The Call of Duty franchise is in a unique position currently with multiple games in the franchise–Call of Duty: Warzone and Modern Warfare–continuing to perform very well, and a third, Black Ops Cold War, scheduled for release very soon (and this is to say nothing of Call of Duty Mobile which is hugely popular, too). Due in part to the gigantic success of the free-to-play battle royale game Warzone, Activision is introducing a new “synchronized” levelling system where XP and levels apply to all three games.
We recently had the chance to speak with Black Ops Cold War lead designer Tony Flame about this new approach where earning XP in one game applies to all three, and he shed some light on why and how Black Ops will become baked into Warzone.
“Warzone is a 2020 game. It’s not even a year old; it’s barely half a year old. And people are still really highly engaged with it,” Flame said. “So we didn’t want to be splitting players with a game that wasn’t even a year old and has a lot of steam. So we decided to double down on Warzone and make our battle royale experience for Cold War within Warzone. So you’re going to have Cold War guns, you’re going to have a Cold War story.”
The “explosion” wording is intriguing given that the ongoing rumor is that a nuke will explode in Warzone and the game will re-launch with an updated Cold War-style map. This is not confirmed for now, but it’s an intriguing thought.
The idea to earn XP in one game that applies to all three was the only way forward, Flame said, and there was already precedent for it with Modern Warfare and Warzone sharing progression.
“When we realized that people were going to be coming and going between both games, there just wasn’t any other solution to it,” Flame said. “We had to incentive people to play, and it was already there. The precedent was already set with Modern Warfare and Warzone, so we had to meet that precedent. And it was a lot of work.”
There will be cross-game challenges, Flame said, and these posed a technical challenge for the developers. Additionally, weapons can be used across games, and this poses some interesting challenges and considerations, given Black Ops Cold War is set in the ’80s and Modern Warfare and Warzone take place in the current day.
Warzone is a playpen of sorts where the three games combine.
“In Warzone you have Modern Warfare guns and Cold War guns. And they have different attachments; they might even have different level counts,” Flame said. “So all of these we had to account for, but at the end of the day, what the player gets is a continuous experience whether they’re working on their battle pass and unlocking things, they’re going to be unlocking that content across games, and they can play whatever game they want. So what it really feels like is you’re just getting more Call of Duty.”
It’s been reported that Warzone will not change game engines when Black Ops Cold War becomes integrated into it in December. I asked Flame directly if there would be an engine change, and his wording suggests there won’t be. “Warzone will be a continuous experience for players with Black Ops layered into it,” Flame said.
What this means in practice is not immediately clear. Given what we’ve learned from the Black Ops Cold War multiplayer beta, the game has different systems than Modern Warfare/Warzone–for example, you cannot open doors or mount weapons in Black Ops Cold War. Here’s to hoping we learn more about the integration soon.
We are ending Year 5 of Rainbow Six Siege stronger than ever with the supercharged season Operation Neon Dawn! For this occasion, we’re introducing another Defender to our roster: fierce Thai Operator Aruni. She is equipped with the Surya Gate, a device that zaps drones and projectiles. This new Unique Ability will have opponents’ heads spinning.
You’ll find all the information about the season’s changes below, from the Skyscraper map rework to the Seasonal Weapon Skin. There’s also information about new accessibility features, as well as changes to Echo’s Yokai, and Hibana’s X-Kairos! Keep reading for more.
Infinity Ward bereitet ein großes Update 1.29 für Call of Duty: Modern Warfare und Warzone vor. Kurz vor dem Release von Black Ops Cold War geben die Entwickler einen rund 33 Gigabyte großen Patch als Download frei – auf PS4 sind teilweise bereits…
We have taken good note of the Pro and Community feedback. We recognize that the current meta revolving around heavy utility in defense is causing issues to the health of the game.
This is a global issue, tied to multiple Operators that will require several changes. As a result, we are taking a few important steps to try to address it.
Catchers
Catcher Operators are able to deny Attackers utility (projectiles). The combination of several Defenders of this type within a same line-up is putting a heavy strain on the Attacking side.
We are trying to lower the amount of projectiles denied by these Operators within a single round.
Currently, those catcher Operators can deny __five to six__ projectile per round. We are aiming for something closer to __three to six__ per Operator.
– Jäger is being reworked. A single ADS will no longer deny several projectiles in quick succession. We expect this change to lower his denial ability to be around three projectiles per rounds. – Wamai is losing a MAG-NET: this will mechanically lower his ability to deny projectiles to four. – Aruni has been designed with that constraint in mind. Similarly to Jäger, she should have a denial ability of three projectiles (she will have less option to place her gadgets than Jäger).
