Vanguard delivers the complete package to Call of Duty fans across Campaign, online Multiplayer and Zombies co-operative modes. Players will witness the origins of Special Forces as they change the face of history, forming Task Force One in a sprawling World War II narrative campaign spanning the Eastern and Western fronts of Europe, the Pacific, and North Africa. Multiplayer features 20 maps on day one at launch. While Zombies fans will experience a signature undead gameplay experience, marking a franchise-first Zombies crossover for Call of Duty.

Later this year, Vanguard players will be immersed in a fully integrated, new Call of Duty: Warzone experience featuring a brand-new map, new gameplay and new experiences. Together, this is the most connected Call of Duty ever, all powered by the next-generation Call of Duty engine introduced in Modern Warfare.

It’s time to rise on every front.   

Sledgehammer Games announced details for their Call of Duty: Vanguard Open Beta!

The Vanguard Open Beta kicks off on PlayStation for early access to those who pre-ordered the game on September 10 -13 and on Xbox/ PC/PlayStation for early access on September 16-17.

Fans can pre-order the game for early access to the beta as well. Additionally, those who pre-order receive the Night Raid Mastercraft Weapon Blueprint (for immediate use in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War and Warzone), and Operator Arthur Kingsley (to be received later for use in Cold War and Warzone).

CHANGES FROM ALPHA TO BETA

VISUAL UPDATES

Over the course of Alpha, we received a considerable amount of feedback regarding visibility. We’ve made several graphical improvements that you should notice in Beta, and we’ve responded to player feedback regarding low visibility when taking damage, and visibility issues with character/map lighting.

• Damage Overlay:
  • Refined the damage overlay when injured to help maintain visibility.
• Lighting:
  • Reduced the density of sun fog.
  • Increased the rim light around players to help separate them from the background.
  • Adjusted overall exposure—aka we turned up the lights.

AUDIO TUNING

The audio team has made improvements to weapon sounds that will be ready in time for Beta including:

• Non-player footstep volume slightly increased.
• Non-player weapon volume slightly reduced.
  • Note: Non-player is anyone that isn’t you (enemies and teammates).
• Announcer volume and callout frequency reduced.
• Global MP mixing pass to improve informative audio for gameplay

CHAMPION HILL SPAWN TUNING

Throughout the Champion Hill Alpha, we observed spawn issues that resulted in players spawning very close to other players. To address this, the design team has adjusted the spawns on Champion Hill.

• We’ve tuned spawn locations and adjusted overall spawn logic. Hopefully, this should eliminate any more Angela & Dwight spawn scares.
• We’ve done away with that one spawn in Courtyard that forced you to have 3 seconds of awkward eye contact with your opponent. You know the one.

FIXES IN THE PIPELINE

We received reports of nameplate visibility issues and aim assist tracking through destructible walls. While these fixes probably won’t be ready before Beta, we assure you they will be addressed before launch. Here’s which issues we’ve identified for fixes and a little information about why these bugs are happening:

• We identified a destructible wall in Champion Hill with a mismatched collision model. Even though it appeared as a solid wall, there was a hole allowing the raycast to pass through and show nameplates.
• Note: Nameplate visibility works by doing a raycast from you to other players. If there’s something blocking it, the nameplate shouldn’t be visible. Please keep this in mind while playing and make a report if something seems off.
• We are aware there are more nametag and aim assist-related issues and have an ongoing investigation on how to resolve them. Gameplay clips have been a great resource for our teams to find and squash these problems, so keep them coming.

BETA CONTENT

MAPS

• Champion Hill
• Hotel Royal
• Gavutu
• Red Star
• Eagle's Nest (weekend 2)

MODES

Outside of Champion Hill – Vanguard will introduce another new game mode: Patrol. Based on Hardpoint, this objective-based mode features a scoring zone in near-constant motion; if Operators want to rack up points for their team, they should keep up and move around the map within this Patrol point.

These modes are in addition to the classic offerings such as Team Deathmatch, Kill Confirmed, Domination, and Search & Destroy. These are also the exact modes you can play alongside Patrol during the Beta period (Patrol and Search & Destroy to be available later in the Beta).

