Vonderhaar reveals why leaderboards might NOT appear in Black Ops 4
Leaderboards are one of the most request features in Black Ops 4, but it looks like their inclusion in the game isn’t a guarantee.
Despite not showing up in the game upon its release on October 12, Treyarch did make good on adding in the requested feature after release.
Still missing, though, are global leaderboards (currently you can only compare stats to those on your friends list), and that’s something that might not be coming to the game anytime soon.
Treyarch Studio Design Director David Vonderhaar was responding to a fan on Twitter when he provided a grim update for those hoping to see the feature added to Black Ops 4.
Not sure. Would have to talk to the systems lead and see where he is at with this one. At the time, many moons ago during the design phase, we made a decision to NOT do it for a few reasons (social, performance, others.) Things may have changed since then, however.
— Lord Vonderhaar (@DavidVonderhaar) November 28, 2018
From the looks of it, leaderboards weren’t much of a priority for the team, with the feature being cut during the design phase.
Like many developers these days, putting an emphasis on performance over anything else is the main goal. Given the smoothness of Black Ops 4’s launch, this looks to have been a successful pursuit.
Nonetheless, Vonderhaar doesn’t outright say the feature will never be added to the game, assuring the fan that he’d follow up on it with the systems lead.
Vonderhaar also made it clear, however, that leaderboards “are just stats” and players shouldn’t focus on them too much at the end of the day.
You'll certainly have a clear indicator of rank from the competition and esports features / events. Leaderboards are "just" stats and anyone who can play a lot to have high stats is not necessarily better, (s)he just has more free time.
— Lord Vonderhaar (@DavidVonderhaar) November 28, 2018
While global leaderboards could, of course, end up in the game one day, it certainly doesn’t look to be much of a priority for Treyarch.