Black Ops 6’s 40-player mode could bring back divisive Cold War playlist

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 brings classic 6v6 multiplayer and the return of round-based Zombies, but it could also mark the return of an opinion-splitting multiplayer mode from Cold War. 

Reddit user ‘JedRhino’ spotted that the Black Ops 6 PlayStation store listing confirms the game “supports up to 40 online players with PS Plus.” There are a few options for what it could be, and while Ground War or Invasion are most likely, there’s a chance Fireteam could return. 

Leakers seemed to know there would be a large-scale mode, but aren’t sure exactly which one it will be. Back in July, ‘Vondyispog’ tweeted, “A 20v20 mode will be coming at some point to Black Ops 6 post-launch.”

While they guessed it would be Combined Arms (Cold War’s version of Ground War), they later said, “There is also a possibility that Fireteam could make a return as well.” Players in the Reddit thread speculated the same.

Fireteam is a large-scale mode first introduced in Black Ops Cold War that seemed to die off pretty quickly despite a lot of initial hype. Here, 10 teams of four players dropped into sections of the Ural Mountains map to complete objectives while fighting each other. 

Although it had a passionate following thanks to its chaotic matches, it never took off as lobbies quickly became hard to find without enough players queueing in. Although its squad-based nature was praised, solo players felt it ranged from boring to frustrating as randoms would often just run around fighting or trying to complete their own challenges. 

This advertised 40-player mode might not be Fireteam at all but after its mixed reception, if it does return in Black Ops 6, you can expect some major changes to the format. 

We’ll know more about Black Ops 6 and its multiplayer modes with the Call of Duty Next event on August 28, a couple of days before the beta kicks off.