The Real Reason Black Ops 4 Doesn't Have A CampaignThe Real Reason Black Ops 4 Doesn't Have A CampaignWhy Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 Doesn't Have a Campaign ModeУже доступноWhy Call of Duty: Black Ops 4's Story (Yes, Story) is Actually PerfectBlack Ops 4 is the first Call of Duty title without a traditional single-player campaign mode. Instead, it features the.Best answer: No, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 does not feature a single-player story campaign. For a new first-person shooter campaign in While you won't get a story mode from Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, you can play self-contained story missions for the Specialists featured in the.'Call Of Duty: Black Ops 4' may lack a single-player campaign, but it makes up for it with its excellent multiplayer and fun battle royale.Unfortunately, we hate to break the news to you but there is no campaign in Call of Duty Black Ops 4. Though the first three titles had story-.Multiplayer raises the bar, delivering the most thrilling grounded combat experience yet with a focus on tactical gameplay and player choice. Specialists.Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 developer Treyarch has further explained its decision to not have a campaign mode in the upcoming title.Since there's no substantial single-player story mode to distract from it any longer, Black Ops 4's multiplayer makes its point instead.Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 lacks the traditional single player campaign you would find in every other entry in the series.Black Ops 4 is the first Call of Duty title without a traditional single-player campaign mode. Instead, it features the Solo Missions mode, which focuses on the backstories of the game's multiplayer characters, known as "Specialists". The multiplayer mode is the first in the series to not feature automatic health regeneration and introduces both predictive recoil and a new ballistics system. The game included three Zombies maps on release day, four if a special edition of the game, or the Black Ops Pass, was purchased. The game also introduced a battle royale mode called Blackout, which features up to players in each match. Many characters from this and other Black Ops titles can be used as the player's character model in this mode. Treyarch chose not to create a campaign mode for the game at the beginning of development, instead putting all of their focus on the multiplayer aspect. They cited an increased interest for multiplayer and lack of time spent by the playerbase on the campaign mode as reasons why they shifted their focus. Black Ops 4 utilizes Blizzard 's Battle. Teasing of the game began in March , with a full reveal taking place later in May. Two betas were held for the game; one for the multiplayer in August and one for Blackout in September. The release date was moved up to October instead of the series' usual November in an attempt to avoid coinciding with the release of other high-profile games. Pre-release reception of the game was negative due to the game's lack of a campaign mode and the Black Ops Pass, a season pass that distributes downloadable content DLC in the form of "Operations". Black Ops 4 received positive reviews upon release, with praise towards its three modes, particularly Blackout, while it received criticism for the game's lack of a campaign mode and the design of its microtransactions implemented in updates. Despite physical retail sales for the game being the lowest in the series in a decade, it was the best-selling digital launch in Activision 's history, surpassing 's Call of Duty: WWII. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 is a multiplayer first-person shooter video game. Unlike previous titles in the Call of Duty series, Black Ops 4 is the first entry to not feature a traditional single-player campaign, and contains only Multiplayer, Zombies and a new battle royale mode called Blackout. Black Ops 4 ' s multiplayer features the return of Specialists, unique soldier characters with special abilities and traits. Unlike Black Ops III , the game allows only two unique Specialist per team, in order to emphasize the role of each character. Following launch, more Specialists are added to the roster, with unique weaponry and equipment. Multiplayer has also been reworked with various changes for more tactical and teamwork gameplay. Automatic health regeneration is removed in favor of a manual healing system with each player having a health bar , weapons are now given predictive recoil patterns, and a mixed ballistics system, using both hitscan and projectile damage, is employed as opposed to just hitscan. Weapon customization is also emphasized, allowing for deeper personalization of players' arsenals; attachments are also given tiers, with tier-2 upgrades providing even bigger improvements to the weapons. Certain weapons also offer Operator Mods, which significantly change how a weapon works, while costing a significant portion of the 10 customization