Games with huge player counts have become more common with the advent of the battle royale genre thanks to titles like Fortnite or Apex Legends that pit dozens of competitors against one another on a large map. Call of Duty: Warzone is another popular battle royale despite Activision having to frequently address cheating, yet the current mainline title Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is still looking to innovate with a new game mode called 40-Player Endurance.
Black Ops Cold War co-developer Treyarch detailed new content coming to Season One Reloaded in a blog post today, though the update itself does not launch until 11:00 p.m. PT tonight. Among the additions are the multiplayer map Express returning from Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, a new chapter in the Dark Aether storyline for the Zombies mode via the release of Firebase Z on February 5, and ranked League Play coming to Black Ops Cold War on February 8.
This Endurance mode is something new to the game that Treyarch suggests may become "your new favorite game mode." It features ten squads of four players on one of three maps; Sanatorium, Ruka, or Alpine; with each team fighting to detonate as many uranium bombs as possible. Five bombs will always be active across the map, and Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War teams must reach 1,000 points to win, which Treyarch said will offer "plenty of time to rack up huge amounts of XP per match."
The blog post suggests 40-Player Endurance will be an opportunity to experience the game's "wildest" multiplayer mode like never before, and it isn't hard to see why when one considers how hectic it could become with so many players going after a finite number of targets. This mode was first teased when Black Ops Cold War launched its Season One Reloaded update on January 14, with a breakdown on the official Call of Duty Blog saying the variant introduces "a new layer of strategy and non-stop action."
While new content over the next week should give fans plenty to keep themselves occupied, it's also likely that new glitches and bugs will crop up. Activision and its stable of developers; be they Treyarch, Raven Software, Infinity Ward, or others; are seemingly always playing catch-up when it comes to squashing bugs in their ongoing titles. For instance, one recent Black Ops Cold War glitch prevents players from picking up care packages.
That being said, the occasional glitch and the prevalence of cheaters has not stopped a large number of people from getting into Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War or the battle royale Warzone. New modes such as 40-Player Endurance should keep up the interest, though titles like Call of Duty: Mobile are still receiving new maps and additional content for those who want to check out a different multiplayer scene.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
Sources: Treyarch, Call of Duty Blog