Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 fully relies on zombies. The creepy undead are supposed to entice players from all modes into the new battle royale mode, Blackout. The developers from Treyarch revealed this and more details about the multiplayer in an interview.
At the gaming fair EGX 2018 in Berlin, we were able to secure a large interview with the Black Ops 4 developers Jason Blundell (Sr. Executive Producer, Zombies, Treyarch), Thomas Wilson (Co-Studio-Head Beenox), Jonathan Moses (Senior Producer PC, Treyarch), and David Vonderhaar (Studio Design Director, Treyarch).
In the first part of the interview, we discussed the new battle royale mode Blackout. The second part, however, focuses on the zombies and the multiplayer mode in general.
Interview on Black Ops 4 – Part 2: Zombies and Multiplayer
MeinMMO: The multiplayer modes are more oriented towards teams and tactical gameplay. Why did you do that, and are you not afraid that hardcore fans will take it badly?
Treyarch (David Vonderhaar): Hardcore fans complain about everything, that’s why they are hardcore fans! You shouldn’t be afraid to move the game forward. You have a vision and you have to implement it. We have a 5vs5 multiplayer game, which makes it more tactical.
Competitive players play 4vs4, public players play 6vs6. 5vs5 is right in the middle, bridging both camps, and should be fun for everyone. That was the right decision.
I’m not afraid that we made a mistake. It wasn’t a difficult decision; it was a clever decision.
Black Ops 4 is designed for Twitch
MeinMMO: The Black Ops series has always been known as the most innovative series in CoD. How do you come up with your ideas? How do the creative processes work for you?
Treyarch: Thanks, we appreciate that. It’s nice to receive recognition. Early in the development, we talk about the pillars of the game. We look at how the last game performed. What went well, what could be improved? And from that, we develop the pillars of the new game. The core values.
In the current game, part of the agenda was that it is fun to watch [in streams]. Blackout, multiplayer, and zombies should be enjoyable to watch for everyone. And then we improve that. The zombie mode is now even more fun to watch because we included custom matches among other things.
This way, hardcore players can record even better videos and showcase them. We also think about how to bring all player types of Black Ops together. That’s how zombies came to Blackout. It’s actually silly on so many levels. But it’s perfect for Black Ops as a whole.
MeinMMO: I’m really looking forward to the zombies in Blackout. I have always wanted a PvE component in a BR game.
Treyarch: What is battle royale anyway? It is what we say it is and how it should be. So far, no one has put PvE content in a BR game.
MeinMMO: So you don’t care how other people interpret battle royale? You just do your own thing?
Treyarch: There are fundamental principles. Battle royale fundamentally consists of 100 players, random loot, and the “last man standing” principle. Those are principles, but rules exist to be broken. Establishing and breaking rules is a philosophy of its own.
Everyone loves zombies
MeinMMO: Why are there zombies in Blackout?
Treyarch: Zombies are part of CoD, period! At Treyarch, we really want to achieve something new. That’s sometimes scary, but that’s how you keep a franchise fresh. People love zombies. We have a huge zombie fanbase. We have a huge PvP multiplayer fanbase. So the next logical step was to connect them.
MeinMMO: So are zombies a kind of bridge to connect both existing CoD camps?
Treyarch: Zombies are the ideal bridge. Because zombie fans also play the regular multiplayer mode and vice versa. And it works! Both multiplayer streamers and zombie streamers streamed plenty of Blackout and liked it.
MeinMMO: Will there be raids in the zombie mode like in WoW or Destiny?
Treyarch (David Vonderhaar): Some of this was shown in our presentation video [there were indeed boss monsters]. Worlds collide and we already have the technology to put AI enemies and 100 players into a map. The technology is there. Can you imagine what else is possible? I can.
MeinMMO: So I can also imagine a lot…
Treyarch: Currently, we have no zombie raid planned. But it’s an interesting idea. But first, let’s get this game finished. All of us at Treyarch and our partners think like you: “Where is there still potential?” And it looks very good for the future.
So much for the second part of our interview with Treyarch at the EGX 2018 in Berlin. In part 3, we will continue with information about the PC version and anti-cheat measures.
Here on our streaming channel MAX (Monsters and Explosions), you can hear more information from the mouths of the Treyarch developers.
