The new ‘Blackout’ Battle Royale mode in Call of Duty: Black ops 4 has generated a massive amount of hype among community members and fans.
On September 4, it was officially announced in an article by GameInformer that Blackout will feature a lobby with 80 players.
“What’s really more important to us than a number is that the gameplay experience is as refined as it can be, that’s it the ideal perfect format for what players are going to play,” he says. “So we’re starting with 80 players, but we’ve gone higher than that. Whenever we launch a game as a beta or whatever, that’s the beginning of something. We’re going to actively be participating in the community and taking feedback, making changes and adapting, evolving the game as feedback rolls in. So there’s a lot that can go on that can happen beyond that first impact of the game going out there.”
Although the figure may change during the official release of Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 in October, the Blackout Beta will test out 80 players in a lobby.
The Call of Duty League’s 2021 campaign is just around the corner, but before the Black Ops Cold War professional season starts, the preseason has kicked off with the Kickoff Classic – where fans finally get to see the league’s best compete.
Battle of the North as revamped ROKKR face Ultra
Marquee matchup: OpTic Chicago vs. LA Thieves
Skrapz gets his revenge against Royal Ravens in tight 3-2 win
The Dallas Empire were the best Call of Duty team in 2020 and that form has lasted into 2021. The day started with 2020 MVP Anthony ‘Shotzzy’ Cuevas-Castro racking up 35 kills and just 17 deaths with almost two minutes of hill time on Map 1, but then it became the Indervir ‘iLLeY’ Dhaliwal show as the upsurging player hit star form with some huge clutches.
With Empire cleaning up their former teammate James ‘Clayster’ Eubanks’ New York Subliners, the day moved on with two tight Map 5’s. First, Bryan ‘Apathy’ Zhelyazkov and the Los Angeles Guerrillas outdueled a revamped Seattle Surge 3-2 and then, in a twist few saw coming, the Florida Mutineers came back against the Atlanta FaZe.
As Cesar ‘Skyz’ Bueno returned to the form that earned him MVP candidacy in 2020, the Mutineers flew back from a 2-1 deficit and eventually clinched the 3-2 victory against a FaZe team who stood near the top of most standings for this season.
CDL Kickoff Classic: Teams & players
With this being the first official CDL matches in Black Ops Cold War, a lot of eyes are watching how the new rosters perform. Two of the most intriguing revamped rosters come with the year’s new brands: OpTic Chicago and the Los Angeles Thieves.
With Arcitys going to Atlanta, Dashy going to Chicago and Temp going to LA, the consequences of roster reshuffling will be key for fans to keep track of during the Kickoff Classic.