It turns out that not every Call of Duty player wants to shoot their way through endless waves of zombies to unravel the mysteries of a game mode. Activision celebrated this basic truth by this week releasing a version of Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 on PC that doesn't include the Zombies game mode. That way, people who aren't interested in the undead wave shooter can save $30 and retain access to the other game modes.
Activision's decision to charge $60 for Black Ops 4 was already contentious. It's the first Call of Duty game not to feature a single-player campaign, and even though it compensated with the addition of the Blackout battle royale mode, that omittance was bound to rub folks the wrong way. It also didn't help that players were encouraged to spend $50 on the Black Ops Pass in exchange for access to new multiplayer maps and characters.
Now, the company's effectively halving the price of Black Ops 4 less than two months after its debut. Sure, that requires giving up the Zombies part of the game, but many people were more intrigued by the Blackout game mode than anything else. (Though of course many were also keen to experience Call of Duty's signature multiplayer as well.) It's seems likely that the price could drop even further if this edition doesn't sell well.
The news is the latest example of publishers drastically reducing a title's price shortly after its debut. Rise of the Tomb Raider held a week-long sale of 34-47 percent off just a month after its release, and Electronic Arts gave Battlefield "veterans" a 50 percent discount on Battlefield V weeks after launch. It's not like PC gamers haven't known for years that buying a game at launch is bound to be more expensive than waiting a while so the price can drop. But it seems like the time between a game's debut and its trip to the discount bin has shortened.
Activision said this version of Black Ops 4, dubbed the Battle Edition, is available exclusively through the Battle.net client on PC. It costs $30 until January 6; then, its price will jump to $40. So if you're looking to save a bundle on the latest Call of Duty, now seems like the time to act. Unless, perhaps, two months later Activision decides to sell Blackout mode separately or cut the game's price across the board...seems likely, right?
