HQ Missions.

Background
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 is the first game in the Call of Duty franchise to not feature a traditional campaign mode. In explaining the decision to not include it, co-studio head Dan Bunting replied, "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 III and the games over the years. We see more and more players spending more time with multiplayer and zombies, not just in the game, but out of the game, streaming and talking about it in forums. It's generated a really huge crowd response. The decision was, we wanted to make a different style of game this time. Throughout the course of development we tried a lot of ideas, a lot of things that challenged convention, that might be a different kind of twist on how we might think of a Call of Duty game in the past, or a Black Ops game in the past. As we did that, some things make it, some things don't. The game we're representing today really represents the best of the ideas that have run through that gauntlet of game development, which is pretty typical for how we do things."

In discussing multiplayer, Bunting was asked about how they plan on making the existing gameplay better, to which he said, "I talked about how in competitive multiplayer, in Black Ops especially, it's always been first and foremost about the weapons and the gameplay they deliver to players. That is number one, your primary experience when you play competitive multiplayer. It's about the gun. We've done more investment in our weapons systems than Black Ops I, II and III combined. The core feeling of the game, the movement, the gunplay, these are all fundamentals that are going to tighten the gameplay loop and make it feel like it is deeper and more rewarding as they go along that journey to mastery."

In discussing the new Blackout battle royale mode, Bunting talked about how the genre became a hit and the development of their own version, " It's no secret to anybody in the industry that battle royale took the world by storm when it first hit early last year. Our team is a team of intense gamers. Of course, we play the games everybody plays. We were playing a lot of different games early last year and it was clearly a phenomenon that was going to change the game industry. Our thinking started to formulate around that time."

"When you start to build a multiplayer experience around a massive, wide open space, it's important you have a lot of hotspots you go to where you can expect there to be really intense combat. For those hotspots around the map, as you probably saw from the teaser, we are pulling some of the great moments of our maps from the series together in a way that - I wouldn't say stitched together because that doesn't really do it justice - we're reimagining each of those spaces in a way that makes sense for the geography of the gameplay."

The game was rebooted during development. The battle royale mode was a last minute addition. In 2018, the game's planned campaign mode was cancelled. The mode would have been focused on a 2v2 mechanic, and it would have been set after Black Ops III. Two players could have played side by side, or it could have been played alongside a bot. Each side would pick a faction, and you’d compete to gun down enemies and battle over different objectives in a post-apocalyptic world. One side might try to destroy a convoy, for example, while the other side worked to protect it. Or maybe one faction would set off to protect a journalist while the other faction tried to assassinate them.

Signature Weapons
Signature Weapons are cosmetic variations of the base weapons in Black Ops 4, each with their own challenges and rewards. Signature Weapons do not have any game-altering stats and perform exactly like their base weapon counterparts. Signature Weapons add additional layers of depth to the game’s progression with their individual challenges. These challenges must be completed in order to unlock additional cosmetic rewards for that weapon, with the final being a Mastercraft version of the Signature Weapon.

Players who purchase the Digital Deluxe, Digital Deluxe Enhanced, Pro Edition, or Mystery Box Edition of Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 will receive the MX-9 Signature Weapon on Day 1. Additionally, players who pre-order specifically at GameStop will receive the Strife pistol Signature Weapon: "Divinity" on Day One. Players that complete in-game challenges with the Divinity and manage to unlock all of its rewards can wield the golden "Divine Justice".

Multiplayer
In a break from previous games, Black Ops 4 does not have wallrunning or regenerating health. In the case of the latter, every player has a health pack that they can activate at will. The pack quickly regenerates after use.

Overview
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 Multiplayer raises the bar, delivering a thrilling grounded combat experience yet with a focus on tactical gameplay and player choice. The game builds off Black Ops III's Specialists system and puts a much bigger emphasis on them. Advanced movement is completely absent as the Multiplayer is set between Black Ops II and Black Ops III. The game offers a new level of online action across a variety of new weaponry, maps and modes. For the first time Multiplayer serves as the center of the game’s narrative, as players uncover a deeper connection to the role of each Specialist and their unique playstyles. With the return of the Pick 10 Create-a-Class system – and when combined with the new Gear category – gameplay becomes more customizable than ever, giving players choice over how to power up their Specialists. Combined with the ability to unlock devastating Scorestreaks along the way, players will have the opportunity to be dangerous alone, or unstoppable as a team.

