Black Ops 4 raises the bar for Multiplayer mode that increases tactical gameplay and player choice, along with the biggest Zombies offering ever with three full experiences at launch, and Blackout, where the Black Ops universe comes to life in a massive battle royale experience featuring iconic characters and locations from all four Black Ops games in a one-of-a-kind offering that is uniquely Black Ops.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 transforms the established universe played by hundreds of millions of fans with the largest gameplay experience ever created in the series.

Celebrating the 10-year anniversary of the original Call of Duty Zombies, Black Ops 4 also debuts an entirely new and unprecedented Zombies experience that’s the biggest Day One offering in franchise history – with three fully-featured Zombies experiences at launch – IX, Voyage of Despair and Blood of the Dead. With immersive new adventures, a brand-new cast of characters and a nefarious new enemy, Black Ops 4 Zombies will feature the deep gameplay and easter eggs that the rabid community of fans devours. It also includes the most customizable action to-date, new systems for creating and completing community challenges, and social systems designed to connect players. Black Ops 4 also reintroduces difficulty levels and an in-game tutorial to onboard new players to the Zombies universe, while giving hardcore players the option of ratcheting up the challenge. Additionally, Zombie Rush is a brand new mode that streamlines the gameplay experience, introducing enticing new challenges to grizzled veterans, while creating a whole new tempo of gameplay for newcomers.

Starting today on PS4, the Shamrock & Awe festivities have begun, featuring Homunculus Leprechauns, hidden pots of gold and a new multiplayer mode across Blackout, Zombies and Multiplayer modes.

There’s a charm or two just for showing up to Shamrock & Awe; you’re given the ‘Precious’ gesture and an animated calling card immediately available to anyone logging on that can be redeemed with Blackjack in the Black Market. Also in the Black Market, find the Shamrock Bundle; ten crates, the ‘Glorious Day’ gesture (complete with triple rainbow!), themed warpaint, and a “Luck of the Irish” Jump Pack; use the wingsuit like the other themed packs; to ensure the road rises up to meet you with minimal face-planting.

New Blackout Content: Were you worried that the Blackout landscape wasn’t looking green enough? Don’t be: Aside from the spring colors affecting almost all the foliage, the Shamrock & Awe event changes all smoke to an attractive green color. Whether you’re lobbing a grenade or looking for a supply drop, expect a vibrant new hue to all your favorite smoke effects! Not only that, but supply drop boxes get a shamrock-themed makeover too.

You also might want to start searching for magical bronze pot hidden throughout the Blackout map; destroying these, rewards you with a Pot of Gold’s worth of paint cans!

Leprechaun magic is on show in random locations throughout the map as well; Homunculus Leprechauns to be precise: These noisy, bearded imps dance and grant wishes; dropping a wide variety of goodies if you give them a poke, so engage them before your enemies do.

Need even more green? Then engage the emerald-eyed undead for a host of special prizes! 

Zombies Additions: Now less of a wonder weapon, and more of a red-bearded leprechaun with a top hat and bad attitude, the Homunculus transformation for this event is one of the additions in Zombies mode. The other involves encountering zombies sporting a distinctly different hue around their sunken eyeballs. What rewards do they offer? It’s a “mystery”!

Multiplayer: The multiplayer mode formerly known as Fracture is back and better than ever! Now known as Stockpile, enemies drop shamrocks (or dog tags once Shamrock & Awe is over), which you need to gather and place into your rainbow-filled Pots of Gold (or deposit sites). Expect this mode to continue once the festivities have come to an end.

Log on now to participate in the Shamrock & Awe revelry today (March 12) before the shenanigans come to a close on March 26 (PS4). Other platforms to follow.

In addition to unveiling Multiplayer and Zombies, the team also introduced Blackout – the new battle royale-style experience that combines Black Ops’ signature fast, fluid, guns-up combat, with fierce new levels of survival competition across iconic Black Ops settings re-imagined at a colossal scale. Blackout is an experience unlike any other game or mode in Call of Duty history, where players will have to scavenge, strategize, compete and survive to win. Featuring the largest map ever built in Call of Duty – 1,500 times bigger than Nuketown – Blackout thrusts players into a collision course as they play as classic characters spanning the history of the Black Ops series including the original Call of Duty Zombies Origins cast. Battling solo or in teams, players will engage in diverse combat complete with ground, air and sea vehicles across a gamespace unlike anything ever in Call of Duty. Players will encounter fan-favorite Black Ops map locations and call upon a massive arsenal of Black Ops weaponry and equipment as the winner-takes-all action creates a new way to play Call of Duty.