slots per class. In addition, the game includes Specialist Headquarters, a solo mode featuring skill-based tutorials that unlock backstories on various Specialists in the game. Zombies returns as the cooperative multiplayer mode for Black Ops 4. The game mode features a wider range of customization, allowing for more personalized play styles. Mechanics of the game can be customized via "Custom Mutations", which include over variables, such as overall difficulty, zombie speed, health, damage, and more. Time-limited events known as "Callings" are also promised to be included in the game for long-term engagement. Similar to the Nazi Zombies mode in Call of Duty: WWII , custom loadouts are included to allow players to select different starting weapons, equipment and special upgradable weapons, as well as perk selection to be available in each match. A new game type, Rush, is introduced into Zombies, where the players build up points and multipliers and compete against one another for the highest point possible until death. Black Ops 4 features a new form of consumable items called Elixirs, which grant temporary buffs to the players upon activation; and Talismans, special modifiers that are applied at the start of each match. Elixirs are provided in five types: Classic, Common, Rare, Legendary and Epic; the first is unlocked permanently via player progression, while the latter four are consumable and only craftable using the in-game currency. Talismans are also consumable, and can only be acquired in the same method. Black Ops 4 is also the first game to feature two distinctive, separate storylines for Zombies. The map "Dead of the Night" features a celebrity cast, in maintaining tradition of previous Black Ops games containing one Zombies map with playable characters portrayed by celebrities. Black Ops 4 features a battle royale game mode called Blackout which serves as a stand-in for the campaign mode. While utilizing the traditional Black Ops combat style, the mode includes the largest map featured in a Call of Duty title. Players compete against each other through locations appeared in previous Black Ops games. This mode will also feature land, sea, and air vehicles for players to use. In Blackout, up to players, who can choose to play as Solo, Duos, or Quads squads of 4 , drop into the map via helicopters, and must scavenge for loot to survive as the last person s standing, while a circle collapses and narrows the map's playable area. In addition to regular weapons, players can equip health kits, armors, ammo types, attachments, as well as perk consumables. AI-controlled zombie enemies also spawn at Zombies-themed locations, such as Asylum or Lighthouse, and upon being killed drop Zombies loot items, such as the Ray Gun or Cymbal Monkey. Several vehicles, such as the ATV and helicopter , are also available for traversal around the map. Similar to Fortnite Battle Royale and the main multiplayer, Blackout features special modes that change the presence or mechanics of physical items in the Blackout world. Modes such as 'Close Quarters' emphasise a faster and more aggressive playstyle through the exclusion of long-range weapons, while others like 'Fast Collapse' feature a faster narrowing of the circle. Later updates included a different map, called 'Alcatraz', which features a significantly smaller map, which is supposed to represent Alcatraz Island. Main differences between Alcatraz and the regular map include the fact that only 40 players are allowed per match, there are respawns included, and no vehicles are present. Two years later, Savannah Mason-Meyer Evangeline Lilly , a trillionaire researcher and Jessica's sister, recruits ten of the world's most elite soldiers, including Ruin and Battery, for a top-secret project against an unknown threat. Burns acting as their instructor. While taking a break from training, Ruin discusses with Battery about their survival two years prior, and that he received a warning message from a mysterious individual. At some point, the individual contacts Ruin at his home, tipping him off to an ambush by mercenaries. Ruin survives the ordeal, and arrives at a warehouse where he confronts the individual, revealed to be Jessica who remained alive and went undercover. It is implied that Savannah intends to eliminate all the Specialists she hired, and that she was somehow responsible for the botched mission in Woods is then shown in an asylum, standing beside a wheelchair-bound Alex Mason Sam Worthington. As Mason mutters to himself, Woods tells him that it has always been him "in the box". Intel files unlocked from completing Specialist tutorial missions reveal additional stories. Savannah is revealed to be running Project Blackout, an experiment that is implied to be about resurrection of the dead through unknown means. The project was successful in reviving four subjects, referred to as "archetypes": Mason, Woods, Viktor Reznov Piotr Michael , and Raul Menendez Kamar de los Reyes ; the latter is tasked with overseeing the