New 'Call of Duty' Blackout Option Solves Item Pickup Problem

Treyarch shared a solution for Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 Blackout's item pickup problem in the form of a new setting being added to the game mode's options.

In Treyarch's first update after the Blackout beta went live, it addressed several of the issues players had raised with the mode. One of the problems people highlighted was the time that it took to pick up weapons and other resources, a core part of battle royale games that needs to be done quickly so that players can resupply and keep moving. Treyarch's solution then was to increase pickup speeds and make picking up items easier without having to look right at them, but an option to allow items to be picked up by pressing a button instead of holding it was still a frequent request.

While that wasn't in the plans at the time, Treyarch now has an option in Blackout to allow players to pick up items easier and faster. Treyarch's studio design director David Vonderhaar shared an image of the new in-game setting on Twitter that he said is still going through testing but should be added as soon as possible.

Sir David Young and team have created this peace offering. It still needs to go through the normal quality assurance and integration steps. But, ASAP. I promise. Just don’t yell at me when you turn this on but can’t reload after a hot drop! pic.twitter.com/hw2BB4ouMQ

— Lord Vonderhaar (@DavidVonderhaar) October 3, 2018

The "Blackout Item Pick Up" setting, when toggled to "Press" makes it so that players can hold down "square" to pick up all nearby loot. Pressing the button instead of holding it will prioritize picking up nearby loot over reloading weapons, hence Vonderhaar's comment about players needing to get used to the setting so that they don't accidently pick up an item when they're trying to reload instead.

It's unclear from Vonderhaar's tweet if the option will be available right when Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 and its Blackout mode launch since he says that it still needs to go through testing and quality assurance before going live, but his language indicates that there's a strong chance that it will be added by launch. The option will be found under the "Blackout" menu in the game's settings alongside an option that changes the shape of the mini-map.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 and Blackout launch on October 12th.