The new ‘Blackout’ battle royale mode in Call of Duty has been very positively received by the community, there are some apparent flaws in its mechanics.
One aspect that many players have brought up in their few hours of testing out the mode’s Private Beta is the mechanic involved in picking up items.
Players have found that in order to pick up an Item from the ground, they must look closely and precisely at it, which can prove to be cumbersome in certain situations.
This feedback has caught the attention of Treyarch, who have promised to work closely with the community to ensure that Blackout game-play is kept both fun and fresh.
David Vonderhaar, Game Design Director at Treyarch, commented about the matter and mentioned that improvements are already in the works.
Coming soon. We’ve already got improvements in the main game where you won’t have to look so precisely at the Item and just be close to it. I am not yet sure if I can get those in the beta. Certainly will be in v1.
However, Vonderhaar noted that the development team was not willing to compromise the face buttons of many common CoD actions such as reloading, weapon switching, stance change, and jumping.
According to him, messing with the controller button assignments could result in unintended actions, which could prove consequential in certain in-game situations.
Reloading, weapon switching, and other “Call of Duty” face button staples will not be sacrificed for equipping Items or adding to Inventory. We will certainly be sure that it is the fastest (aka: shortest) possible hold press we can do.
I hear you. But, let’s get this out of the way early.
No need to hold on PC. You have dozens of mappable buttons.
Trust me when I say you don’t want to be in a gunfight and need to reload and can’t because you straffed right over something you don’t even want to pick up.
As always … I hear you nonetheless. Lots of ways to improve the usability and lots of ways to solve problems.
Important to us are to do those without creating bigger problems.
Reloading. Weapon switching. Stance change. Jumping. The core combat loop has to be protected.
Another major topic of discussion has been Ammo pickup, which many among the player-base have said should become automatic.
When discussing the matter, Vonderhaar mentioned that while an auto-Ammo pickup mechanic was evaluated, the team decided to go with manual in order to keep the gaming experience more balanced and exciting.
We evaluated auto-Ammo pickup. I wasn’t a fan. We had to put so ammo in the world to compensate that it effectively made Ammo a non-viable Item resource. Everyone running with max ammo wasn’t very interesting.
It remains to be seen whether the changes Vonderhaar alluded to above will make it into the Private Beta for Blackout.
Regardless, with less than a day into the beta, it seems that Treyarch are already delivering on their promise of prioritizing feedback and maintaining good communication with the community.
The Call of Duty League has combined Weeks 2 and 3 of Stage 1 into one massive Super Week of matches, and everything you need to watch and follow the event live can be found below.
OpTic 100-point club Ultra in confident victory.
TJHaLy puts up rare numbers as LA Thieves improve to perfect 3-0.
Empire clutch up in five-map thriller to avoid upset vs Royal Ravens.
Day 4 preview: ROKKR vs NYSL, OpTic vs LAG, FaZe vs Mutineers
Due to the inclement weather in Texas and other parts of the United States causing power outages for a lot of pro players, the CDL opted to combine the Week 2 and 3 matches into Super Week.
Seven straight days of matches will see all 12 teams in action at least three times, and with the Stage 1 Major looming around the corner, this will be the final opportunity for teams to improve their seeding for the $500,000 tournament.
CDL Super Week: Stream
The CDL streams all of its matches exclusively on YouTube, which is where you can also find replays of matches that have already been completed.
Empire & LA Thieves escape upsets, OpTic back to winning ways
Having already suffered an upset loss at Opening Weekend, Dallas Empire barely avoided back-to-back such defeats in their match vs London Royal Ravens. Despite getting completely dominated by the Subliners the day before, London pushed the defending champs to a fifth map before ultimately coming up just short of their first win of the season.
LA Thieves found themselves in a similar situation against the Seattle Subliners, who, just like London, were swept the day before. A back-and-forth affair saw the match pushed to a game five, but that was the most resistance that Surge could offer as LAT dominated the final S&D 6-0, thanks to some historic numbers put up by TJHaLy.
