Ahead of the traditional October release month for Call of Duty games, rumors and speculation about the next installment in the popular first-person shooter franchise have begun flooding the internet. These leaks have encompassed every possible angle and tidbit of information somehow related to the game from Operators, to modes, gameplay features, and of course its release date.
Now, word has it that Vanguard is going to put a new spin on the popular battle royale mode.
How much smaller is Vanguard’s battle royale mode going to be?
According to the most recent set of unofficial information about Call of Duty: Vanguard, the game is going to have a small-scale battle royale mode.
The 4 special maps will be a "mini Battle Royale" experience with the same mechanics as Warzone.
— Tom Henderson (@_Tom_Henderson_) August 13, 2021
Reputable leaker and industry insider, Tom Henderson, was the first to talk about this new mode on Twitter. He describes four special maps for Vanguard as having a “mini battle royale” with similar mechanics and gameplay as Warzone, which is Activision-Blizzard’s free-to-play battle royale game.
Henderson did not reveal further details about the “mini battle royale” mode for Vanguard. However, we can assume that Activision will try to make the experience different from Warzone. Even if Henderson noted that both will have similarities, the implication that it is smaller is already noteworthy. It suggests that Vanguard is going to add its own flavor to the popular genre.
Perhaps it will focus less on open battlefield warfare and more on close-quarters combat, which wouldn’t be half-bad.
Of course, this is all just speculation. We don’t even know just how few players this “mini battle royale” mode will be capped at. We just know that it will not have as many players as Warzone, which can support up to 150 players in a single match.
At this point, the closest comparison that we have to a “mini battle royale” map is PUBG Battlegrounds. The “original” battle royale game has a small map that’s designed specifically for 32 players instead of the usual 100 players.
With that said, it makes sense to add a battle royale mode to Vanguard. Similar to Black Ops Cold War, which offers a notably different battle royale experience, Vanguard should be no different. The success of Black Ops Cold War’s battle royale mode is also good news for Activision. It suggests that the studio has no reason to worry about having multiple battle royale modes available for a single gaming ecosystem.
The word on the street is that a Vanguard announcement is coming, so here’s to hoping that we get to hear more about the game soon.
