Black Ops 4 February 26 update patch notes: Upgraded Blackout interface, Multiplayer balancing, and more

Alan Bernal

With the release of the latest Black Ops 4 update, players on all platforms can now explore everything that the game’s new Operation Grand Heist has to offer.

[ad name=”article1″]

The operation was previously released on February 19 for Playstation 4 users, but a long week of waiting will now reward the rest of the Call of Duty community with loads of new content.

In a February 26 update, Treyarch released everything from the new Multiplayer Specialist Outrider to the latest Blackout location called Ghost Town to the PC and Xbox One communities.

[ad name=”article2″]

Although features such as League Play, the World League Hub and the new Hot Pursuit limited-time mode will come soon after the update, players can immediately dive into a plethora of new content.

Call of Duty fans can expect to dive into League Play and the World League Hub on February 28, while the explosive LTM Hot Pursuit will make its way to Xbox One and PC on March 1.

[ad name=”article3″]

Operation Grand Heist will have plenty of content to keep players busy until more features hit throughout the week.
[ad name=”article4″]

The update also brought a nerf to the Swordfish burst-rifle that will see the ADS movement speed slowed a bit. Treyarch will definitely be monitoring how the change effect the popular weapon and could change the discussion around the current Gentleman’s Agreement in the CWL. 

Blackout fans will be able to try out two new features in the battle royale with Ghost Town being included into the game as well as the long awaited Blackout Quick Equip 2.0.

The revamped layout to Blackout’s loot interface will look to make equipment easier to access while reducing the clutter that previous layouts were infamous for.

Zombies fans are getting the new Death-Con Five Gauntlet on Classified, while Multiplayer gets two new maps in Casino and Lockup.

For full notes on the latest Black Ops 4 update for Xbox One and PC read below:


Operation Grand Heist Now Live on All Platforms

With today’s updates on Xbox One and PC, Operation Grand Heist has now arrived on all platforms, delivering the initial wave of a full season of content across all modes! New content for Xbox One and PC includes:

  • New Specialist in MP and Blackout: Outrider
  • New Party Game MP mode: One in the Chamber
  • 2 new Multiplayer maps for Black Ops Pass holders: Lockup and Casino
  • New Blackout destination: Ghost Town
  • Blackout Prestige System with 10 Prestige levels and 1,000 Echelons
  • Cosmic Silverback character in Blackout for Black Ops Pass holders
  • New “Death-Con Five” Gauntlet in Zombies
  • New Ethereal Razor Perk in Zombies
  • New Contraband stream with 3 new earnable weapons, new Blackout character, Mastercraft Weapon, Reactive Camos, Epic Outfits, new Jump Pack item type, and more
  • Revamped Black Market featuring the return of Blackjack

League Play and the World League Hub will launch this Thursday on Xbox One and PC, with our new Hot Pursuit game mode rolling out on Friday in Blackout on those platforms. One in the Chamber, League Play, and Hot Pursuit continue this week on PS4, along with the additions of Hardcore Map Pack Moshpit and Mercenary Objective Moshpit to the MP Featured Playlist category on all platforms. We’ve also implemented some bug fixes and quality-of-life improvements, including…

Blackout Quick Equip 2.0

Live today in Blackout, we’ve upgraded the Quick Equip interface to stack items of similar types vertically for easier access and less clutter. For example, healing items will appear in a single stack that allows players to quickly scroll through First Aid, Med Kits, and Trauma Kits in one column when the Quick Equip menu is open. Players can toggle this new setting in the Controls section of the Options menu. Give it a shot and let us know what you think after a few matches!

PC Curated Playlists

As we mentioned yesterday from /u/TreyarchPC, we’ve updated the PC playlists in Multiplayer and Zombies to provide faster matchmaking across all game mode types. Check out the PC patch notes below for all the details on our new-and-improved curated playlists.

Here’s what’s new today in Black Ops 4:

  • Multiplayer
    • New Specialist: Outrider (Xbox One/PC)
    • 3 new weapons earnable in the Black Market (Xbox One/PC)
    • 2 new Multiplayer maps for Black Ops Pass holders: Lockup and Casino (Xbox One/PC)
    • Featured Playlist: One in the Chamber (Xbox One/PC)
    • Map Pack Moshpit, Hardcore Map Pack Moshpit, Pro Series Moshpit, and Mercenary Objective Moshpit added to Featured category (Xbox One/PC)
  • Blackout
    • Quality of life improvements to Quick Equip menu
    • New destination: Ghost Town (Xbox One/PC)
    • Two new locations inspired by fan-favorite maps, “Buried” and “Outlaw” (Xbox One/PC)
    • Prestige System with 10 Prestige levels and 1,000 Echelons (Xbox One/PC)
    • New Specialist: Outrider (Xbox One/PC)
    • Cosmic Silverback character for Black Ops Pass holders (Xbox One/PC)
  • Zombies
    • New “Death-Con Five” Gauntlet on “Classified” (Xbox One/PC)
    • New Ethereal Razor Perk (Xbox One/PC)
  • Black Market
    • New 100-Tier Contraband stream (Xbox One/PC)
    • Revamped Black Market featuring the return of Blackjack (Xbox One/PC)
  • PC curated playlist updates

