Hero-of-Time Posted March 8, 2018 Posted March 8, 2018 Finally confirmed. Quote Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, or, if you prefer, Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII, is coming on October 12 as the latest installment in the first-person shooter combat series. Activision said it and developer Treyarch will hold a special event on May 17 to reveal the game, and it will launch the game worldwide on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC on October 12. It's releasing a lot earlier than usual. Probably trying to stay the hell away from Red Dead Redemption 2.
drahkon Posted March 8, 2018 Posted March 8, 2018 Woot, October 12? Well, that's me not spending any more money on WWII DLC. I love Black Ops.
Hero-of-Time Posted April 17, 2018 Author Posted April 17, 2018 Quote Earlier today, Polygon reported that Treyarch has decided to scrap the campaign mode in Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 once it became clear that they would not be able to have the campaign ready in time for the game’s launch in October. charlieINTEL heard similar rumors last month from a tipster, and that same tipster also informed CI that Raven Software has reportedly been tasked with adding a Battle Royale mode to Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 to fill the content gap of no campaign. Earlier in March, an analyst suggested in a report that Activision plans to bring Battle Royale to Call of Duty at some point, saying Activision is fully aware of the popularity of Battle Royale modes. So no single player but Battle Royale added? Yeah, I'm out if this is true.
drahkon Posted April 17, 2018 Posted April 17, 2018 (edited) Lol. I'll be so god damn happy when devs stop jumping on the Battle Royale bandwagon. I mean, add a Battle Royale mode if you want but a big fuck you in your face if you remove campaign mode for that. Black Ops 3's campaign was incredible, especially in Co-op. I'm out, too, if this is true. Edited April 17, 2018 by drahkon
Julius Posted April 18, 2018 Posted April 18, 2018 (edited) Oh dear. Guys, it’s Kotaku-confirmed... Here I was thinking that this might be the first Call of Duty that I’d ever own and, if rumours are to be believed, Modern Warfare 2 Remastered is apparently not going to have an online multiplayer. Really odd moves by Activision... Edited April 18, 2018 by Julius Caesar
drahkon Posted April 19, 2018 Posted April 19, 2018 14 hours ago, Julius Caesar said: Really odd moves by Activision... Battle Royale will most likely bring in a huge amount of money. Just imagine the loot box shit they will pull.
Julius Posted April 19, 2018 Posted April 19, 2018 3 minutes ago, drahkon said: Battle Royale will most likely bring in a huge amount of money. Just imagine the loot box shit they will pull. Oh, for sure. Don’t expect much less from Activision I do think that choosing to have this over a campaign (as opposed to having a Battle Royale Mode added later on, either for free or as DLC) could hurt sales, though, at least initially. I know plenty of people who only dip their toes into the multiplayer aspect of CoD and enjoy playing the campaign much more. I also have to wonder if this could make it more difficult to review, at least from the perspective of a reviewer? I’m sure this will still sell amazing and probably pass 10m units sold, but the lack of a single player campaign in a game releasing on October 12th likely plays into Red Dead’s hands when it releases two weeks later on the 26th, at least for those who prefer an offline, single player experience.
Hero-of-Time Posted April 19, 2018 Author Posted April 19, 2018 7 minutes ago, Julius Caesar said: I’m sure this will still sell amazing and probably pass 10m units sold, but the lack of a single player campaign in a game releasing on October 12th likely plays into Red Dead’s hands when it releases two weeks later on the 26th, at least for those who prefer an offline, single player experience. Well, there were rumours that Red Dead got pushed back because they were implementing a Battle Royale mode into the online portion of the game. I see Battlefield is also rumoured to have a BR mode in this years version of the game.
drahkon Posted April 19, 2018 Posted April 19, 2018 Alright, Nintendo. Time to follow suit and add Battle Royale to Animal Crossing mobile. They already added loot boxes, so... 4
Julius Posted April 19, 2018 Posted April 19, 2018 15 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said: Well, there were rumours that Red Dead got pushed back because they were implementing a Battle Royale mode into the online portion of the game. I see Battlefield is also rumoured to have a BR mode in this years version of the game. Yeah, that’s true. Activision’s decision was probably based on striking while the iron is hot in terms of this genre which is still far from saturation, so I can understand why they’d make the move financially, but from a PR perspective, I can’t see many fans being happy about the absence of a campaign. If I recall correctly from what I was reading about Battlefield V, their Battle Royale is supposedly coming post-launch, which I definitely think is the smarter move (assuming that the game will launch with a campaign).
Happenstance Posted April 19, 2018 Posted April 19, 2018 I wouldn't be surprised if removing the campaign has been talked about for years so im not sure this is definitely a reaction to wanting a Battle Royale mode. Its always been spoken about that the campaign is very much secondary to that series and a lot of people don't even touch it. Its easy enough to get the data on that and probably realise that their money can probably be used better elsewhere.
S.C.G Posted April 19, 2018 Posted April 19, 2018 2 minutes ago, Happenstance said: I wouldn't be surprised if removing the campaign has been talked about for years so im not sure this is definitely a reaction to wanting a Battle Royale mode. Its always been spoken about that the campaign is very much secondary to that series and a lot of people don't even touch it. Its easy enough to get the data on that and probably realise that their money can probably be used better elsewhere. It's weird though, perhaps I'm the exception but I tend to buy COD and just play the story mode, often without bothering with the multiplayer. Having said that, the last campaign I played was part of Advanced Warfare, so I don't think I'll even bother picking up COD now at all, unless the campaign gets added in... ...and when it's cheap, £10 or less.
