‘Call of Duty: Black Ops 4’ Blackout Gets New Close Quarters Frenzy Playlist

Treyarch updated Call of Duty: Black Ops 4’s Blackout beta with a new playlist called Close Quarters Frenzy, further armor nerfs, and other balance changes.

Featuring the usual battle royale game mode options like Solos, Duos, and four-person groups called Quads in Black Ops 4, the Blackout mode also features a rotating playlist that’s been changing over the course of the beta. Previously letting solo players play a mode called Close Quarters that limited loot to close-ranged weapons like submachine guns, pistols, and shotguns, Treyarch’s beta update shared on Reddit confirms that the newest playlist is Close Quarters Frenzy. It’s much like the Close Quarters mode, but it must be played in pairs and adds in the effect of the Fast Collapse game mode that makes the Collapsed area close in much quicker.

“Today’s a big day!” Treyarch’s update said. “The Blackout PC Open Beta is now live for all PC players, and we’ve introduced the new Close Quarters Frenzy playlist for Duos, combining our Fast Collapse and Close Quarters playlists into one frantic rush to survive the Collapse using only SMGs, shotguns, handguns, and fists.”

The game mode is live now across all platforms the beta is available on, but judging from the way the other playlists have cycled out, it’ll only be available for a while before it’s replaced with another game mode.

Characters from Black Ops 4’s Zombies mode have also been enabled as playable characters in Blackout to join the ranks of default Blackout models, classic Black Ops characters, and the Specialists that are new to Black Ops 4. These Zombies characters include Bruno, Diego, Scarlett, and Stanton that join the ranks of the past Zombies characters that were already playable.

Finally, a global update has been released that affected all beta platforms with several weapons and armor being nerfed alongside a reduction of the max number of various Equipment players can carry. Treyarch’s notes for the balance changes that affect shotguns and Level 3 Armor as well as other items and features can be found below:

• Miscellaneous:
  • General stability fixes
  • Improved Killcam to only show relevant player names
• Game Tuning:
  • Item Spawns
    • Reduced the spawn frequency of Level 3 Armor, VAPR-XKG, and Koshka
  • Weapons
    • Increased SG12 semi-auto shotgun damage at medium range
  • Equipment
    • Decreased the maximum number of most types of Equipment a player can carry in an Inventory slot

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4’s Blackout beta is now live on all platforms until Sept. 17.