Defense & Bulletproof utility
Catchers are great at protecting already resilient utilities: bullet-proof gadgets.
Changes to catchers should mechanically affect bulletproof gadgets. That being said, we will continue to keep a close eye on those operators.
We will react accordingly and tweak some of them if we deem it necessary. (Melusi and Goyo in particular).
We reshuffled the distribution of quite some secondary gadgets, including Deployable Shields. (See the Operator break-down below).
Dependency on Ash and Zofia
The Utility Meta forced Attackers to heavily rely on projectiles (mostly explosive ones) in order to deal with the bulletproof utility.
In that regard, both Zofia and Ash (to a lesser extent) turned out to be mandatory picks. This lead to making these two Operators with an already solid loadout even more appealing.
Our goal is to have as much diversity as possible in terms of Operator presence, even in a competitive environment. We are not ignoring this aspect of the issue.
We have also been working on another solution to let Attackers deal with Defenders’ utility. That solution is not completely ready for now, but we are looking forward to tell you more soon™.
Operator Balancing
Hibana
– Added configurable shot to the X-Kairos launcher.
Population targeted by this change: Top Ranked and Pros.
The newly added configurable shot will allow more flexibility, as Hibana will choose the number of X-Kairos to shoot.
She will be able to select between, two, four, or six X-Kairos per shot. We have made several changes to the gadget to make sure that the user experience stays smooth and self-explanatory.
We felt that we needed to provide attackers with more hard breaching options to even out the odds and reduce the pressure on the Attacking side. Our first step was to introduce the Secondary Hard Breach charge. The next step was to look at the resource management of hard breachers. Until today Hibana had to waste quite some X-Kairos whenever a hatch or a Castle barricade had to be destroyed.
Following the Y5S4 update Hibana will be able to manage her resource as follows:
– Hatches will require 4 X-Kairos. (The extra two pellets won’t be used up anymore) – Castle’s Armor Panel will require 1 X-Kairos. (Only one pellet will be used up instead of 5) – We expect Hibana to be able to open hatches more often and to be even more useful and creative.
She will now have the possibility to open one extra hatch, if her resources are managed properly.
Jäger
– The ADS can only catch one projectile each 10 secs.
Population targeted by this change: Top Ranked and Pros.
As we explained it in the introduction, the status of the utility meta is at the source of a number of issues. We believe that one way to tackle the subject is to look at how Defenders counter the attack.
Currently, Attackers suffer from being unable to effectively destroy a number of gadgets. We believe that Jäger, as well as Wamai are a part of the issue.
With this change, we expect the attacking side to be more effective when spending projectiles on the defending setup. This should reduce the number of projectiles needed by Attackers and open opportunities for other secondary gadgets and Operators.
We also expect Jäger to be a bit closer to Wamai in terms of presence, as the former is incredibly popular.
Interaction between different catchers:
– Jäger has priority over Wamai. If both gadgets are placed at a similar distance from the projectile, the ADS will have the priority. – If Wamai intercepts a projectile and brings it into the range of an ADS, the ADS will intercept the projectile and both gadgets will be used up. – Surya Gates block the line of sight of the ADS and of the MAG-NET system. – In any other case, the closest catching device is triggered.
Echo
– Removed cloaking to the Yokai Drone. – Added Deployable Shield (Removed Barbed Wire).
Population targeted by this change: Casual, Top Ranked and Pros.
Echo has been targeted by Operator bans since those were introduced. The feedback we gathered from the Community indicated that the Yokai drone was a constant source of frustration.
We consider that its cloaking ability played an important role in that perception.
We also noticed that Echo turned out to be one of the most problematic Operator in pro play for many teams.
By removing the Yokai drone invisibility, we hope to reduce the Operator ban rate in Ranked as well as in pro plays. Additionally, the skill ceiling required to use the drone effectively should be increased.
Echo mains will have to think twice before placing their drones. Using the ultrasonic burst should also be riskier, more difficult but also more rewarding.
We also expect attacking teams to be a little less reliant on IQ, as she is not a mandatory pick to deal with Yokai drones.
As for the secondary gadget, the Japanese Defender will have to spend more time using his drone.
We felt that giving him a deployable shield to protect himself is useful and makes sense. His Impact Grenades may also be an interesting alternative for players versed in Impact Tricking.
