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2024 video game Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 (stylized as Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII) is a 2024 multiplayer 🌛 first-person shooter developed by Treyarch and published by Activision. It was released worldwide for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One 🌛 on October 12, 2024. It is a sequel to the 2024 game Call of Duty: Black Ops III, the fifth 🌛 entry in the Black Ops sub-series, and the 15th installment in the Call of Duty series overall. Black Ops 4 is 🌛 the first mainline Call of Duty title without a traditional single-player campaign mode. Instead, it features the Specialist HQ, which 🌛 focuses on the backstories of the game's multiplayer characters, known as "Specialists". The missions take place between Black Ops II 🌛 and III chronologically. Some of the Specialists also carried over from Black Ops III. The multiplayer mode is the first 🌛 in the series to not feature automatic health regeneration and introduces both predictive recoil and a new ballistics system. The 🌛 game included three Zombies experiences on release day, four if a special edition of the game, or the Black Ops 🌛 Pass, was purchased. The locations of the maps include the RMS Titanic, a Gladiatorial Arena in Roman Egypt, and Alcatraz 🌛 Federal Penitentiary. The game also introduced a battle royale mode called Blackout, which features up to 100 players in each 🌛 match. Many characters from this and other Black Ops titles can be used as the player's character model in this 🌛 mode. Development for the game started shortly after the release of Black Ops III. Treyarch chose not to create a traditional 🌛 singleplayer campaign for the game at the beginning of production, instead focusing on a new 'Career' mode with a greater 🌛 focus on the multiplayer aspect. They cited an increased interest for multiplayer and lack of time spent by the playerbase 🌛 on the campaign mode as reasons why they shifted their focus. Black Ops 4 utilizes Blizzard's Battle platform for the 🌛 Windows version instead of Steam, the first game in the series to do so. Teasing of the game began in 🌛 March 2024, with a full reveal taking place later in May. Two betas were held for the game; one for 🌛 the multiplayer in August and one for Blackout in September. The release date was moved up to October instead of 🌛 the series' usual November in an attempt to avoid coinciding with the release of other high-profile games. Pre-release reception of the 🌛 game was negative due to the game's lack of a campaign mode and the Black Ops Pass, a season pass 🌛 that distributes downloadable content (DLC) in the form of "Operations". Black Ops 4 received positive reviews upon release, with praise 🌛 towards its three modes, particularly Blackout, while it received criticism for the game's lack of a campaign mode and the 🌛 design of its microtransactions implemented in updates. Despite physical retail sales for the game being the lowest in the series 🌛 in a decade, it was the best-selling digital launch in Activision's history, surpassing 2024's Call of Duty: WWII.[2] |