Avalon will be your drop zone, a large and diverse map with varied combat zones, designed for Warzone players with multiple traversal options — including wingsuit insertion, wall-jumping Omnimovement, swimming, and tidal flats that let infantry and vehicles move through water areas more easily.

To learn more about the return of this fan-favorite mode, we connected with Call of Duty: Warzone Game Director Pete Actipis about developing Black Ops Royale, and how the team decided which classic features the Blackout-inspired mode would modernize, and why now is the perfect time to bring it back.

If you’re a relatively new Call of Duty player like myself, you may have missed out on the original Blackout experience; hearing about all these exciting features has me absolutely pumped to dive in. Whenever a game development team revisits a fan-favorite experience like this, I’m always curious to know about what steps are being taken to ensure that Black Ops Royale will appeal to both longtime Blackout fans and newer Warzone players.

“We looked at what Warzone does well and why players enjoy it, while also doing right by Blackout fans,” Actipis says. There are clear influences from the core Blackout experience, like bullet drop and weapon handling. Some systems are a blend of old and new. For example, we brought back the trauma kit so players can overheal but removed bandages and allowed base health to regenerate automatically. We brought back Blackout’s armor system with different damage mitigation levels but married it to Warzone’s plate system.”

Another one of those changes was adding Activities which are different from Warzone Contracts. Here, players will have to discover them on their own, which reinforces exploration and discoverability across Avalon. “Activities are optional events players can discover and engage with for specific rewards, each with associated risks. Surprise Shipments involve hostile enemies inside containers. Defeating them rewards an armor satchel and a chance at a USB key to open safes. Other activities offer different rewards depending on player needs.”

I’m told every Activity serves a specific purpose based on your goals during the match. After learning what the rewards are for each, you can then choose what to pursue. To help with this decision making, you can hover over activities on the TAC map to reveal their loot before committing to that Activity. The team also wants you to build your weapons through gameplay, rather than managing a complex inventory. By simplifying the UI, you’ll be able to stay focused on combat and strategy rather than menus – big fan of this adjustment.

An aspect I’m also excited about is how the “scavenge to survive” gameplay loop is going to integrate into Black Ops Royale, compared to the standard Warzone mode, where you’re able to get your Loadout. I’ve always liked the idea of having to scavenge for weapons, upgrades, and gear – now it’s going to be even more important to work with what you’ve got once you land.

There are also other loot opportunities in the form of Cradle Breaches, which introduce Zombie incursions and high-tier loot opportunities, bringing another risk and reward element to Black Ops Royale. “Cradle Breaches are a spiritual successor to Blackout’s zombie zones,” Actipis explains. “A public event warns players before a payload drops and releases cradle gas that causes hallucinations. There are two types right now. One is a zombie horde, where killing enough zombies earns a roll at the mystery box with chances at exotic or wonder weapons. The other is a Mangler boss fight; defeating it gives players access to a level three armor vest.”

Actipis tells me that even though these Cradle Breach encounters are PvE focused, this is still Warzone after all, meaning you can expect to deal with rival teams who might enter the area with the same objective (or choose to ambush after others have completed their task). This uncertainty brings a heightened risk around the payload drop. Additionally, these events only last for a set period — once the gas clears, both enemies and rewards are no longer available.

Another change is that Black Ops Royale will drop the Gulag in favor of a Redeploy Token and Redeploy Tower system. The way this works is that you will start with one Redeploy Token that auto-respawns you if you get eliminated — but finding another one is incredibly rare. Unlike Resurgence, you can’t count on repeated revives. This turns the Redeploy Towers into risky spots where teams will have to battle it out to bring teammates back.

I like this shift away from the Gulag here, and not just because I hardly ever win at it, but because this encourages a lot more coordination amongst teammates to bring me back into the fight. And having these Towers turn into conflict zones to make that happen just raises the stakes even more, creating these emergent encounters every match.

Finally, there is the Perk system which features consumable, temporary boosts. “Players can find and use Consumable Perks inspired by Blackout. These are looted during the match and can be activated at the player’s discretion. Players can carry up to five perks at a time, with more available to find throughout the match. Because perks are consumable and temporary, players must make deliberate decisions about when to use them, adding an extra layer of strategy to each encounter.”

As a bonus, Black Ops Royale progression also integrates with Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, Zombies, and Warzone — XP earned across each of those games carry over to each other allowing you to unlock rewards like new weapons, attachments, and other themed content. Once Counter Skies Event kicks off, a limited-time event running from March 17 to April 2, you can earn progress towards specialized items like the Swordfish A1 (MR), Echo 12 Backlash Launcher (Attachment), and more. (You can learn more about Counter Skies Event here on the official Call of Duty Blog).

Black Ops Royale sounds like it’s shaping up to offer a fresh, nostalgic experience that’s rooted in the original Blackout, with modern enhancements in weapon customization, tactical gameplay, and map design that you can find in today’s Call of Duty: Warzone. As a fan who missed out on the original map, it feels like this may be the perfect time to jump back into Warzone — Black Ops Royale is available today for Call of Duty: Warzone.