The third and final match of the day saw OpTic Chicago back in action for the first time since their Opening Weekend loss to FaZe. Faced with a stiff test in Toronto Ultra, the Green Wall started off with one of the most dominant Hardpoint wins in CDL history, putting Ultra in the dreaded ‘100-point club.’
The series settled down and got a bit closer after that but OpTic ultimately edged out the victory in four maps, improving to 2-1 on the season while Toronto dropped to 1-2.
Mutineers get first win of 2021, FaZe stay unbeaten
After losing their season-opener at CDL Opening Weekend, Florida Mutineers’ new-look lineup got their first win of 2021 with a 3-1 victory over LA Guerrillas, who now sit at 1-2. LAG won the first map in dominant fashion before the Mutineers ripped off three straight maps to secure the series.
The second match of the day was a battle of the unbeatens as Atlanta FaZe took on Toronto Ultra. The series started back-and-forth, and if it wasn’t for a clutch break at the end of the Raid Hardpoint, Atlanta may have found themselves down 0-2 early.
But things settled down after the second map as FaZe took games three and four quite comfortably to secure the 3-1 victory. The win now gives the boys in red a league-leading three wins, against just zero losses, while Ultra drop to 1-1.
Legion & Subliners sweep their way to first wins, ROKKR stay hot vs Surge
After going 0-2 in the Opening Weekend, Paris Legion finally got their first win of 2021 at Super Week, and what a win it was. Despite being underdogs to the Mutineers, Legion pulled off a shocking sweep that featured a rare Hardpoint ending on time.
Following Paris’ script, the New York Subliners also notched their first one in the win column after sweeping London Royal Ravens in perhaps the most dominant performance we’ve seen so far in 2021.
None of the three maps were close, especially the Control, which saw NYSL shred their opponents from start to finish and not give them even a chance at making any sort of comeback. With the loss, Royal Ravens now sit at 0-2 early on in the season.
Rounding off a trio of Day 2 sweeps was Minnesota ROKKR grabbing their second win in a row after taking apart Seattle Surge 3-0. The series was closer than the final scoreline would suggest as Surge did make solid comebacks in both the S&D and Control, only to fall just short in both.
The win is ROKKR’s second in a row after their upset victory over Dallas Empire at Opening Weekend. Meanwhile, Seattle falls to 1-2, suffering already their second sweep this season.
Matches are best-of-five (HP, S&D, Control, HP, S&D)
CDL Super Week: Teams & Rosters
ROKKRCDL roster spotlight: Minnesota ROKKR’s new-look lineup delivered an upset victory over Dallas Empire at Opening Weekend.
All 12 teams are participating in the Week 2 event, split into the two groups that were drawn at the start of Stage 1. All teams within the same group play each other once during the Stage, for a total of five matches.
Group A
Team
Roster
Dallas Empire
Crimsix, Shotzzy, Huke, iLLeY
London Royal Ravens
Alexx, Dylan, Seany, Zer0
Los Angeles Thieves
Kenny, SlasheR, TJHaLy, Temp
Minnesota ROKKR
Accuracy, Attach, Priestahh, MajorManiak
New York Subliners
Clayster, Asim, Diamondcon, Mack
Seattle Surge
Octane, Gunless, Prestinni, Loony
Group B
Team
Roster
Atlanta FaZe
Simp, Cellium, aBeZy, Arcitys
Florida Mutineers
Skyz, Owakening, Slacked, Neptune
Los Angeles Guerrillas
SiLLY, Assault, Apathy, Vivid
OpTic Chicago
Scump, FormaL, Envoy, Dashy
Paris Legion
AquA, Classic, Fire, Skrapz
Toronto Ultra
Methodz, Bance, Cammy, CleanX
Make sure to check out our CDL 2021 Season hub for the latest standings, full schedule of all events, a breakdown of the season format, and more.
