Black Ops Cold War’s beta will be ‘quite an upgrade’ over the alpha, claims designer

The lead designer of Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War’s gameplay systems has claimed its upcoming beta will be a significant improvement over the recent PS4 alpha.

The Cold War alpha ran for 48 hours from September 18 and included various 6v6 and 12v12 multiplayer modes across five maps.

According to Activision, the pre-release version was its most downloaded Alpha or Beta ever. However, the Alpha was criticised in some areas, including its aggressive skill-based match making which a developer later suggested could be tuned.

On Friday, Treyarch’s Tony Flame claimed on Twitter that the upcoming beta test – which starts On October 8 – would represent an improvement over the Alpha.

“The Black Ops Cold War Beta is quite an upgrade over the Alpha,” he said. “I don’t think anyone quite realizes what this team can do in a short amount of time. From new features to the core feel, nearly everything has taken leaps forward.”

In addition, Flame noted that the beta would be an entirely separate download and that Alpha users could now delete their downloads.

Activision unveiled Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War’s multiplayer mode last month and confirmed plans to launch an open beta starting on October 8.

The most significant change to Cold War’s multiplayer is the absence of Specialists featured in the past two Black Ops games. Wildcards and Scorestreaks will feature in the game, as well as Field Upgrades such as a Field Mic and Jammer.

PS4 pre-order customers will get first access to the beta, followed by general PS4 players on October 10, then other pre-order customers on October 15, ahead of general access on October 17.

Further reading

Treyarch reveals Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War multiplayer details

No Specialists, new modes, Warzone integration and more...