Multiplayer

  • Game Modes
    • One in the Chamber now live as the Featured Playlist.
      • Players are given three lives and a pistol with one bullet.
      • Land a shot or melee enemies to gain another bullet and 100 points.
      • Keep an eye on the UAV sweep and earn the most points to win.
    • Map Pack Moshpit, Hardcore Map Pack Moshpit, Pro Series Moshpit, and Mercenary Objective Moshpit added to Featured category.
  • Weapon Tuning
    • Swordfish
      • Reduced ADS move speed slightly.
  • Perks
    • Engineer
      • Players now properly see K9-Unit and Strike Team Scorestreaks through walls with the Engineer Perk equipped.
  • Specialists
    • Outrider
      • Addressed an issue where Outrider would not respawn until her Hawk was destroyed, if she was killed during the last frame of her deploy animation.
  • World League Hub
    • Fixed a crash that could occur while trying to load into a Search and Destroy match.

Blackout

  • Gameplay
    • Quick Equip 2.0
      • Items of similar types are now stacked vertically in the Quick Equip menu for quick cycling and less clutter.
      • Players can toggle this new setting in the Controls section of the Options menu.
  • Prestige
    • Prestige icon now displays in the After Action Report after Blackout matches.

Multiplayer

  • New Specialist
    • Outrider playable in Multiplayer after unlocking Tier 1 in the Black Market.
    • Special Issue Weapon: Sparrow
      • Fire explosive-tipped arrows with deadly accuracy.
    • Special Issue Equipment: Hawk
      • Pilotable drone that can be parked at strategic overwatch positions. Automatically tags enemies in its view.
  • New Weapons
    • Three new weapons now earnable in the Black Market to use in Multiplayer:
      • Switchblade X9 folding SMG
      • Rampage full-auto shotgun
      • Cha-Ching! money bag melee weapon
  • New Multiplayer Maps
    • Lockup and Casino maps now available for Black Ops Pass holders.
    • Available in standard map rotation (Core and Hardcore) and in the Map Pack Moshpit playlist.

Blackout

  • New Destination: Ghost Town
    • Drop into a new Western-themed destination in the southeast desert featuring two new locations inspired by fan-favorite maps: “Outlaw” above ground and “Buried” below.
  • Prestige System
    • Prestige up to 10 times on your way to Prestige Master and conquer 1,000 Echelons.
    • Unlock unique Prestige icons, Calling Cards, Victory Coins, and Echelon Characters as you rise through the ranks.
  • New Characters
    • Outrider playable in Blackout after unlocking Tier 1 in the Black Market.
      • Outrider’s Outfit Unlock mission now available to find and complete.
    • Cosmic Silverback now available for Black Ops Pass holders.

Zombies

  • New Gauntlet: “Death-Con Five”
    • 30 rounds of challenges on “Classified” with unique rules for each round.
    • Players earn medals and tiered rewards for completing rounds 10, 20, and 30, as well as a cosmetic reward for completing round 30 without failing a round.
    • Players are issued a Strike by failing a round, with the game ending after three Strikes.
    • All matches are timed for competitive speed-run support.
  • New Perk: Ethereal Razor
    • Provides health gain and greatly increased damage to melee attacks.

Black Market

  • Contraband Stream
    • New 100-Tier Contraband stream including:
      • 3 new earnable weapons
      • New Blackout character
      • New Mastercraft Weapon
      • New Reactive Camos
      • New Epic Outfits
      • New cosmetic Jump Pack item type + more
    • Newly revamped Black Market featuring the return of Blackjack.
  • Progression System Updates
    • Reserve Cases earnable at every Tier after 100 in the Contraband stream.
    • Daily Tier Skips apply to Tiers after the 100-Tier mark through play in all modes.
    • Players earn new Cases in addition to unlocking Contraband Tiers through gameplay time.

Multiplayer

  • New Core Playlists
    • Deathmatch Moshpit
      • Team Deathmatch
      • Kill Confirmed
    • Objective Moshpit
      • Domination
      • Hardpoint
      • Safeguard
    • Limited Lives Moshpit
      • Control
      • Search & Destroy
      • Heist
    • Free-for-All
  • New Hardcore Playlists
    • Hardcore Deathmatch Moshpit
      • Hardcore Team Deathmatch
      • Hardcore Kill Confirmed
    • Hardcore Objective Moshpit
      • Hardcore Domination
      • Hardcore Search & Destroy

Zombies

  • New Public Playlists
    • Featured Gauntlet
    • Latest Released Map
    • Chaos Maps
    • Aether Maps
    • Rush

-Treyarch

About The Author

Alan is a former staff writer for Dexerto based in Southern California who covered esports, internet culture, and the broader games/streaming industry. He is a CSUF Alum with a B.A. in Journalism. He's reported on sports medicine, emerging technology, and local community issues. Got a tip or want to talk?