Ash
– Added Claymore (Removed Stun Grenades). – Added one extra Breaching Round (From 2 to 3). – Breaching Round damage reduced to 50 (From 90).
Population targeted by this change: Top Ranked and Pros.
Ash boasts a very strong presence and currently is one of the best Operator to counter Jäger and Wamai. She has a central role in the current utility meta and we needed to have a closer look at her.
We would like players to focus on her Primary Gadget and incentivize the team play. The utility she brings is very important, and we also need to provide attackers with more explosive projectiles to deal with the defending setup.
By removing the Stun Grenades, Ash won’t be able to deal with the projectile catchers as easily, she goes down to three throwables (from 5). The extra Breaching Round should increase the number of utility she can destroy.
While we understand that it can be perceived as strong reduction of her capabilities, we are mainly trying to redistribute the utility she brings and to tone down her entry-fragging aspect.
Dokkaebi
– Added Frag Grenades (Removed Stun Grenades).
Population targeted by this change: Top Ranked and Pros.
Dokkaebi suffers a bit from a low presence, she is an Operator that brings intel already. By giving her (back) frag grenades, we want her to be able to destroy bulletproof utility.
She brings a lot of intel by taking control of cameras and by tracking down enemy roamers with her Logic bomb. Now, thanks to her newly added destruction ability should help speeding up the execution on the attacker side even more.
Again this change is part of our overall reflection on the current utility meta, that we will keep an eye on it during the next Season onwards.
Twitch
– Added Stun Grenades (Removed Breach Charges).
Population targeted by this change: Top Ranked and Pros.
Twitch has seen her presence reduced over the last few seasons, as the F2 is not performing as well as it used to.
By adding Stun Grenades to Twitch, we are aiming at making the French Attacker a better utility denial than she is now and to boost her presence.
The arrival of the Surya Gate may be problematic for Twitch, as she may not rely on as many projectiles as other Operator specialized in utility destruction.
Stun grenades may be a better option than Breach Charges to make sure that she can effectively use her primary ability.
This change is entirely focused on Pro Play, as Ranked and Casual players always prefer using the C4 as a secondary gadget.
However, the impact of her Deployable Shield in competitive play has been the source of many feedback and discussion.
Once again, this change is part of our intent to reduce the overall amount of bulletproof utility.
We opted for Impact Grenades as a replacement, as it brings the possibility to remodel bombsites or to impact-trick.
Wamai
– Added Impact Grenades (Removed Deployable Shield). – Removed the explosion when the MAG-NET system self-destructs. – Reduced the number of MAG-NETs to 4 (From 5).
Population targeted by this change: Pros.
Very much like Valkyrie, Wamai was identified as a source of discussion for Pro Players and analysts.
His ability to rely on both a Deployable Shield, as well as his ability to deny throwables made him an extremely strong Defender that caused multiple issues to the Attacking side.
The replacement of his shield by Impact Grenades should partially address the concern.
Additionally we have decided to remove his overall number of MAG-NETs to reduce the pressure on the Attacker’s utility. Our data indicated that the average number of MAG-NETs was quite high.
We consider that impact grenades may give him a mobility boost. Given how flexible MAG-NETs deployments are, he could potentially roam slightly more than prior to this change.
Zero
– Added Hard Breach charges (Removed Frag Grenades).
Population targeted by this change: Top Ranked and Pros.
Zero was released with a strong kit and we realized that he was able to be very autonomous and did not need to rely on his teammates as much as we would like to.
The combination of a primary gadget having projectiles with Frag Grenades appeared too effective. We are aiming at making him more support-focus, we want him to deny Defenders’ gadgets, flank watch and help breaching reinforcement.
Zero relies on a strong primary weapon and we are confident he will continue to perform well.
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After a year away, 100 Thieves is returning to the Call of Duty League and competing under the moniker Los Angeles Thieves. 100 Thieves purchased their re-entry by acquiring Immortals Gaming Club’s OpTic Gaming LA slot.
100 Thieves is a gaming organization/lifestyle brand with multiple esports teams under its management. It is founded by a well-known and decorated Call of Duty player, Matthew “Nadeshot” Haag. The organization has also achieved impressive results in the CoD World League, including placing second place in 2019. To the surprise of many, 100 Thieves left the CoD esports circuit in 2019 when the new Call of Duty League launched. Haag cited the prohibitive cost of entry as the exit’s reason. Activision priced CoD league spots at $25 million, so any organization needs that at a minimum in order to compete. It is undisclosed how much 100 Thieves shelled out for a CoD franchise.