project alongside Savannah. Jessica, who disapproves of Savannah's actions, was revealed to have been actually shot by Savannah during a heated argument between the two sisters. Battery is revealed to have been seeing flashes of numbers, an effect of the brainwashing technique that Mason previously experienced during the Cold War , further hinting that the event of the mission in may not have been real. Woods, who is involved in a relationship with Savannah, is tasked with brainwashing Mason, using the same technique from before, for an unknown purpose. The latter was then allowed to meet Reznov, who Woods claims to have survived the events of Vorkuta. On March 20, , treasure hunter Alistair Rhodes Charles Dennis hosts a party at his mansion in England, where many of his associates are invited. However, the Order, an ancient cult who has been after Alistair for some time, kidnaps him by enslaving his butler, Godfrey Charles Dance to do their bidding. The four band together to battle against the combined forces of undead, werewolves and vampires roaming the mansion. After successfully completing the trial, the four put an end to the undead outbreak, but Godfrey, under the influence of his dark self, murders the other three and inadvertently sets the mansion on fire. He is then killed by Alistair's daughter, Scarlett Courtenay Taylor , who then gives chase to her father's kidnappers. They successfully acquire it, but then encounter a member of the Order who activates the artifact, transforming every ship crew member and passenger into zombies. Just as the ship crashes with an iceberg, the four work together in order to recover the Sentinel Artifact and restore it. In doing so, they activate an ancient trial, which tests them with various puzzles and tasks. Upon successful completion of the trial, the Prima Materia's effect is reversed, and all passengers on the Titanic are reverted to their human state. The crew discovers an apparition of a gateway, but before they could interact with it, they are forced to escape as the ship sinks. Shaw points the crew toward their next destination, Delphi , Greece in order to find answers. Unbeknownst to the crew, Bruno possesses the same marking that Godfrey had, hinting at his dark self taking over. Scarlett and the gang are guided by the Oracle of Delphi Cissy Jones to an ancient cavern where the gateway is located. After inhaling a mysterious vapor, they begin to hallucinate and are taken back in time to a Gladiatorial Arena in Roman Egypt, where the High Priest of Chaos Fred Tatasciore uses a Sentinel Artifact to turn slaves into zombies and pit them against gladiators for entertainment. The crew, now taking on the form of gladiators, is forced to fight for survival, as they complete various challenges to appease the four Gods: Danu , Ra , Zeus and Odin. Upon completion of the challenges, they face off against a combined force of undead warriors in the arena, and emerge victorious. The completion of the trial opens a portal to the Library of the Nine, but the High Priest fails to access it. He then has Scarlett and the rest executed despite their demand for clemency. Snapping out of the hallucination, Scarlett then inputs the symbols she saw on the portal into the gateway, allowing the crew to enter the Ancient City of Delphi. They meet up with the Oracle, who has been trapped here for centuries amidst an ongoing Sentinel Trial. Hoping to prevent the ancient demigod Perseus from slaying the Olympian Gods, she assists them in fighting against the zombie horde roaming the city, as well as various ancient mythical Greek creatures. In the midst of the trial, Bruno's dark self takes over temporarily and secretly kills Shaw, then revives him using the Scepter of Ra, allowing Shaw to also be enslaved by his dark self. The trial reaches its culmination as the crew battles against Perseus and his winged steed Pegasus , and triumphs. While Scarlett attempts to free the Oracle, the other three follow her directions to look for Alistair, only to find that he and other Order members have been petrified. Diego runs back in horror, and discovers that the Oracle was Medusa in disguise. Medusa renders Scarlett unconscious after acquiring certain knowledge from her mind. Diego manages to retrieve Scarlett and hides, as Medusa declares her eventual ownership of the Library, and world domination. Upon encountering a past version of himself, Richtofen is given the Kronorium book, and learns that the contents of the book have changed, and that his own blood is now demanded by the prison's Warden. Through their attempt to survive his wrath, Primis learns that the Warden, working for the ancient Apothicon race via the Shadowman Robert Picardo , intends to use Richtofen's blood to power a special machine called the Dark Mechanism, due to it containing a massive amount of Aether energy. After gaining the trust of the various spirits residing in the prison, Primis engages in a final showdown against the Warden and his zombie hordes, aided by the spirits