Back in 2019, it was revealed that COD 2020 was in a poor developmental state. Sledgehammer Games, the creators of Advanced Warfare and World War 2, were set on developing the latest instalment of the Call of Duty before Activision Blizzard intervened and handed the reigns over to Treyarch.
Now the creators of the Black Ops sub-franchise are in the driving seat, questions are beginning to surface regarding a potential return of the extremely popular Blackout mode.
Although Call of Duty: Warzone is still fresh in our minds, we're interested to see if the Modern Warfare Battle Royale is for the long haul or just the interim.
See what’s planned for COD 2020 by watching below!
What We Know So Far
According to various sources, the re-imagined Blackout mode will be included in COD 2020 and will be on the brand-new engine, debuted on Modern Warfare.
Jeff Grub, a reporter at VentureBeat who accurately leaked information about Blackout in Black Ops 4, has just revealed the mode is returning in COD 2020.
Claiming the mode will return in "some form" leaves a lot of questions. We already know that Warzone will be accessible from the COD 2020 menu, so will Blackout be accessible via Warzone?
If so will it be its own mode or will the map simply be added to Warzone? Could Warzone be overhauled to fit Blackout at some point? Or is Blackout going in a different direction entirely?
It's clear that Warzone is a fan favourite and with it being free, how can Activision incentivise people to buy the new game? Perhaps by adding a Blackout mode that can only be accessed in the new Call of Duty.
There's still a crowd of players who prefer Blackout to Warzone, providing players with something new could certainly motivate new sales of the game.
TheGamingRevolution has eased those wondering if Warzone as we know it will be overhauled - he has theorised that maybe the map will get a Cold War aesthetic to boot (but this isn't confirmed).
Treyarch has allegedly said that it was very happy with its first attempt at a Call of Duty battle royale mode, as were the millions of players that have played it since its release.
Treyarch believes that there is still a lot more that can be done to make Blackout the ultimate battle royale experience on consoles.
In addition to refining the first edition of Blackout, Treyarch is rumoured to be gearing the BR to a more adult audience so expect an increased amount of gore and violence when you get your hands on it!
The Map
It is widely expected that the map featured in Black Ops 4 will return along with a few changes, perhaps a couple of new points of interest.
The original Blackout map is very good so it would make sense for Treyarch to keep it rather than a complete overhaul.
As for whether the likes of Alcatraz will return is an entirely different matter.
It would be awesome to see it attached to the original Blackout map as a new area, especially if gore and violence are high on the agendas of Treyarch.
Will It Be Free-to-Play?
One of the questions surrounding the rumoured Modern Warfare battle royale is whether it will come as part of the existing game or whether it will be a completely separate entity with some form of connection to the game.
If early rumours are to be believed, the new version of Blackout has a high possibility of being a F2P title and will release alongside the campaign and multiplayer modes - this is just a rumour so take it with a pinch of salt.