Call of Duty: Black Ops 4[c] is a 2018 first-person shooter game developed by Treyarch and published by Activision. It is the fifteenth installment of the Call of Duty series and the fifth entry in the Black Ops sub-series, following Call of Duty: Black Ops III (2015). The game was released on October 12, 2018, for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One. Black Ops 4 is the first mainline Call of Duty title to not include a single-player campaign. Instead, it features the Specialist HQ, which details the backstories of the multiplayer mode's characters, known as "Specialists"; its missions are set between Call of Duty: Black Ops II (2012) and Black Ops III chronologically. The multiplayer component is the first in the series to not feature automatic health regeneration and introduces both predictive recoil and a new ballistics system. The cooperative Zombies mode also returns, with four maps available on release day. Additionally, Black Ops 4 features a battle royale mode called Blackout, which features up to 100 players in each match.
During the development cycle of Black Ops 4, Treyarch initially planned to include a campaign-like mode in the game, titled "Career", which was intended to continue the story of Black Ops III, but the mode was scrapped in early 2018 due to technical concerns, timing, and negative feedback from play-testers; the team resorted to creating the Blackout battle royale mode as a replacement for Career. Teasing of the game began in March 2018; a full reveal took place later in May. Two betas were held for Black Ops 4, one for the multiplayer component in August and one for Blackout in September.
Pre-release reception of the game was negative due to the game's lack of a campaign mode and the Black Ops Pass, a season pass that distributes downloadable content (DLC) in the form of "Operations". Upon release, Black Ops 4 received positive reviews from critics, with praise directed towards Blackout. It drew criticism for the design of its microtransactions implemented in updates. Despite grossing over $500 million in worldwide sales within its first three days of release, Black Ops 4 ultimately failed to meet Activision's overall sales expectations. The game was followed by Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War.
