Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 will reportedly lack a single-player campaign

By Dan Thorp-Lancaster
last updated

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 may be a multiplayer-only affair with a battle royale mode, according to a couple of new reports.

If you're ready to dive into Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 this fall, you may want to brace yourself for a multiplayer-only affair. According to a report from Polygon, citing multiple sources, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 will lack "a traditional single-player story mode."

Polygon's sources claim that the reason for the omission is because it became clear that development on the single-player campaign wouldn't be complete in time for release. "One source said Treyarch has since focused Black Ops 4's development on expanding multiplayer and the series' popular Zombies mode," Polygon says. "The source described an emphasis on cooperative modes as a potential stand-in for the typical single-player campaign experience."

Following up on Polygon's report, Call of Duty blog Charlie Intel claims that Black Ops 4 may instead include a battle royale mode built by Raven Software, which has worked on several Call of Duty titles. Given the massive surge in popularity behind Fortnite Battle Royale and PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, it wouldn't be surprising to see Call of Duty dip its toes into the battle royale arena.

Whatever the case, we'll find out soon enough: Activision is set to reveal Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 in full on May 17. For now, all that's known about the game includes a brief teaser trailer and its release date: October 12. The game is also up for preorder now, priced at $59.99.

Dan Thorp-Lancaster
Dan Thorp-Lancaster

Dan Thorp-Lancaster is the former Editor-in-Chief of Windows Central. He began working with Windows Central, Android Central, and iMore as a news writer in 2014 and is obsessed with tech of all sorts. You can follow Dan on Twitter @DthorpL and Instagram @heyitsdtl. 

30 Comments
  • This is what it's come down to, huh? Ugh...
  • Smh
  • They can take their game and I'll save my money for something better.
  • Lol no thanks treyarch
  • LMAO.... This is what the people want. This, and loot boxes. People are so stupid. I hope they enjoy their transaction filled, no thought content future of gaming. The only sucky part, this will affect us too, the people that enjoy real games.
  • Well, that is a matter of perception. I know many people that rarely or have never played the single player mode in games like this. The appeal to games like this has been multi-player for many people. I've never heard once among the people that I know play CoD or other online multi-player games say they've played or finished the single player mode. Unfortunately, this is the reality. Don't get me wrong, I love playing the single player mode of many games that I've played and I think it's an option that should be kept. However, Ive never gone back and played a single player mode more than twice. I usually play normal then the hard or insane mode. After that, it's strictly multi-player. Des have stopped making single player benefucial. Unlocks are rare now days. The only way to unlock content in many game systems is to achieve certain objectives in multi-player or buy it outright.
  • "Unfortunately, this is the reality."
    Well, I wouldn't call it the reality but your reality. You have brought examples about your experience. About how you don't know people who played the campaign or that you never played a SP game more than twice. There are people who really wants a single player mode or that plays SP game more than 2 time.
    Taking out single player campaign for a game like this with such a budget isn't good for these people. We'll have to see if the sales number actually drops. Personally, I hope it drops.
  • I'm out. Multiplayer sucks. Same repetitive thing over and over, with no story. Keep it.
  • Multiplayer does not - in the slightest - suck. You are unequivocally wrong.
  • Or their taste is just different than yours, so they also have an opinion different than yours... I know it seems weird, but it could be true.
  • For half the price maybe
  • Now that's a good idea and I'm sure it'll turn good for them and the players alike
  • lol you know we're talking about Activision...
  • I'm personally not very big on multiplayer as well, but I'm pretty sure the devs have looked at the statistics and observed that longest playing time is in multiplayer by a very large margin. They've got to maximize profit for their investments so here we are :-(
  • Tbh cod games take around 4 hours to complete and even though I'm not a fan of cod people I know who buy it never play the sp side so I don't think it will be a big miss.
  • Oh well, I guess that's it for me. The campaign was the main reason I play COD😪
  • No campaign equates to no purchase for me.
  • Count me out. No campaign equals no purchase from me.
  • Of course it'll have a single player mode! Available as DLC for only $9.99 or part of the $24.99 season pass.
  • I always enjoyed the single player. Although the co-op in Modern Warfare 2 was great.
  • Bet it still costs £50 even without the story game.
  • Why are they selling it for 60 $ ? Call of duty is becoming a joke.
  • I haven't bought a COD game in years, and this will be another one I avoid.
  • No campaign mode, I will not buy it. You can't take what I like best out of a game and expect me to buy it!
  • It's great that the Call of Duty: Black Ops sub-series has no "offline mode" for the fourth game. What's the use of Treyarch developing a "offline" single player mode for their COD games if that mode is in a semi-online local server with their over the top anti-cheat even for the PC version, they might as well throw it away and make their future releases multiplayer-only but with more character class selections than Black Ops III.
  • WWII had a damn good campaign. But I guess they don't want to makes fun games anymore...
  • if there is no campaign then what even is the point? it's just the same as the last year cod.
    original BLOPS was great and since then they've destroyed the series
  • No creativity leads to no fun.
  • I called this a few months back. Seems like everyone is trying to copy PUBG's success. Fortnite, a few other games I can't remember and now cod. Next.... Battlefield royale?
  • I am a campaign player so I won't be spending my money on it.