More than 400.000 Twitch viewers tuned in on October 12 to watch their favorite streamers try out “Call of Duty: Black Ops 4” and its new battle royale mode, Blackout. Treyarch and Activision's newest entry in the blockbuster series ditched a single-player campaign for its own account in the ultra-popular back-row 100-player game mode. The change helped energize players and fans across the competitive scene ahead of the 2019 Call of Duty World League season.
The season, which kicks off with the Las Vegas event on December 7, will mark the first time in competitive Call of Duty history that teams will not play 4v4. Treyarch announced that “Black Ops 4” would feature 5v5 competitions, a split between casual 6v6 matches and the 4v4 matches that professional players have always had.
“The idea behind this is to make the game that casual gamers play almost identical to the game that professionals play. The only difference would be skill level," coach Mark Bryceland told ESPN. “In the past, the discrepancy between the number of players has made the game played by casual gamers at home completely different from the one we play. Other sports are built on the same idea that it should be competitive."
Treyarch hopes the change will bring more interest to the competitive scene, although the players and coaches ESPN spoke with are divided. Several have claimed that the change will make the league one of the heaviest, allowing top teams to add another star player to their roster of players. Others have said it could lead to more amateur talent coming into the spotlight as new spots are opened on the roster.
One thing many players agreed on was how the 5v5 change could introduce a greater variety of playstyles while helping the league prepare for a franchise system similar to that of the Overwatch League.
“One of the biggest things that the move to 5v5 allows for is new types of rosters,” 100 Thieves director of sports operations Eric “Muddawg” Sanders told ESPN. “4v4 setup and pacing never allowed for two Assault players in the same comp.”
Traditional team compositions have consisted of an assault rifle player, one or two machine gunners, and a flexible player who can switch roles.
“World League play has only allowed one long-range assault rifle player and a combination of submachine gun players to put pressure on different parts of the map,” Sanders said. “The additional player allows us to add another assault rifle, which should open up teams to a variety of playstyles. You'll probably see a few different approaches to how teams use that new composition."
Teams still have time to figure out what kind of setup works best for 5v5 play before the new season kicks off, though the biggest concern is whether Treyarch will have enough time to fix the design and mechanical issues players are having with “Black Ops 4”.
“Treyarch always has better mechanics than Infinity Ward and Sledgehammer. His games are the smoothest and most fluid,” said retired pro gamer Jeremy “Neslo” Olsen. “They take time to add patches. I think that's why they released this one month early, to give themselves enough time so they're not shipping patches three days before big events."
Players have lamented the lack of smoke grenades and EMPs, both of which were strong counters in previous games. Specialists, who were a big source of complaints in “Black Ops 3”, have also caused problems again. Players have also found that certain maps don't work well in a 5v5 setup, even in a mode like search and destroy.
“Some maps don't work in a 5v5 environment,” said FaZe player Anthony “Methodz” Zinni. "They've said they designed the game around it, but it doesn't always feel that way."
The official set of rules, published on October 26, confirmed 11 different maps between search and destroy, hard point and rotation control. Treyarch has already responded to some concerns by adding the hacienda to the hardpoint map rotation, which could be a sign that they are ready to make a lot of changes before December.
Although no official announcement has been made, some players believe this change is part of a larger effort to get Call of Duty out to a general audience. Rumors that Activision has been planning a franchised league for the shooter have come from multiple sources since June.
"I think the franchise is on the horizon," Zinni said. “5v5 feels like the norm in all sports. Though I don't think 5v5 is going to bring more people into the scene on its own. The game itself will, especially with all these streamers playing Blackout."
Treyarch's new battle royale mode has brought a ton of excitement to the franchise, as tens of thousands of viewers have watched the game since its launch. "It's more popular than regular Call of Duty, which has been on the decline in recent years," Olsen said. “We can't act like it's the flavor of the month either, as Fortnite is one of the biggest games ever. Activision could easily do
