Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 is not a perfect game – but with Blackout mode, its ability to retain players is intact. Blackout mode is sort of like a Battle Royale mode with last man standing wins. Despite being a resounding success, looks like Blackout mode is not going to be back in the sequel, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare.
Based on a recent interview, Joe Cecot from Infinity Ward, director of CoD’s multiplayer part has compared Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. His mentions about the popular “Battle Royale” mode Blackout is less than favorable. His reason behind the exclusion of blackout mode is that Black Ops 4 and Modern Warfare are different in tone – therefore Infinity Ward’s upcoming release would use a different design.
Modern Warfare is supposed to be authentic, with gritty and realistic arsenals – it should be a separated experience to the previous games, said Cecot. He then elaborates that IW is going to pull back to the root of CoD a.k.a Modern Warfare to bring back the pure experience.
There are fans of Battle Royale amongst Infinity Ward developers, and a Battle Royale mode is something that can be considered further down the line. However, core multiplayer and “large player count” mode is the only thing they have been working on as of late.
The aforementioned “large player counts” mode might be a reference to the new “big team multiplayer mode” that includes a squad of 20 or 40 versus the same opposing force. There is a rumor that some mode called “Ground War” is also being worked on, which should be able to host at least 100 players per round. About this rumor, Cecot said that they are working on multiplayer and net code so that pushing up the player count would be easier.
Despite providing no Battle Royale mode, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare definitely has covered all its bases with their various new modes like the aforementioned “big team multiplayer”. It is unknown if the next multiplayer beta on September would feature this mode – however, players can be sure that Infinity Ward would not screw this up.