of Alcatraz. Richtofen eventually enters the Dark Mechanism and willingly lets it extract his blood, hoping for a chance at defeating the Warden. This in turn releases another Richtofen, who has lived through a previous cycle of the events , and kept himself cryogenically frozen under Alcatraz for years. Using the fire elemental gem from the ancient Staff of Fire, the newly awakened Richtofen greatly weakens the Warden, allowing Primis to defeat him and free all souls in Alcatraz from their torment. Having broken the cycle, Richtofen hands the Kronorium to Nikolai and passes over the leadership mantle, convincing the latter that his soul is needed to defeat the omnipotent Doctor Monty. The new cycle's Richtofen is left to die as his blood is drained by the Dark Mechanism. Back in the original timeline, following their adventures at Shangri-La , the Ultimis crew original incarnation of Primis attempts to teleport to the Moon immediately, but instead ends up in The Pentagon in Meanwhile, at the Ascension Facility in Russia, the scientist Yuri Zavoyski tricks his partner Gersh into activating a black hole device, sucking him in it, per the orders of a corrupted Samantha Maxis Julie Nathanson. Yuri uses the device to travel to the Pentagon and unleash the zombie horde, experimented on by the US Government, against Ultimis. The four battle against the undead across the Pentagon, as well as the Groom Lake facility of Area Unbeknownst to them, a future version of Ultimis, following the destruction of the Earth in , time-traveled back to Groom Lake months before the arrival of their past selves. Richtofen, whose body was occupied by Samantha's soul from the future, went into a comatose state when her soul was sucked out; however, he was revived when a zombified Richtofen arrived some times later and interacted with his comatose self, transferring his consciousness to the new body. As the future Ultimis remains in captive at Groom Lake, Primis arrives and convinces them to leave together in preparation for "the great war". Primis and Ultimis travel together to Camp Edward, a nuclear testing facility run by the American research group Broken Arrow, in search of an Elemental Shard. They activate the facility's artificial intelligence, codenamed Rushmore John de Lancie , who agrees to give them the shard in exchange for them proving their worthiness. After completing several tasks and demonstrating the core values of Broken Arrow, Rushmore then proceeds to open the APD American Pyramid Device , which houses Broken Arrow's Director, Cornelius Pernell, who has been transformed into an electric being following an experiment with the shard. Dubbing himself "Avogadro", Pernell then battles Primis and Ultimis, but ultimately fails and is teleported to a different Broken Arrow facility in Hanford, Washington. The crews retrieve the elemental shard, but then learn from Doctor Ludvig Maxis Tatasciore , who has been residing in Agartha, that Monty is aware of their plan. Maxis reveals that Monty would be able to wipe out the Apothicons and the presence of Element , but at the cost of his own life; thus, he intends to perpetuate the cycle. As he attempts to send Samantha and Eddie a child version of Richtofen from a different dimension to safety, Monty reveals his true form and devours Maxis. Samantha arrives at Camp Edward, regaining her Aether powers once more, and swears vengeance on Monty. Primis and Ultimis take a temporary break in a forest, and celebrate before their final battle. Ultimis Richtofen, as well as Primis Nikolai, instructs Victis to go to the Group outpost in Siberia to construct an "Agarthan Device", said to be capable of granting its user any wish they desire. At the Siberian outpost, Victis encounters Pablo Marinus, one of Richtofen's former test subjects who was assumed to have died, and receives his help in constructing the device, using the blood of an ancient Apothicon being, a container dubbed the Seal of Duality, and the Elemental Shard. After fully powering up the device, Pablo uses it to travel to the Great War, where he would assist Primis Richtofen in sending him back to Alcatraz and break the cycle. Nikolai reveals the truth that the Kronorium showed him: despite their best efforts, they would be doomed to repeat the cycle if they ever participate in the Great War. As a result, Nikolai has both crews killed by poisoning their drinks, then asks Samantha to kill him. The destruction of the Summoning Key also ensures the entire multiverse, including Monty, the Apothicons and Element , are banished to the Dark Aether. As Samantha and Eddie walk toward a light in the darkness, each member of Primis and Ultimis can be heard in the background revealing their desires for a life after the war. When discussing why the game would not have a campaign mode, Treyarch studio co-head Dan Bunting revealed that a campaign mode was never planned for Black Ops 4 and that they wanted to try something different and make a game that would be more playable with friends across