If there’s anything that the battle royale scene in shooter-focused games has struggled with, it’s balancing. While the battle royale mode was engineered to foster a fiercely competitive spirit for the truly elite to rise to the top, franchises like Call of Duty and Battlefield have discovered that said competition doesn’t always translate to fun for many of their players. Call of Duty: Warzone, for example, is one of the most sweat-plagued games on the market at the moment, and this status has spurred Activision into action with the developer carving out a casual mode within the returning Verdansk OG map. This clearly defined division sounds good on paper, but it remains to be seen how exactly it Verdansk will be kept sweat-free in casual mode.
Sweats have existed since the dawn of multiplayer gaming, and (like it or not) are here to stay, as the XP requirements and challenges to level up gear practically make their presence inevitable. The main issue, however, is how they impact the gaming experience of the typical casual player – the archetype who wants to run around a little and experience Call of Duty: Warzone without putting in eye-popping hours of gameplay. With this in mind, Activision designed a mode specifically for the casual gamer, and the developer will hopefully stay active in preventing sweats from leaking into the mode and ruining the experience, with there being a few ways to achieve this.
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Activision Can Get Proactive With its Casual-Only Mode
Activision crafted Verdansk’s battle royale mode with a lopsided number of bots versus a small percentage of real players, primarily to engineer a level playing field for its gamers. While matchmaking in multiplayer lobbies is typically skill-based, it isn’t uncommon for novices and casuals who perform slightly above average in two or three matches consecutively to be thrust into the deep end against higher-ranked players. This phenomenon creates a skill gap chasm and fosters an unenjoyable experience for the casuals who get farmed repeatedly by the more skilled competition.
Despite Verdansk’s unique basis and principles, some extremely high-level players have managed to slip past Activision’s detection mechanisms and roam the casual mode map — which essentially defeats the purpose. The development team stated that it’s going to keep a close eye on the data and evolve the mode over time to prevent these slips from happening, but it can do more than monitor the situation by getting active now.
Activision Could Either Bar Sweats Entirely or Foster a Collaborative Atmosphere
For starters, Activision could implement a strict ranking system as an entry barrier into casual mode. Players above a certain threshold of kills or XP could automatically be barred from entering the casual mode, since the skill level required to attain said threshold would demand regular and highly-skilled gameplay. However, implementing such a system would need to be dynamic to accommodate players who haven’t fired up the game in a while and need some time to acclimatize to Warzone‘s rigors and play mechanisms. Alternatively, there could be a stipulated timeframe during which the average casual player is expected to complete contracts as a baseline, and outliers in terms of completion time can then be removed from the server.
Activision could also take a page out of Team Fortress 2‘s book to create a friendly atmosphere in Verdansk. Although Valve Corporation was never able to rid its casual mode of sweats, it managed to carve out a healthy mix of noobs and experienced players in an environment that prioritized having fun – an element that Call of Duty: Warzone conspicuously lacks. Instead of a blanket ban on skilled gamers, Activision can replicate this blended atmosphere in Warzone by simply penalizing sweat-like behavior in Verdansk through an algorithm, perhaps through debuffs in future casual mode matches. This way, everyone can enjoy the extra challenge progress casual mode can provide. This approach requires Activision to acknowledge that sweats can never be completely barred from any game mode, but using this method would go a long way to fostering a fun experience for every player, which is what the casual mode in Verdansk is ultimately striving for.
Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile
- Released
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March 21, 2024
- ESRB
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m
- Developer(s)
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Activision Mobile
- Engine
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IW 9.0
- Multiplayer
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Online Multiplayer
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