Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 Leak Reveals Scrapped Open-World Details

Prior to the release of Call of Duty: Black Ops III, developer Treyarch was in the process of creating an open-world campaign. After reportedly working on the campaign for a year, the developer scrapped those plans. News of the open-world concept was revealed in 2019 by Jason Schreier, then working for Kotaku. Few details were given at the time, but now we have a much better idea of the scale of those plans! Reddit user Purpletoaster has shared a plethora of leaked images from the mode on Imgur, in which several large environments can be seen. Readers can find those leaked images right here.

The game's open-world environments would have contained various mini modes, such as assassinations, defense, and sabotage. There would have also been a day and night cycle, as well as weather patterns. Last but not least, players could have expected economy and construction elements. Unfortunately, plans were abandoned for the mode "midway through production," and the game's actual campaign ended up being much more linear. The resulting change was apparently quite difficult on the developers, who were forced to endure significant crunch to meet the game's deadlines.

Call of Duty: Black Ops III released in 2015 to mostly strong critical reception. However, many reviewers commented on the game's lack of innovation. Polygon in particular noted that "Treyarch doesn't meaningfully move the series forward here." It certainly sounds like the game's open-world concept could have helped with those kinds of critiques, though the game still managed to find significant financial success. Regardless, it's always interesting to get a glimpse at what could have been, and see how these types of changes might have impacted future games.

Activision's Call of Duty release cycle has seen increased scrutiny from fans in the years since the release of Black Ops III. Many fans and even Activision employees seem hopeful that Microsoft's proposed acquisition of the company could change that cycle. It remains to be seen whether the deal will go through, but it's not hard to imagine how the actual games might benefit as a result.

Are you disappointed the open-world concept was scrapped? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk all things gaming!

[H/T: Insider Gaming]