the board, contradicting reports that the campaign mode was scrapped in the middle of development because there was not enough time to complete it. According to a report from Kotaku editor Jason Schreier , originally Treyarch planned Black Ops 4 to have a campaign continuing from the story of Call of Duty: Black Ops III , set in a post-apocalyptic world where four players can progress through the story in a 2v2 scenario, with an option for solo players to play with AI bots. However, in early , the team decided to cancel the campaign mode due to technical concerns, timing, and negative playtesting feedback. Combined with publisher Activision's decision to release the game in October, the team resorted to creating the Blackout battle royale mode as a replacement for the traditional campaign. On March 7, , NBA player James Harden was seen prior to playing a basketball game wearing a hat bearing an orange logo. People pointed out the similarities between this logo and previous ones for Black Ops titles, which both featured Roman numerals colored orange. On July 11, , Activision and Treyarch announced the dates for the multiplayer beta: PlayStation 4 players had an exclusive first beta weekend from August 3 to 6, while a second weekend from August 10 to 13 was offered to all platforms. The Windows platform received an open beta for all players from August 11 to 13, while players who pre-ordered the game could play from August Activision also announced a beta for the Blackout mode, which took place from September 10 for PlayStation 4, September 14 for Xbox One and Windows, and ending September 17 for all platforms. Like the multiplayer beta, the Windows platforms also had an open beta for Blackout which began September The Windows version exclusively uses Blizzard Entertainment 's Battle. All three editions contain the Black Ops Pass , a special season pass that grants access to "Classified", a bonus Zombies map available at launch, in addition to four more maps to be released in , as well as twelve multiplayer maps, and four exclusive characters for use in Blackout mode. Rather than distributing new maps via map packs like previous Call of Duty titles, the Black Ops Pass will deliver new content on a more frequent basis throughout the year. The pack contains four remastered multiplayer maps: Jungle, Summit, Slums, and Firing Range all of which are included in Black Ops 4 at launch. On September 20, , Activision and Sony revealed their partnership for Black Ops 4 , which allows the PlayStation 4 version of the game to receive all content updates, including free and paid content, seven days before other platforms, as opposed to the day gap that was present in previous Call of Duty titles. As opposed to the traditional downloadable content model of four map packs, Black Ops 4 receives frequent updates in the form of "Operations", which are themed events across all game modes, featuring a variety of free and paid limited-time content for the game, as well as the Black Ops Pass content. Following the reveal of the game's third Operation, Grand Heist, Treyarch and Activision announced their plans to feature six Operations in the game for The game features a tiered loot system called "Black Market Contraband", in which players can earn progress in tiers to earn cosmetic items by playing Multiplayer and Blackout within the duration of an Operation. The Black Market, the in-game virtual store, also features exclusive cosmetic items only purchaseable with "COD Points", a microtransaction currency. Following an update in February, the game reintroduced purchaseable lootboxes called "Reserve Crates", which contain additional cosmetic items beyond the Contraband stream. On June 20, , Dark Horse Comics revealed that they would be publishing the second season of the Call of Duty: Zombies comic book series, which was first launched in October The second season, which is a prequel focusing on the four new characters of the Chaos story, released its first issue on September 5, , with 3 additional issues to follow. The cover art for each issue is drawn by E. On September 26, , Activision announced a new issue comic series featuring the Multiplayer Specialist characters, released for free on the official Call of Duty website. The series serves as a prequel to the game, with each issue introducing a Specialist and their background prior to the events of the game. Upon rumors emerging that Black Ops 4 would not have a single-player campaign mode, reactions from the Call of Duty community were negative. In response to the criticism, Dan Bunting, studio co-head at Treyarch, stated in an interview with Eurogamer that "We are delivering so much more of what players spend most of their time doing in our games in the series", implying that fewer fans took their time to play the single-player than the multiplayer. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 received "generally favorable" reviews across all platforms according to review aggregator Metacritic. Blackout is the best battle-royale experience available today, zombies offers crazy customizable co-op, and multiplayer keeps things grounded for those looking for the classic core. The inclusion of a battle royale mode is a first, and even the more familiar multiplayer and Zombies survival mode are not what they once were. Changes are always risky, but in Black Ops 4 ' s case, it worked out for the better. In June , following the reveal of the game's season pass, Activision received heavy backlash from the community for the downloadable content program as it was confirmed that map packs cannot be bought separately from the pass. Players and critics compared the release model unfavorably to other companies' approach toward free content, such as Electronic Arts with Battlefield V , criticizing Activision for focusing on the monetization of downloadable content and microtransactions, and splitting the game's community. Several weeks after Black Ops 4 's release, a microtransaction system allowing for the purchase of cosmetic items which provided no gameplay advantages was incorporated into the game, drawing criticism for being overpriced while offering few benefits in return. In summary, he condemned Activision for being "far, far too greedy at this point". In February , the game received further criticism when Activision implemented the use of loot boxes into the microtransactions system. Yin-Poole noted how many fans were disgruntled at their design, as they did not note the probability of obtaining an item, and also contained duplicates of items a player may already have gained. He lamented that it felt the "fantastic" core game was buckling under pressure to generate more money for Activision, citing its additional season pass, Black Market Contraband, and paid-for cosmetics, and called the overall design "convoluted, confused and inescapably money-grabbing". Vonderhaar responded by saying "I can tell you what we have done and what we plan on doing, but things change that I can not predict or I didn't know about. Doubly true with the business side of things which have little insight into and even less control over I answers the questions as best I can with the information I have at the time I am asked. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Scene: Credits. Retrieved October 15, Retrieved April 18, Digital Trends. Retrieved April 20, Retrieved May 17, Future US, Inc. Retrieved May 23, Vox Media , Inc. Retrieved May 18, Retrieved September 14, VG Retrieved May 21, The Verge. Retrieved June 26, Retrieved March 8, Retrieved March 8, — via Twitter. PlayStation LifeStyle. Evolve Media, LLC. Retrieved March 21, Whittow, Hugh ed. Daily Express. Northern and Shell Media. OCLC The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 12, Retrieved August 31, PC Gamer. Retrieved June 11, Archived from the original on July 20, Retrieved July 19, December 6, Retrieved December 6, Retrieved September 20, Retrieved June 20, Retrieved September 26, Retrieved October 25, Retrieved October 18, Game Informer. Retrieved October 11, Retrieved October 20, The Telegraph. Retrieved December 3, Retrieved June 23, Retrieved January 24, Yin-Poole, Wesley March 27, Retrieved March 29, Croft, Liam March 28, Push Square. Retrieved February 22, Retrieved November 12, Retrieved February 21, Retrieved February 23, October 18, December 18, Retrieved January 12, Retrieved November 16, Tom's Guide. Retrieved November 17, Retrieved December 8, Gamers' Choice Awards. December 9, Archived from the original on January 3, Retrieved January 3, File December 10, Archived from the original on July 7, Retrieved November 7, Australian Games Awards. December 19, Archived from the original on January 12, Retrieved January 11, February 11, Archived from the original on February 13, Retrieved February 14, March 13, Archived from the original on March 14, Retrieved March 14, Awards Finalists". Game Audio Network Guild. Retrieved February 17, Italian Video Game Awards. April 11, Archived from the original on April 12, Retrieved May 24, Retrieved September 21, Call of Duty. Ghosts Advanced Warfare Infinite Warfare. Online Warzone. Strike Team Heroes Mobile. Captain Price Soap MacTavish. Hidden categories: Articles with short description Short description is different from Wikidata Wikipedia pages semi-protected against vandalism Use mdy dates from October Articles using Infobox video game using locally defined parameters Articles using Wikidata infoboxes with locally defined images Articles using Video game reviews template in single platform mode. Namespaces Article Talk. Views Read View source View history. Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file. Download as PDF Printable version. Wikimedia Commons. Treyarch [a]. Jack Wall [1]. First-person shooter , battle royale. Single-player , multiplayer. Game Critics Awards. Golden Joystick Awards. The Game Awards Activision and Treyarch might have put the Call of Duty series back on the map not that its sales were anywhere near disastrous with this year's installment, Black Ops 4 , an entry that does things just a little bit differently. But it's exactly those things that make it unique to its predecessors that has made Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 the most anticipated game of this holiday season. You might have read this headline months ago: " Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 won't feature a single-player campaign mode. With Black Ops 4 enjoying a very warm reception, it might be time for Activision to consider ditching campaign mode for the whole franchise. Here are the real reasons why Treyarch decided to ditch the single-player campaign for Call of Duty: Black Ops 4. There's a pretty simple reason for why Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 doesn't have a campaign mode: Treyarch never planned to include a campaign in the game in the first place. Speaking to Polygon, Treyarch co-head Dan Bunting explained the studio's reasons for not including the mode. We started from a place that we were gonna make a game that across the board can be playable with friends. That's been our mission from day one. Bunting said that the studio had a desire to try something new with Black Ops 4 in order to challenge themselves. While you won't get a story mode from Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 , you can play self-contained story missions for the Specialists featured in the multiplayer mode. These Specialist missions are set on the game's multiplayer maps and task players with completing several objectives. The main goal with Specialists Missions is to show players how to use each character. So you get to know them, but at the same time, [we] educate you on how to use them. Who are they working for? It builds the connective tissue between each one. Treyarch's decision to forgo a campaign mode this year hasn't hurt Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 in terms of sales. For comparison's sake, it's important to note that WWII did have a campaign mode. Despite complaints from some fans that felt that Treyarch was straying too far from the traditional Black Ops experience, it's clear that people still came out in droves to buy the game. It's also possible that Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 attracted more casual battle royale fans with its new Blackout mode. This could be bad news for current battle royale heavyweight, Fortnite , and especially for the pay-to-play PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds. Needless to say, Call of Duty has had a good couple of weeks. Another big reason Treyarch probably didn't bother with a campaign this year is that Call of Duty players don't seem to care about the single-player mode anymore. Ars Technica created a bar graph based on the completion rate of Call of Duty achievements on Xbox and Steam which shows how few players actually bother to complete the campaign. According to the graph, which was published in , only 9 percent of players finished the Black Ops 3 campaign on Steam and only 8. Only 20 percent of Steam players finished the Infinite Warfare campaign while only WWII 's campaign saw an uptick: That's still less than half of the player base, though. It doesn't help that these campaigns haven't been very well received. Rock Paper Shotgun said of Infinite Warfare 's campaign, "The premise is brainless sci-fi politics with a lower-case 'p', a story which can safely be summarized as ' Killzone again' and stuffed with dry characters who have nothing interesting to say. The villains are likewise gray and lifeless. Meanwhile, The Guardian said of Black Ops 3 , "Like every Call of Duty before it, [it] is a throbbing mass of blockbuster movie cliches, masquerading as a cogent plot line. While Call of Duty fans might not be playing the campaigns very much, they're definitely invested in the multiplayer. According to Treyarch co-head Dan Bunting, 90 percent of fans are playing the multiplayer modes. If you look at it through that lens, and trying to deliver more for your players and how you're playing the game, it's a pretty easy decision. I realize it's also a challenging decision for other reasons. But we've never been ones to shy away from a challenge. Based on Bunting's comment, it looks like Treyarch spent some time looking at how players enjoy Call of Duty games. By developing Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 as a multiplayer-only title, Treyarch sought to cater to the greatest common denominator. Single-player campaigns aren't only seeing waning playercounts in terms of Call of Duty. According to publisher Electronic Arts, players are less interested in linear gaming experiences to begin with. EA CFO Blake Jorgensen appeared at a conference in following the cancellation of Visceral Games' action-adventure Star Wars title and the closure of the studio to explain that the decision was made in part because that type of game was no longer trending with players. He went on to say that the company feared that it wouldn't make any money off of a linear