For the PC, Treyarch is co-developing with Beenox, who together are working closely with Blizzard to optimize Black Ops 4 for Battle.net. Black Ops 4 represents the largest development team assembled for a PC title in the series. Black Ops 4 on PC will have uncapped framerate, 4K resolution and HDR, support for ultra-wide monitors and the ability for players to extensively customize the performance and visual quality for their specific hardware. In addition, players will be able to select from pre-set control options, including options for left-handed players, or fully customize the keyboard and mouse controls to their preference. In addition, Treyarch and Beenox worked closely with the team at Blizzard to incorporate Battle.net’s social systems, security, and server stability into Black Ops 4, to prepare for the release on Battle.net on October 12.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 has three distinct modes of play:

• MULTIPLAYER:  Call of Duty:  Black Ops 4’s multiplayer experience delivers the most tactical depth to-date. Featuring a gritty, grounded combat experience, Black Ops 4 Multiplayer is set between Black Ops 2 and Black Ops 3 and serves as a prequel to the game’s Specialists and their backstories. Multiplayer has been revamped to a whole new level, designed to offer more choice, reward more styles of play and create an even more intensely competitive experience.
  • SPECIALISTS: Specialists return in a big way: their weapons and equipment are unique to each, so combining Specialists based on style of play and game mode adds a new level of strategy and team creativity – it’s all about synergy.
    • Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 features a combination of new and re-imagined Specialists, all of whom have distinct combat profiles and abilities.
  • TEAMWORK: Multiplayer in Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 places an emphasis on tactical teamplay that rewards all play styles that contribute to a team’s success, not just individual performance or K/D ratio. Players can combine their talents with other players to become force multipliers, making the team more superior than any one player could be on their own.
    • Players are strong on their own, but unstoppable as a team, especially when they combine Specialists in strategic ways to work together.
  • PLAYER MOVEMENT AND GAMEPLAY PACE: The pace of Black Ops 4 has evolved, without slowing down the speed of the player. Combat is more tactical, yet more fluid than ever.
  • Black Ops 4 multiplayer is a grounded experience, with no thrust-jumps or wall-running.
    • It also introduces a new manual health system that you must strategically employ: choose when to regenerate your health as it recharges on a cooldown.
• ZOMBIES: This year marks the 10-year anniversary of Call of Duty Zombies, as Black Ops 4 delivers the biggest Zombies offering at launch ever with three full Zombies experiences.
  • NEW STORY/CHARACTERS: Black Ops 4 Zombies marks the beginning of a brand-new storyline with new characters.
    • Voyage of Despair is set aboard the RMS Titanic, an iconic and monumental setting where our four protagonists discover the truth that befell the doomed passengers on that fateful night.
    • Set in ancient Rome, IX thrusts our four protagonists into a coliseum where ritual sacrifices may be required.  
    • Expanding on the fan-favorite Mob of the Dead, the third map Blood of the Dead features the Origins characters from the previous Zombies storyline visiting the purgatory dimension of Alcatraz.
  • MORE CUSTOMIZATION : In Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, Zombies will be the most customizable experience to-date, giving players access to customizable options that allow players to change the fundamental rules and systems of the Zombies gameplay experience.
    • Black Ops 4 Zombies will include Custom Games and new Game Modes, which will deliver a more personalized Zombies experience – allowing players to tailor the challenge and difficulty to their play style, and experience the game in a new way.
• BLACKOUT: Blackout is a celebration of the Black Ops community, introducing a brand-new Battle Royale style mode steeped in the Black Ops universe. Blackout pits the most players ever in franchise history against each other, in the biggest map in Call of Duty history, all with the signature Black Ops combat players know and love.
  • BLACK OPS PLAYABLE CHARACTERS AND FAN-FAVORITE LOCALES: Blackout will feature classic playable characters from previous Black Ops games with a colossal map that features locations inspired by fan-favorite Black Ops multiplayer maps, including iconic areas from Nuketown and Firing Range.
  • CLASSIC WEAPONS AND VEHICLES: The mode will feature classic Black Ops weapons with different ammo types and equipment that players will loot and scavenge in the map. Players will also find and drive land, sea and air vehicles.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 is scheduled for release on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC on October 12th. Fans can pre-order now and get access to the Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 Private Beta.