Haag explains 100 Thieves’ change of heart by stating, “We won two Call of Duty championships in 2019 so our year away reminded us how amazing Call of Duty fans are, and how much we missed them. Our fans deserve the best Call of Duty team in the world – and we’re gonna do everything in our power to give it to them.”
100 Thieves also appears to be convinced of CoD’s longevity and retention of fans. “We were impressed by the Call of Duty League’s performance in its first year,” said John Robinson, President & COO of 100 Thieves. “The YouTube partnership, record ratings, and the addition of Warzone events showed us that Activision Blizzard Esports has the ambition and ability to make the Call of Duty League a world class esport.” Call of Duty is indeed having a big moment with the buzz around its newest title Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War.
100 Thieves also recently departed from the CS:GO League. Haag explained that there were a “multitude of factors” for the exit, but the primary reason was that 100 Thieves was based in North America, while players needed support in Europe. The gaming organization now owns teams in Call of Duty, League of Legends, Fortnite, and Valorant. LA Thieves will officially begin play in 2021.
With the communities for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Warzone still going very strong, Activision is changing things up for how these games will continue to be supported when Black Ops Cold War launches on November 13, and the changes sound exciting.
This includes XP and leveling shared across the three games, a new Prestige system, expanded cross-play, and more. Below is a rundown of the key points, but be sure to read Activision’s incredibly detailed blog post to get all the details.
Synchronized Levelling
Starting with player progression, for the first time in Call of Duty’s history across mainline titles, there will be “synchronized” progression across Modern Warfare, Warzone, and Black Ops Cold War. This begins on November 13 with a new system that leads up to the launch of Season One on December 10, which is when Black Ops content will come to Warzone. Here is how Activision describes the process:
“Players will begin by completing Military Ranks, a traditional leveling journey to unlock functional gameplay items. Once completed, Black Ops Cold War players will enter an updated and improved Season Leveling that begins at game launch with the Pre-Season, and which becomes synchronized with all three games at the beginning of Season One on December 10th.”
When Season One begins in December, all XP and levelling will be shared across Modern Warfare, Warzone, and Black Ops Cold War.
With the change, your ranks (1-55) will be known as Military Ranks, and they will be “synchronized” across all three games. You can play normally in any game, and you’ll rank up in each. The Black Ops Cold War Zombies mode also shares this new progression system.
When Season One starts, player levels will be reset to 0 for Modern Warfare and Warzone, so that everyone starts with the same rank when Black Ops Cold War launches with Season One. Only XP is reset, however, so you aren’t losing any items you’ve purchased or unlocked.
New Prestige System
The Office Progression levels are going to be known as Season Levels, and they are synced with all three games. “Seasonal Progression has been updated with aspects of the traditional Prestige system, allowing players to unlock and use rewards, including some incredibly cool legacy player identity items from the world of Black Ops,” Activision said.
All of your XP and leveling from Black Ops Cold War, Warzone, and Modern Warfare will contribute to your Season Leveling and Prestige level.
Activision said the “preferred” way to reach Prestige is to play Black Ops Cold War because there will be specific XP events and “other advantages” in that game and presumably not the others.
Weapon Progression
For weapons, every gun from Modern Warfare and new ones from Black Ops Cold War will be available in Warzone. “The current plan is for Warzone to also include all Primary and Secondary weapons available throughout the lifespan of Black Ops Cold War, including launch and Season weapons, as well as every single Weapon Blueprint,” Activision said. “Naturally, this includes the assortment of free weapons you received during every Season of Modern Warfare, just for playing the game.”
Activision said it has no plans to remove any guns from Warzone. However, weapons from Modern Warfare cannot be used in Black Ops Cold War and Black Ops Cold War weapons can’t be used in Modern Warfare. In the Warzone menu, you will see the Black Ops and Modern Warfare logos on each gun to show which game it originally debuted in.
In terms of progression for weapons, this applies across Black Ops Cold War and Modern Warfare. “Choose an available weapon from Black Ops Cold War or Modern Warfare and use it in Warzone. All XP and leveling counts both in Warzone and the game from which the weapon originated. Work to unlock weapons and attachments for any weapon you like in either game by playing that game or Warzone,” Activision said.
As for other items, Modern Warfare’s perks, lethal equipment, tactical equipment, field upgrades, and some killstreaks will stay in Warzone. Also of note is that all weapon progression and unlocks will remain intact when Season One kicks off.
