New Barebones ‘no Specialists’ playlist coming soon to Black Ops 4 – everything we know so far

Albert Petrosyan

Call of Duty developers Treyarch have confirmed that the highly anticipated Barebones playlist will be making its debut soon in Black Ops 4 Multiplayer.

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During their special Studio Livestream on March 25, Treyarch developers gave players a glimpse at what they should expect from Barebones once it goes live in Multiplayer.

Since it was first announced several weeks ago, players have been eagerly waiting for the release of Barebones, especially since it was the “no Specialist” playlist that everyone had been asking for. 

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What is Barebones?

Barebones is a Multiplayer playlist in Black Ops 4 that strips away some of game’s more advanced and modern aspects and essentially boils gameplay down to the more classic battle involving just weapons and scorestreaks.

In this playlist, players will not be able to use Specialist equipment or abilities, weapon Operator Mods, or Gear, such as Stim Shot, Armor, Acoustic Sensor, etc…

Although players play as Specialists for cosmetic purposes in Barebones, they will not be able to use any of the Specialist equipment or abilities.
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Furthermore, regular equipment, such as grenades or trophy systems, will be available once per life and will not recharge after being used within a single life. 

The playlist will not be completely old school, however, as Treyarch have decided to keep in manual healing and For of War within Barebones.

When does Barebones go live?

The Barebones playlist is set to go live when the next major Black Ops 4 update releases on March 25, most likely at around 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET / 5 PM GMT.

As for how long this playlist will be available remains to be seen, as Treyarch have not yet announced an end date for Barebones.

Manual healing will continue to exist in Barebones, but players will not be able to use Stim Shots to speed up the process.
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What modes will be available in Barebones?

The first two Multiplayer modes to be available in the Barebones playlist will be Team Deathmatch and Domination, although Treyarch have pretty much confirmed that more modes will be added down the line.

There will also be a Barebones Hardcore Moshpit available for Hardcore players, and this Moshpit will also just feature TDM and Domination at the start. 


You can watch Treyarch’s Black Ops 4 Studio Livestream in its entirety down below, with the Barebones section starting at the 1:03:05 mark

Make sure to follow us @DexertoINTEL as we will provide more information about the upcoming update in Black Ops 4, including the full patch notes, as soon as it becomes available. 

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About The Author

Albert is a former esports and gaming writer, focused particularly on Call of Duty and content creators. Spending over three years at Dexerto, Albert eventually now works with streamer NICKMERCS and the MFAM group. You can find Albert @AlbertoRavioli on Twitter.