Analyst Says Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 Battle Royale Mode Wont Kill Fortnite

By Nicholas Barth ·

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4's Blackout mode is looking to make a name for itself in the popular battle royale genre, but one analyst believes that it will not affect the playerbase for Fortnite Battle Royale.

Analyst Says Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 Battle Royale Mode Wont Kill Fortnite

With the immense rise in popularity that the battle royale genre has seen in the past year thanks to Fortnite Battle Royale and Player Unknowns Battlegrounds (PUBG), Call of Duty has decided to introduce the adrenaline pumping action of battle royale to its franchise in the upcoming Treyarch developed title Call of Duty: Black Ops 4. This battle royale mode for Black Ops 4 will be called Blackout, and it will feature the largest map in Call of Duty's history, while incorporating content from every Call of Duty Game in the Black Ops series. 

However, even with the introduction of a very interesting addition to the world of battle royale, one analyst believes that Call of Duty: Black Ops 4's Blackout battle royale mode will not drastically alter the playerbase for the most popular game in the world, Fortnite. 

There has been much discussion regarding the decision by Treyarch to forgo the development of a signle player campaign for the Black battle royale mode. (Source: Treyarch)
There has been much discussion regarding the decision by Treyarch to forgo the development of a single player campaign for the Blackout battle royale mode. (Source: Treyarch)

In a report by Business Insider, Oppenheimer analyst Andrew Uerkwitz stated that it is not likely that Blackout for Black Ops 4 will not appeal to the same wide audience that Fortnite caters to. "We believe the game is not positioned to appeal to wider, younger players like Fortnite is," said Uerkwitz. "Instead, we believe this game is built to be the best-in-class hardcore [first person shooter]."

Uerkwitz went on to explain that he believes that Black Ops 4 and its Blackout battle royale mode will be better positioned to challenge and steal players away from the likes of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO), Overwatch, Rainbow Six: Siege, Battlefield and PUBG. 

The reasoning behind this is that Blackout is currently believed to be more attractive to experienced and hardcore first-person shooter fans with its "deeper/flexible load-outs and tactical gameplay" instead of the younger audience that makes up a large percentage of Fortnite's playerbase. 

Only time will tell if Black Ops 4 and its Blackout battle royale mode will rise up to be a challenger to the empire of millions of players that Epic Games has built with Fortnite. 

(cover photo courtesy of Forbes)