Available modes in Beta:

• Champion Hill (Solos, Duos, Trios)
• Team Deathmatch
• Domination
• Kill Confirmed
• Patrol (Kicking off Saturday of Weekend 1)
• Search and Destroy (Weekend 2)

WEAPONS

Champion Hill

• Weapons are persistent through matches. There are ten upgrades per weapon, each adding one attachment.
• There will be three rotating weapon sets, featuring 2 ARs, 2 LMGs, 2 snipers, 2 shotguns, and 2 pistols.

Core MP

• For Core MP, you'll be able to level up weapons to level 30.
• PlayStation players will get +2 custom loadout slots (12 total, 10 for other platforms).

FEATURES

Combat Pacing

Combat Pacing is a feature that allows players to select the intensity of their games. Player count is determined by map size to achieve the intensity described in the Combat Pacing System. Player counts will vary.

• Tactical: These are the lobbies that franchise veterans know well. This is the experience that you're used to with classic Call of Duty combat timing. Tactical Combat Pacing is always 6v6.
• Assault: Balanced combat pacing that gives you enough room to breathe and a lot of targets to kill. In Beta Weekend 1, player counts will vary between 20-28 players.
• Blitz: High-action lobbies where the intensity is cranked up to frenetic levels. Prepare for plenty of combat when choosing to join a Blitz. In Beta Weekend 1, player counts will vary between 28-48 players.

OPERATORS (Each will have 1 finishing move)

• Daniel Takeyatsu
• Roland Zeimet
• Lucas Riggs
• Polina Petrova
• Wade Jackson
• Arthur Kingsle

Key Features:

• Epic campaign spanning four major theaters of WWII  
  • Experience pivotal WWII battles through the untold stories of multinational heroes that formed Task Force One, changing the face of history and setting the stage for Special Forces as we know it  
  • Development led by award-winning studio Sledgehammer Games, Call of Duty: Vanguard drops players into an epic scale of global warfare, where they will experience combat through the eyes of the original Special Forces Operators across four major theaters of WWII  
  • The deeply engaging, single player narrative features a select multinational group of four soldiers from diverse backgrounds, who rise together in combat to turn the tides of war  
  • Vanguard uses the next generation Call of Duty engine introduced with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare to deliver breathtaking visual fidelity, a photo realistic world, lifelike characters and optimized performance that enhances the gameplay for an advanced Call of Duty experience.  
• Unparalleled Multiplayer offering 
  • Massive day 1 Multiplayer offering with 20 multiplayer maps at launch, including 16 core multiplayer 
  • Experience signature Call of Duty combat and new ways to play with combat pacing and reactive gameplay environments.
  • Tactical down the barrel gunplay, the return of Gunsmith, new custom ballistics, and reactive environments
  • The fast and frenetic Champion Hill mode features a series of tournament style head-to-head matches, where players can play solo (1v1) or squad up in duos (2v2) and trios (3v3) to battle it out in an arena consisting of four maps to be the last squad standing  
• Treyarch Zombies!  
  • From the birthplace of Zombies, Treyarch helps deliver a franchise first Call of Duty Zombies crossover as Vanguard connects with the Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Zombies storyline delivering a new connection for Call of Duty players  
  • Players will be able to survive the relentless onslaught of the undead in a chilling all-new Zombies experience, developed by Treyarch Studios  
  • Provides continuity from a lore standpoint while innovating on the core gameplay loop  
• Warzone Integration  
  • Raven Studios leading development of brand-new Call of Duty: Warzone map coming this year  
  • Will feature a multi-faceted, new anti-cheat system across Warzone
  • Shares the same tech as Vanguard for seamless weapon and operator integration

Post launch, Vanguard  together with Warzone will offer a massive calendar of free post-launch content featuring new maps, modes, playlists, limited time events and seasonal events, as well as community celebrations and more.

The Battle Pass system also returns, allowing you to unlock post-launch content with unified progression across both Call of Duty: Vanguard and Call of Duty: Warzone. As always, you can unlock items like base weapons, customization items, and more, simply by playing the game.

Call of Duty: Vanguard is scheduled for release on PS5, PS4, XboxSeries X|S ,Xbox One, and PC via Battle.net starting November 5, 2021. Call of Duty: Warzone’s new experience will release later this year.