Will Blackout Go F2P?

[J4MES OX4D 9,776]

Whilst other similar games have weekly updates and a clear strategy moving forward, Blackout is still fumbling around with basic patches consisting of fixes and tweaks. I've even seen a lot of the influencers aka COD cocksuckers like Prestige and Pamaj vent their dismay at the lack or progression the game is making with only the black market seemingly being regularly developed. Many others have stopped playing and the game is clearly struggling on Twitch. With the release of Apex Legends, I think Treyarch should be very worried. The base game of BO4 doesn't even have league play still and Blackout has made no strides in the eSport arena either despite huge plans.  The game is essentially going nowhere and we're only 1/3 of the way through its cycle. Another post-xmas dead COD game pretty much with absolutely no forward planning or events to keep people enticed. Just dreadful for a product on a 3 year cycle especially when compared to other smaller games and even F2P titles.  

 

I can't see the game making much more revenue from base game sales and seeing that it's basically built on a F2P economy as it is; they'd probably be better off just making a F2P version of Blackout or some shitty standalone starter edition.  I assume that with another COD due later this year, Blackout was only supposed to be good for a year anyway and Activision wouldn't want Blackout to detract away from the new COD game which may also have its own BR mode.  Although I stopped playing when they flipped the greed switch, I cannot believe the shitshow I've seen since from the monetization standpoint and the development perspective or lack there of. Games like these are supposed to grow and remain refreshed to ensure they keep generating interest and money but if Treyarch thinks a few shitty emotes, sprays, skins and empty battle pass tiers is good enough to keep people interested, they are absolutely deluded. 

 

I used to admire Treyarch as one of the most innovative and creative developers in the FPS genre. Their work on two year cycles with WaW, BO1 and Bo2 was a remarkable achievement with deserved success. Now they look totally out of their depth trying to build games for the current generation of gamers whilst also accommodating Activision's horrendous and overly-aggressive microtransaction economy.  I already have my suspicions that BO4 isn't the game they originally penciled and it's clearly not something that took 3 years to make and now the post-launch mess or fundamental issues along with a complete disregard for growth and long-term engagement leaves me wondering if they should just release it for free. It wont improve the game but at least it may generate more interest and could even give Activision a new huge line of income. 

[TigerBurge 2,374]

To me Blackout should of been a F2P game from the beginning. Never tied into Blops 4. Blackout is getting updated a lot more that multiplayer is with patches and such. It’s really too much for 3Arc to handle. Blops 4 multiplayer still is very good but needs some attention. They said that Blackout will be a separate stand alone sometime this year. Probably when the next CoD comes out 

[J4MES OX4D 9,776]

12 hours ago, TigerBurge said:

To me Blackout should of been a F2P game from the beginning. Never tied into Blops 4. Blackout is getting updated a lot more that multiplayer is with patches and such. It’s really too much for 3Arc to handle. Blops 4 multiplayer still is very good but needs some attention. They said that Blackout will be a separate stand alone sometime this year. Probably when the next CoD comes out 

I hear Vonderhaar hasn't even been working on the MP and it's shown really. I don't think he's cut out for the BR mode but MP is certainly missing his input and presence in the community. Now he seems to be a battle royale punchbag on social media.

 

It wouldn't surprise me if they pull a MW Remastered and make it standalone around April but charge something like £25/$30 for it. Looking at Blackout last night; I don't think there's enough quality in the economy for it to make decent money being free to play.  

[TigerBurge 2,374]

17 minutes ago, J4MES OX4D said:

I hear Vonderhaar hasn't even been working on the MP and it's shown really. I don't think he's cut out for the BR mode but MP is certainly missing his input and presence in the community. Now he seems to be a battle royale punchbag on social media.

 

It wouldn't surprise me if they pull a MW Remastered and make it standalone around April but charge something like £25/$30 for it. Looking at Blackout last night; I don't think there's enough quality in the economy for it to make decent money being free to play.  

They have already said it’s going to be stand alone F2P by years end. 

[J4MES OX4D 9,776]

20 minutes ago, TigerBurge said:

They have already said it’s going to be stand alone F2P by years end. 

I can't find that information anywhere. 

[TigerBurge 2,374]

1 hour ago, J4MES OX4D said:

I can't find that information anywhere. 

I may of heard it in a video. Don’t remember 

[MrBiron 1,406]

On 2/7/2019 at 11:48 PM, TigerBurge said:

It’s really too much for 3Arc to handle. 

 

I've seen a few people say that and I don't get why it's too much. They didn't have a SP part of the game so the team there should have been more than enough people to work on this game.

 

As for the OP: Yes Blackout should go F2P if Activision have any sense. But, more than likely, they'll drop it as soon as MW4 comes out.

[tronic44 3,628]

They should make it F2P and give me my fucking money back 

[TigerBurge 2,374]

19 hours ago, MrBiron said:

 

I've seen a few people say that and I don't get why it's too much. They didn't have a SP part of the game so the team there should have been more than enough people to work on this game.

 

As for the OP: Yes Blackout should go F2P if Activision have any sense. But, more than likely, they'll drop it as soon as MW4 comes out.