Happenstance Posted April 19, 2018 Posted April 19, 2018 1 minute ago, S.C.G said: It's weird though, perhaps I'm the exception but I tend to buy COD and just play the story mode, often without bothering with the multiplayer. Having said that, the last campaign I played was part of Advanced Warfare, so I don't think I'll even bother picking up COD now at all, unless the campaign gets added in... ...and when it's cheap, £10 or less. No I'm the same but I know we are definitely in the minority. 1
bob Posted April 19, 2018 Posted April 19, 2018 Aren't they re-releasing COD:MW2 with just the campaign and no multiplayer? Maybe they are hoping people buy both, one for the campaign and the other for the multiplayer? 1
Julius Posted April 19, 2018 Posted April 19, 2018 charlieINTEL is reporting that the game’s multiplayer will be similar to that of Overwatch.
dwarf Posted April 20, 2018 Posted April 20, 2018 (edited) What?! So there's no campaign to speak of, they're changing multiplayer beyond recognition, and they're shamelessly tacking on a battle royale mode? I'm in. Edited April 21, 2018 by dwarf
Julius Posted May 17, 2018 Posted May 17, 2018 (edited) Reveal in 10 minutes. Edited May 17, 2018 by Julius Caesar
Hero-of-Time Posted May 17, 2018 Author Posted May 17, 2018 Seems like they are just mashing BO2 and 3 together and then throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks. Seems a bit of a mess, IMO. The BR mode reveal was hilarious. They hype up their new game mode and then don't show a single bit of footage from it. It was also confirmed that there will be no campaign in the game.
Julius Posted May 17, 2018 Posted May 17, 2018 15 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said: The BR mode reveal was hilarious. They hype up their new game mode and then don't show a single bit of footage from it. Yeah, I was surprised at just how hyped everyone in the audience got given that no BR gameplay was shown. I’m going to hazard a guess that the first gameplay of their BR - Blackout, was it? - turns up in Sony’s showing at E3 next month, which will be huge. I honestly don’t care much for CoD, but I am intrigued by the direction that they’re taking things in. It’ll be interesting to see how this effects the numbers of Fortnite over the Christmas period. 1
Hero-of-Time Posted May 17, 2018 Author Posted May 17, 2018 I just can't see how they can justify charging full price for a game that has a mode gutted from it and replaces it with a mode that is free elsewhere. No doubt it will still launch at the usual price.
dwarf Posted May 17, 2018 Posted May 17, 2018 On 4/20/2018 at 11:14 AM, dwarf said: What?! So there's no campaign to speak of, they're changing multiplayer beyond recognition, and they're shamelessly tacking on a battle royale mode? I'm in. 1 hour ago, Julius Caesar said: Reveal in 10 minutes.
drahkon Posted May 17, 2018 Posted May 17, 2018 (edited) 36 minutes ago, Julius Caesar said: It’ll be interesting to see how this effects the numbers of Fortnite over the Christmas period. I doubt it'll change much. Fortnite is already established and gets updated weekly. New content is dropped almost every month (map changes, weapons) which keeps things fresh and the player base interested. Sure, the CoD fans will be all over Blackout (see trailer below) but unless it's something utterly spectacular nothing will change with regards to Fortnite (and PUBG for that matter; EDIT: actually...maybe PUBG and CoD will be direct competitors with both having a more "realistic" approach instead of Fortnite's "fantasy style"; who knows). But only time will tell. Maybe Black Ops 4 will prove me wrong I am intrigued by this, though. However, there's no way I will pay full price for this. Edit: Watched the multiplayer trailer. Seems all over the place with no real focus on anything. Very meh. I'll definitely give the inevitable beta a try before final judgement, though. Edited May 17, 2018 by drahkon 1
Julius Posted May 17, 2018 Posted May 17, 2018 2 minutes ago, drahkon said: I doubt it'll change much. Fortnite is already established and gets updated weekly. New content is dropped almost every month (map changes, weapons) which keeps things fresh and the player base interested. Sure, the CoD fans will be all over Blackout (see trailer below) but unless it's something utterly spectacular nothing will change with regards to Fortnite (and PUBG for that matter), I am intrigued by this, though. However, there's no way I will pay full price for this. I think that if this game sells over 10 million copies, as Call of Duty games regularly do, I do think that there is the potential for a substantial overlap between Blackout and Fortnite, which I think could take some players away from Fortnite come later this year. It could literally just last a weekend and be a glorious fad, but, on the other hand, Call of Duty is strongly positioned to contend with Fortnite in a way that PUBG can’t. That being said, I do think that there are a few potential problems which could lead to that not being the case. For instance, why is Blackout being tied to Black Ops 4 and not being positioned as an ongoing service which will transcend the typical annual refresh of the Call of Duty franchise? Sure, Activision wants to make money - and I assume that this game will still have an RRP of £60 - but getting players to buy into a refresh of a GAAS (game as a service) model like this annually would seem silly, especially seeing as they’ll probably end up copying Fortnite’s business model by having an in-game currency and season passes. If this was a GAAS product being worked on continuously by an entire studio, which was positioned separately from the annual titles (which could then retain both typical first-person shooter multiplayer modes and a campaign), and which had a base cost tied to a season pass of £10/pc for those who don’t own the most recent annual CoD, and free for those that do, then I think they could get away with copying Fortnite’s business model and make a ton of cash as a result. The way that they seem to be doing things could still make them a lot of money, but I agree: a free game with a massive community and is completely supported by a developer is going to probably beat out a AAA game with a £60 RRP which only wants to take more of your money every day of the week, at least in the PR side of things. 1
Recommended Posts