It looks like more big things are coming to Call of Duty: Black Ops 3! So far they’ve tweaked some Perks, heavily implied that they’re bringing back a certain map, gotten rid of Noob Tubes, and promised that we’ll get the chance to play at E3 2015.
Hints are getting dropped that Alex Mason and Edward Richtofen might be making a comeback. Rumours about the director putting out a casting call for actors to fill in these roles in an upcoming live action made-for-TV video. Treyarch also posted an Instagram photo with the caption: “Zombies in the atrium, catching up on their social media accounts. No big deal.” In the photo are two actors in full zombie makeup and attire, sitting in the Treyarch office’s atrium, and this clues us in that they were shooting some sort of live action video there.
Further reinforcing the possibility of something explosive being on its way is a tweet from David Vonderhaar, which reads: ‘#tbt “Get ready for a surprise.”’ Attached is a picture of the monkey bomb, which is an iconic piece of equipment from the Zombies series. “Get ready for a surprise” was what the monkey bombs said when you threw them, and Vonderhaar posting that could be alluding to something big coming soon. Gameplay footage is typically saved until very close to release, so… maybe we’re getting a live action trailer soon?
Speaking of explosive surprises, it looks like Black Ops 3 is leaning towards the PlayStation 4 over the Xbox One. Normally the Xbox is the favorite, with DLC releases arriving a month earlier than on PS4 and PC. Lately, though, PlayStation 4 sales have been double that of the Xbox One, which means more subscribers to their online service and higher digital download revenue. The PS4 side is a pretty good place to be right now. PlayStation’s social media has also been more active with Call of Duty than ever before, even posting the trailer before Xbox did. The trailers are also lacking Xbox branding now. The Treyarch offices are even having early hands-on access done on the PS4. Coincidence? We think not.
Also leaked is an image of a bottle of Mountain Dew, which looks to be a tie-up with Call of Duty: Black Ops 3, with a website URL leading to the Dew & Doritos website. Right there is the PWRUP promotion, which says that “[a]ll year long, DEW and DORITOS are teaming up with PlayStation to bring you closer to greatness with rewards for your favorite games.” We don’t know about you, but to us that sounds like PlayStation is just about ready to bury Xbox.
Possibly the most telling piece of evidence is that when you go to the Buy page for the game, the first thing you see in the Platform selection box is PlayStation 4. This has never happened before, and that makes it pretty loud and clear that they’re really pushing for PS4 sales here. This development has been met with some disappointment from Xbox owners, but with much celebration from PlayStation owners.
How do you feel about these developments? Prioritizing the PlayStation crowd right now seems to be the better move, business-wise. Are you happy with this tilt in favor, or would you rather that Treyarch be platform-neutral and let everybody get the game at the same time? Sound off in the comments.