One single player is complete it’s done. They don’t have to really do anything else to do. So it was alway just MP and zombies. Now you add Blackout into the mix it’s another thing to patch,hot fix and adjust along with changes in MP and zombies. Plus Van is now doing Blackout and not MP hurts the MP IMO. 

[J4MES OX4D 9,776]

23 hours ago, MrBiron said:

 

I've seen a few people say that and I don't get why it's too much. They didn't have a SP part of the game so the team there should have been more than enough people to work on this game.

Treyarch come primarily from an era where they could make a game, do minimal patches and then produce basic DLC map packs and then their job was done on the whole product. The climate in gaming has changed significantly now with huge daily demands from the community, ever-changing genre trends and more elements in-game to upkeep. Gone were the days they could make a game and the community would be happy for the whole year and the devs wouldn't need to worry about nerfing, balancing, general updates, new regular content, social media engagement, microtransactions etc. MW2 for example managed to cope when the old IW left the studio and aside from the rock glitch, the game maintained itself perfectly. You can't do that these days and if games don't remain fresh, they get abandoned especially on tiresome brands or saturated genres like this.

 

If the rumours are to be believed too; Treyarch fucked the single player campaign worse than BO3's so Activision pulled the plug and then commissioned an 11th hour battle royale on top of a multiplayer that was supposedly reworked well over a year into full development.  This would also give Treyarch an uphill battle on what is already a huge demand to keep everyone happy and their game relevant.  The development hell rumours definitely seem true.  

[GazzaGarratt 10,867]

Don't think it will. With the multiple developers that make CoD games annually I'm not sure they'd appreciate Treyarch getting the F2P game.

 

There'd be uproar from everyone that bought it. Just reduce the price of the game to £5/10. 

[J4MES OX4D 9,776]

Blackout is free to play the whole month of April and with a new map

PS4 gets a week exclusive but the mode is free on all platforms starting today. 

 

This is definitely going to go F2P for good eventually.

[NCA-Paendrag 2,661]

2 hours ago, J4MES OX4D said:

Blackout is free to play the whole month of April and with a new map

PS4 gets a week exclusive but the mode is free on all platforms starting today. 

 

This is definitely going to go F2P for good eventually.

Not even if they paid me to play. 

[GazzaGarratt 10,867]

4 hours ago, J4MES OX4D said:

Blackout is free to play the whole month of April and with a new map

PS4 gets a week exclusive but the mode is free on all platforms starting today. 

 

This is definitely going to go F2P for good eventually.

That's abit shit then isn't it. Whilst it ain't the worst it certainly doesn't come close to Apex for me.

[Dan94 913]

The new map is absolute chaos, but at the same time, I love it

[GazzaGarratt 10,867]

6 hours ago, Dan94 said:

The new map is absolute chaos, but at the same time, I love it

Hang on, theres more than one map now?! In a Battle Royale Game(mode)?!

[Dan94 913]

17 hours ago, GazzaGarratt said:

Hang on, theres more than one map now?! In a Battle Royale Game(mode)?!

Yeah there's two maps. Normal blackout map, then the old Zombie map Alcatraz, which is capped at 40 players and 5 respawns per team.

 

It's pretty chaotic but at the same time it's great for a few quick games, warm up before proper Blackout map, or just fast action fun

[GazzaGarratt 10,867]

On 4/5/2019 at 9:52 AM, Dan94 said:

Yeah there's two maps. Normal blackout map, then the old Zombie map Alcatraz, which is capped at 40 players and 5 respawns per team.

 

It's pretty chaotic but at the same time it's great for a few quick games, warm up before proper Blackout map, or just fast action fun

Oh so you can select which one to play? Okay, that sounds like a different type of play and with that many respawns it must be a bit crazy. Still 4 max in a squad?

[Dan94 913]

Oh so you can select which one to play? Okay, that sounds like a different type of play and with that many respawns it must be a bit crazy. Still 4 max in a squad?

Yeah max of 4 in a squad but capped at 40 players


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[Dan94 913]

Does anyone use Facebook gaming much? Few blackout streamers are really blowing up on it.


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[GazzaGarratt 10,867]

On 4/24/2019 at 3:13 PM, Dan94 said:

Does anyone use Facebook gaming much? Few blackout streamers are really blowing up on it.
 

Nah, never ever watched it tbh. Only really ever watched Twitch but I only have so much time to watch/listen to short YouTube videos.

 

Didnt Dr. Disrespect move to Amazon streaming or something from Twitch?

[J4MES OX4D 9,776]

On 4/24/2019 at 3:13 PM, Dan94 said:

Does anyone use Facebook gaming much? Few blackout streamers are really blowing up on it.


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I think quite a few are looking to move away from Twitch now. Can't blame them as it's an absolute hellhole riddled with double standards and pure trash. 

[GazzaGarratt 10,867]

On 4/28/2019 at 10:32 AM, J4MES OX4D said:

I think quite a few are looking to move away from Twitch now. Can't blame them as it's an absolute hellhole riddled with double standards and pure trash. 

Didn't think it was that bad but then again I don't usually watch a lot of live streaming anyway.