Operators
All Operators from Modern Warfare and Black Ops Cold War will come into Warzone, and this also includes any skins you might have purchased or unlocked through gameplay. There is one exception, however, as the indomitable Marine Corps Master Sergeant version of Frank Woods is only available in Modern Warfare and Warzone. You can get this skin by preordering Black Ops Cold War digitally.
Battle Pass
As with previous seasons, there will be a new Battle Pass available when Black Ops Cold War launches. This Battle Pass will include content for Black Ops Cold War and Warzone, and progress is shared between Modern Warfare, Warzone, and Black Ops Cold War. Activision said it expects to deliver “a multitude of fresh and exciting Battle Pass” items, though they were not disclosed.
Activision said it has no current plans to remove any Warzone content, but this could happen in some situations. “To ensure the best possible player experience, there may be occasions where content is delayed, or becomes temporarily or permanently inaccessible,” Activision said.
The Store
The Call of Duty in-game store is also coming to Black Ops Cold War, and content purchased in the new game can also be used in Warzone, for the most part. Players can spend COD Points to purchase various cosmetics, and while most can be used in Warzone, those that can’t will be marked as such.
Cross-Play
Modern Warfare and Warzone already enabled cross-play, and this continues with Black Ops Cold War. There will also be a new feature called Cross-Title Invites, and this lets you invite friends who are playing one of the three titles to join yours; the leader will choose which game you’ll play. There is also cross-gen cross-play, so people on Xbox One can play against those on PS5 or any other variant.
Infinity Ward spielt ein neues Update für Call of Duty: Modern Warfare und Warzone auf. Wie die Entwickler über den Kurznachrichtendienst Twitter mitteilen, ist die neue Playlist-Aktualisierung ab sofort auf PC, PS4 und Xbox One live. Mit dem Ende des…
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare continues to break sales records. Activision Blizzard has announced that the game’s first-year sales are the highest in Call of Duty’s history. However, the company did not provide an exact sales number.
That is a notable achievement given that the figure only covers up to September 30, so the game–which released in October 2019–didn’t even need a full year to break the single-year sales record for the franchise. It’s not immediately clear which title was previously the record-setter for first-year sales.
Activision also announced that two-thirds of Modern Warfare’s lifetime sales were digital. That’s good for Activision, as the company makes more money from digital game sales than boxed copies.
The battle royale game Warzone helped improve sales of Modern Warfare, Activision said. The company said it saw “substantial growth” in game sales for Modern Warfare that came from people who upgraded from Warzone, which is free, to the paid game Modern Warfare.
What’s more, Activision said that total hours played in the “Modern Warfare universe,” which covers Modern Warfare and Warzone, were about seven times higher compared to Black Ops 4.
In total, Modern Warfare and Warzone saw more than three times as many monthly active users than Black Ops 4 did during the same period last year. Console monthly active users “grew strongly,” Activision said, while monthly active users on PC grew “over ten-fold” compared to last year.
Activision Blizzard has reported new financial numbers for the July-September period, and it was a gigantic quarter for the gaming publisher. One section of the company’s business that did particularly well was microtransactions. For the three-month period, Activision Blizzard made $1.2 billion from microtransactions, which are called “in-game net bookings.” This is a dramatic 69 percent improvement over the same period last year, when Activision Blizzard made $709 million from in-game net bookings.
Microtransactions are very big business for Activision Blizzard. For the latest reporting period, Activision Blizzard made $1.95 billion in revenue from all of its business combined, so the $1.2 billion figure from microtransactions represents more than half of the company’s total revenue.
Activision’s Call of Duty franchise was a bright spot for microtransactions. Microtransaction sales from Modern Warfare and the battle royale game Warzone were four times higher than the same period last year. Growth was always expected, with far more players jumping into Call of Duty than usual this year
Additionally, Activision reported that Modern Warfare’s first-year sales are the highest in Call of Duty history, and two-thirds of sales came digitally.
Activision Blizzard also owns King, the makers of Candy Crush. Microtransaction revenue from King’s games grew year-over-year, but a specific number was not divulged.
Infinity Ward veröffentlicht ein neues Update für Call of Duty: Modern Warfare und Warzone – die Aktualisierung ist auf PC, PS4 und Xbox One live. In den Patch Notes teilen die Entwickler die Änderungen und Neuerungen mit. Im Vordergrund stehen vor…