game. It seems Activision and Treyarch took a similar approach with Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 , ditching the campaign for a broader experience involving three modes that you can play infinitely. As Treyarch co-head Dan Bunting explained to Polygon , "[ Black Ops 4 ] is built to be expandable, adaptable, [and] it's going to evolve over time. We've gone into this knowing that we're making a game that can be played with friends across the board and going to be played for a long time to come. Before Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 was even formally announced, many on the internet were already theorizing that the game would feature the series' own take on battle royale, the genre that's been taking the video game world by storm in the past few years. Indeed, it was inevitable, especially after Fortnite proved to be so incredibly profitable for Epic Games and popular among gamers, both hardcore and casual. Adding a new major component to the Black Ops 4 might be another reason why Treyarch decided to ditch the campaign mode, choosing instead to focus its resources on getting its take on battle royale right. Entering a genre that was already so crowded with titles fighting to be the next Fortnite or PUBG meant that Call of Duty had to provide something really special to complete. According to IGN , Black Ops 4 has succeeded in creating a battle royale mode that's not just a quick cash grab. Instead, Blackout has turned out to be a worthwhile replacement for campaign mode. There might still be some Call of Duty fans who feel like Black Ops 4 isn't a full game without a traditional story. If you've gone through the Specialist Missions and still don't think it's enough, Activision has also released a series of comic books for free! You can read all the issues released thus far here. Like the Specialist Missions, these comics also expand on the backstory of each Specialist in the game. The Black Ops 4 comic isn't an afterthought either. Activision has recruited well-known comics writers such as Greg Rucka and Chris Roberson as well as artists Eric Wilkerson and Adam Hughes to pen and draw each issue. Reviewing the first five issues, Kotaku called the series "pretty great," explaining that it's a worthwhile read to better understand the Specialists. Doster said in her write-up. In , Vice called Call of Duty "the video game version of Coldplay," referring to how rote the series had become up to that point, as it stuck players in the same-ish modern-ish warfare scenario year after year. Regardless of how you feel about Coldplay's music, it's hard to refute Schilling's point. Even after , Call of Duty continued to deliver the same basic package of a single-player campaign, multiplayer PvP, and cooperative PvE year after year. This formula seemed to hit a breaking point with fans in According to Forbes , that year's installment, Infinite Warfare , sold 50 percent fewer physical copies than 's entry, Black Ops 3. But in , Activision decided to really change things up for the series with a nostalgic return to WWII. It paid off, too. Activision is doing this again with Black Ops 4 , skipping the tired campaign cycle for the new battle royale mode. This is also paying off. If Activision is smart, it will find yet another way to tweak the Call of Duty formula again next year. There's one last thing to consider: there's no reason Call of Duty has to compete in the single-player market in the first place, especially if there are already dedicated single-player shooters that emphasize storytelling. Take Bethesda's impressive lineup of single-player shooters. Wolfenstein , Doom , and Prey all feature campaign modes that tell worthwhile stories with their own unique styles. These games don't need to be formulaic because they don't emphasize multiplayer gaming. Instead, resources go almost completely to getting the campaign right. Call of Duty , on the other hand, hasn't made much of an effort to tell great stories in the last few years, opting instead to grow its multiplayer component, making it the star of each new installment. It's clear with Black Ops 4 that, while there's certainly market for great single-player shooters, Call of Duty isn't all that interested in chasing it. Instead, Call of Duty should focus on what it does well and what it's best known for. With Black Ops 4 , Call of Duty is doing just that: improving its multiplayer with a polished battle royale mode that will keep it at the top of the multiplayer shooter food chain. A traditional campaign was never part of the plan. The game has Specialist Missions instead. Call of Duty doesn't need a campaign to post major sales. Call of Duty campaigns haven't been well-received recently Activision. Linear experiences just aren't as popular anymore. Treyarch decided to chase the battle royale craze instead Activision. If players really want a Black Ops 4 story, they can read the comics. Call of Duty needs to keep trying new things. There are already dedicated single-player shooters.