Rumor: Playtests Say Black Ops IV Is Like Overwatch & Lawbreakers

Leaks Are Unverified but Claim Treyarch Has Shifted Gears in the Game’s Development

Twitter has become something of a rumor mill, thanks to the alleged leaks of one @MatthewHarrisUK. Recently, the claims of various sources close to Call of Duty Black Ops IV sparked a floodgate of additional reports. Granted, we must take everything with a grain of salt. That said, the latest rumours concerning the next Call of Duty’s multiplayer are astounding if taken at face value.

LawBreakers First Impressions Screen 01

According to the leaks, as reported by CharlieIntelCall of Duty Black Ops IV‘s multiplayer shall be akin to Overwatch. Now, the way this might work is if the game utilized a similar hero system. Overwatch is a game that relies on team play – Players select from a roster of characters with unique abilities then work together towards achieving an objective. Furthermore, the leak claims that COD plays like LawBreakers, another objective-based multiplayer game with its own roster. However, LawBreakers chief mechanic is anti-gravity simulation, which actually falls more in line with the wall-jumping maneuvers of Black Ops III. Therefore, it is not so farfetched to see how Black Ops may have transitioned into a convoluted mash-up of existing IPs.

You can find Harris’s relevant leak below:

“New Multiplayer information has been confirmed by more than one source so I can now talk about that more publicly. As of two days ago Multiplayer was in the worst state you have ever seen a Call of Duty multiplayer mode. Sources who have play-tested the mode claim that it is less like a call of duty mode and more like a Call of Duty Overwatch or a Call of Duty Lawbreakers. The Lawbreakers reference is incredibly apt considering what he told me next. Remember how I said the game was simultaneously boots on the ground and advanced movement? Well I can elaborate on that a little more too. The game was going to take the “hero” or “specialist” system from Black Ops 3 and take it to the next level. Perks were basically removed completely, and had instead been morphed into a strange kind of Kill Streak. Normal Killstreaks as we know them, for example harrier jets or chopper gunners, didn’t in fact exist in this version of Black Ops 4. Instead you got highly powerful perks. One of which was a Movement Alteration. It literally changed your movement from Boots on The Ground to something very strongly resembling Black Ops 3’s advanced movement systems.

“This fell flat with playtesters. They didn’t like it at all. It was deemed an unfair portrayal of Call of Duty, and something that wouldn’t resonate with fans in the slightest. So, as of the last play test, things are changing. Actual Killstreaks are being entered into the game and the hero systems are being scaled back a little bit. What this does mean is that the game is in fact beginning to resemble more and more the state of the game in Black Ops 3. What this means for the future of BO4 I do not know. Currently my information does not stretch to what the mode will become, only to what it very recently was. With the community reveal only weeks away I am truly concerned for Call of Duty Black Ops 4, and even more concerned for Treyarch as a development studio. This is tighter than it has ever been.”

Don’t forget your accompanying dose of salt. Much of the ‘leaks’ we’ve received are currently unverifiable. We’ll know more in May when Call of Duty: Black Ops IV is officially revealed, or we may receive another leak from a reputable source. Given the multitude of claims about Call of Duty’s state of development, something seems awry over at Treyarch. Stay tuned.

SOURCE: Charlie IntelMatthewHarrisUK