Maps
A total of 14 Multiplayer maps have been confirmed to be in the game at launch, along with 1 Blackout map.

Private Betas
Two betas were available for those that had pre-ordered the game. The first focused on multiplayer, while the second focused on the new battle royale mode, Blackout.

The multiplayer beta was held on two separate weekends: August 3rd through August 6th, 2018 and August 10th through August 13th, 2018. Early Access players gained access on the 10th, while PC Open Beta gained access on the 11th. In this beta, players had access to six maps, two of which had not been seen prior. Team Deathmatch, Domination, Hardpoint, Search and Destroy, and the new Control game modes were all open for play. Participants will get a Calling Card, and players who attained maximum rank during the beta will also receive a Permanent Unlock Token that can be used on any Create-a-Class content.

A beta for Blackout took place between September 10th, 2018 and September 17th, 2018. Started first on PlayStation 4 and followed by the Xbox One and PC on September 14th. The beta was opened to all players on PC on September 15th.

80 players and A.I.-controlled zombies were announced as part of the beta, with the possibility of more players at launch or after launch. . On September 11th, the number of players were raised to 88. On September 16th, the Blightfather was introduced in the graveyard section of Blackout as an event. On September 17th, the beta was extended to 12PM PST (instead of 10AM PST) and the number of players was raised to 100. The Blightfather was removed from Blackout.

Overview
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 Zombies delivers four full experiences at launch, IX, Voyage of Despair, Classified, and Blood of the Dead. There is also a new gamemode titled Zombie Rush, which can be played on all maps. Aside from normal gameplay is a Zombies tutorial that introduces players to new and old mechanics featured in the game.

Two stories are present in Black Ops 4 Zombies, the new "Chaos" story involving IX and Voyage of Despair, and the classic Aether story involving Blood of the Dead and Classified.

Overview
In Blackout, Black Ops comes to life in one massive battle royale experience, combining Black Ops signature combat and the biggest map in Call of Duty history. Play as fan favorite characters and battle through iconic settings from the Black Ops universe. It’s a collision course bringing together the worlds of Black Ops in an all-out survival and elimination experience featuring weapons; equipment; land, sea, and air vehicles; RC-XDs; traps; and even Zombies in an experience that is uniquely Black Ops.

Editions
There are four editions of the game that are available for purchase.

Digital Deluxe Edition
The Digital Deluxe Edition is available for $99.99 USD. It includes:
 * The full game.
 * The Black Ops Pass.
 * Unknown digital bonus items.
 * 2400 CP.

Digital Deluxe Enhanced Edition
The Digital Deluxe Enhanced Edition is available for $129.99 USD. It includes:
 * The full game.
 * The Black Ops Pass.
 * Unknown digital bonus items.
 * 8500 CP.

Pro Edition
The Pro Edition is available for $119.99 USD. It includes:
 * The full game.
 * The Black Ops Pass.
 * Collectable steelbook.
 * Collectable Black Ops 4 themed pop socket.
 * 10 limited edition Specialist patches.
 * 3 special Zombies-inspired collectable art cards.
 * 1,100 CP.

Mystery Box Edition
The Pro Edition is available for $200 USD. It includes:
 * Steelbook copy of Black Ops 4.
 * Zombies Heroes Figpins - Scarlett Rhodes, Bruno Delacroix, Diego Necalli, and Stanton Shaw.
 * 1,000 piece puzzle featuring Zombie art.
 * Black Ops 4 Zombies Issue 1 from Dark Horse, which gives greater backstory for the Zombies characters.
 * Three lithographs featuring the game's Zombie experiences - Voyage of Despair, IX, and Blood of the Dead.
 * Themed popsocket.
 * Set of patches themed around Specialists.
 * Black Ops Pass.
 * Unknown bonus items.