Treyarch has officially announced its first major update for Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 and the start of the online game's next meta Operation. Operation Absolute Zero will pick up where Operation First Strike left off, bringing with it significant changes to Multiplayer, Blackout, Zombies, and particularly the Black Market.

Treyarch says Operation Absolute Zero was made specifically with the intent to respond to Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 player feedback, and it shows. Operation Absolute Zero changes will start rolling out in pieces over the coming week, with the content portion of the Operation releasing on PS4 December 11 and other platforms seven days later.

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While major changes will be coming to Multiplayer, Blackout, and Zombies in Operation Absolute Zero, it's the changes to the Black Market that will affect all players. Treyarch has heard the complaints and hopes the new system is more in line with player expectations:

  • 100 Tiers: Core tiers are being cut down from 200 to 100, with all tiers being viewable immediately so players can track what they want with ease.
  • New Multiplayer Weapons: The first wave of Multiplayer weapons is being introduced via Operation Contraband, including the Daemon 3XB SMG, SWAT RFT assault rifle, and Secret Santa melee weapon.
  • New Specialist: Tier 1 of Operation Absolute Zero unlocks a new Specialist, Zero, for play in both Multiplayer and Blackout.
  • New Item Categories, More Content: To add hype throughout the entirety of the Operation's 100 tiers, new content including Weapon Camos, Reactive Camos, Reticles, shared Warpaints, and Mastercraft weapon variants are being added.
  • New Mastercrafts: New Mastercraft weapon variants will be added including the ABR 223 Mastercraft.
  • New Blackout Characters: Ultimis Zombies heroes will be available soon, including Nokolai at Tier 45.
  • New Shared Warpaints: Warpaints can now be shared with outfits across different Themes on the same Specialist.
  • Reserves at Tier 101: After completing all 100 Tiers, players can unlock Reserve content which includes the Reserve items of Operation First Strike as well as new personalization items and a new Mastercraft.
  • Removing Inaccessible Content: Decals and Specialist Outfits that could potentially be inaccessible due to locked content will not be added to the loot pool, so all items earned can be immediately equipped 100% of the time. This content may be revisited in a different form later.
  • Daily Tier Skip for Zombies: Zombies players earn a Daily Tier Skip by completing 15 rounds in a Classic Zombies match every day.

Black Ops 4 players will ultimately decide whether Operation Absolute Zero and the new Black Market meet their expectations for a battle pass system. However, there's no denying that this system will immediately be better than what came before it.

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The Black Market changes are just the start of Operation Absolute Zero, though. Blackout is also going to see major changes, including the implementation of an Armor repair system. Treyarch will also be making audio improvements, weapon balance changes to the SDM and Spitfire, and other seasonal changes. Those will include softer winter lighting and smoke trails while parachuting. A new Hijacked destination on the map will also be added, as well as a new ARAV armored vehicle. All this and more over the coming weeks.

Zombies will be receiving three big new features soon: Daily Callings, the Black Ops Authenticity Stamp system, and Daily Tier Skips. Daily Callings offers unique challenges with bonus rewards every day, the Stamp system allows players to share their achievements in verifiable ways, and the Tier system makes progressing through Operations all the faster. Finally, the Winter Calling Zombies event starts Dec. 13 on PS4 with other platforms to follow.

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Multiplayer may be changing the least dramatically, but the new Specialist Zero will likely shake things up. Beyond a few new weapons available via the Black Market, players can look forward to new featured playlists, as well as a holiday event starting Dec. 13 on PS4.

There's plenty more to come in 2019 for Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, including League Play, Clans and Teams, Zombies Factions, and more. That said, Treyarch hopes that Operation Absolute Zero will be more than Black Ops 4 players expected.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 is available now on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.