Sony and Activision announced today that the Call of Duty: Black Ops III multiplayer beta test on the PlayStation 4 was the biggest ever for that platform. Millions of players played the beta test for the game from August 19 to August 23.
Black Ops III is the second title to debut under the new three-team production strategy at Activision. Call of Duty games come out every year, and Activision has generated more than $10 billion from the first-person military shooter series over the past decade. The two prior Black Ops games themselves have been played by nearly 100 million people. In the past, Treyarch and Infinity Ward took turns making each game on a two-year development cycle. But Activision added Sledgehammer Games to the rotation, starting with last year’s Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare. As a result, each team now has three years to make a game.
Treyarch, which is making Black Ops III, was able to work on this new game for three years, and so it was able to get most of the it done in time to launch a large-scale multiplayer beta test this summer.
“We’ve been looking forward to getting the game into the hands of the people who matter most — the fans,” said Mark Lamia, the studio head of Treyarch, in a statement. “We can’t thank them all enough for participating and providing us with invaluable feedback and data that Treyarch is already hard at work incorporating into the game for launch. Our goal is to deliver the best Day One experience possible and this beta – along with the input from our passionate community of fans — has helped position us to do just that.”
Meanwhile, the multiplayer beta for Black Ops III is available on the Xbox One and the PC.
Looking for some tips while playing the Call of Duty: Black Ops III beta test? Here’s our guide.
Black Ops III debuts November 6 worldwide on multiple platforms. But the downloadable content (DLC) will arrive first on the PlayStation 4 platform.
“Played by millions of PlayStation fans around the world, the response to the beta was massive and shows the strength when bringing together the best-selling console franchise with the best-selling game console,” said Adam Boyes, the vice president of publisher and developer relations at Sony Computer Entertainment America, in a statement. “Signaling an impressive start of a new era for PlayStation and this famed franchise, there was no better way to welcome Call of Duty to its new home on PlayStation 4.”
Above: Ramses Station battle in Call of Duty: Black Ops III