Major changes coming to League Play in March 26 Black Ops 4 update

The upcoming game update in Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 will introduce some major changes to the competitive League Play mode.

On March 25, Treyarch hosted a special Black Ops 4 Studio Livestream in which they detailed some of the major additions and changes coming soon to Multiplayer, Blackout, and Zombies.

A large portion of the video was dedicated to League Play, and the developers have thoroughly previewed the changes that competitive players can expect to see on March 26. 

New Ranks and Skill Divisions

The March 26 update will add 10 new Ranks on top of the 20 that already exist in Black Ops 4 League Play. Players who perform well enough and earn Gem rewards can now use them to level up their World League Rank all the way up to 30. 

• Read More: New Barebones ‘no Specialists’ playlist coming soon to Black Ops 4 – everything we know so far

Treyarch have also announced that brand new Skill Divisions are coming soon to League Play, albeit not in this next update. 

Skill Divisions will separate players into five major ladders based on their skill rating, and players within each division will be able to match up others that are close to their skill level. 

Now Black Ops 4 League Play players will have 10 more Ranks to try and earn Gem rewards for!

Improvements to Friendly Fire

Friendly fire has been one of the most contentious aspects of League Play, with a lot of players complaining that some teammates intentionally abuse the mechanic to ruin their gameplay.

The March 26 update will make some wholesale changes to how friendly fire works in League Play, which includes the following:

• Ricochet system added at the start of every round which inflicts damage upon players who shoot at teammates off spawn. 
• Three-kill limit added to friendly fire for the rest of the match, after which all bullets fired at teammates will now inflict damage on the shooter.
• These changes will apply to all modes that feature friendly fire, including all Hardcore game modes. 

By the look of things, friendly fire will be drastically improved in Black Ops 4 League Play.

What else is coming to League Play?

While the League Play changes mentioned above are definitely coming in the March 26 update, there are some things that the developers are working on which will debut further down the line.

• There will be a new system put in place that will punish players for leaving in the middle of matches but also offer leniency to those who leave because they are severely outnumbered.
• Skill-based matchmaking will be improved so that parties that may have one really high or really low ranked player will not be subjected to playing against teams at those levels.
• In response to community feedback, there will be a change made to Specialists so that abilities are earned purely based on score and not on time spent alive.

You can watch Treyarch’s Black Ops 4 Studio Livestream in its entirety down below, with the League Play portion starting at the 47:13 mark.

Make sure to follow us @DexertoINTEL as we will provide more information about the upcoming update in Black Ops 4, including the full patch notes, as soon as it becomes available.