Call of Duty fans… well, those willing to pay up for the Black Ops 4 pre-order, will receive access to early beta versions of two distinct game modes ahead of launch: one for the traditional multiplayer mode and one for the new battle royale mode, Blackout.
Activision and Treyarch are rolling out the multiplayer beta in August, while the second planned beta, for the game’s battle royale mode, will start in September.
PlayStation 4 owners enter Black Ops 4’s multiplayer beta first, from 3 through 6 August for the Early Access round. Don’t scratch all your spare change together for a PS4 just yet because the following week, on 10 August, the multiplayer beta is available for PS4, Xbox One and Windows PC through Battle.net.
The public beta on PC becomes available for anyone on the Battle.net network from 11 August, unlike other platforms where only pre-order holders are invited to early testing.
See you in Matchmaking
According to Activision, these are the dates you can mark in your calendars (in a lovely quick-read list format):
- PlayStation 4 (Early Access): Starts 3 August and ends 6 August
- PlayStation 4 and Xbox One (Private beta): Starts 10 August and ends 13 August
- PC (Early Access): Starts 10 August
- PC (Open Beta): Starts 11 August and ends 13 August
The initial multiplayer beta includes access to six maps and multiple ‘Specialists’, the game’s hero archetypes who function as classes. Along with a variety of maps and characters to choose from, players get five multiplayer game modes, including Team Deathmatch, Domination, Hardpoint, Control and Search & Destroy, to play with.
The Control mode sees teams alternate between attacking and defending a pair of static objective points, with each team having a limited number of lives to expend in their attempt to be the first to successfully defend or capture the points three times.
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This time around, players have the ability to customise the classes they create and will receive access to special issue equipment designed exclusively for each Specialist.
In addition to the returning Nomad and Prophet Specialists, Treyarch is introducing new specialists with their own gameplay mechanics.
Everyone who participates in the beta will get a unique, displayable calling card, and beta players who reach the maximum rank will earn a permanent unlock token they can use for any piece of Create-a-Class content they choose when the full game launches.
Blackout beta
The Private Blackout beta kicks off on PlayStation 4 in September. Blackout is the Call of Duty take on the battle royale mode that everyone wants a piece of. This adaptation should prove extremely fun, assuming we’re getting massive battles alongside the signature CoD style. We haven’t seen much of Blackout at all but we’re looking forward to it anyway.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 will officially launch on 12 October, so beta participants will have about a month or two’s practice and ranking in before the slowpokes catch up.
Source: Treyarch
