The most ways to play. Tactical combat. The sights, sounds, and feel of war on next-generation technology. A focus on a global cast of Operators. All deeply integrated for a new era for Call Of Duty Warzone that includes a brand-new map and a PC anti-cheat system, both launching later this year.

As detailed through an in-depth Multiplayer Reveal led by members of the Sledgehammer Games development team, Call Of Duty Vanguard will put you in the shoes of a global force of Operators in a down-the-barrel experience of brute force weaponry, all built on an engine developed to power 2019’s Call Of Duty Modern Warfare.

Combined with updates from Call Of Duty’s lead PC developer Beenox and Warzone’s lead developer Raven Software, this reveal event set the tone for Vanguard’s Multiplayer: a deeply connected ecosystem that details the origins of Special Forces.

The live stream also gave details for an opportunity to try the game’s Multiplayer before 5 November 2021 with the Call Of Duty Vanguard Beta.

Here’s everything you need to know about this Beta and what was revealed for Vanguard Multiplayer.

Call Of Duty Vanguard Beta Information and Download Instructions

There are two weekends of the Vanguard Beta.

Call Of Duty Vanguard Beta Weekend 1: PlayStation Early Access

Available to those who preordered Call Of Duty Vanguard for PS5 or PS4, this first weekend will take place from 1am GMT+8 on 11 September 2021 to 1am GMT+8 on 14 September 2021.

Digital preorders will be automatically registered for Early Access — those who preorder a physical version may find their Early Access code on the retail receipt or sent via e-mail.

Early Access codes — given through physical preorders or through special promotions — can be redeemed at callofduty.com/betaredeem while logged into an Activision Account.

This Beta weekend will introduce the following samples of the full MP content:

• Three brand-new Vanguard maps: Hotel Royal, Red Star, and Gavutu.
• Three traditional game modes to try — Team Deathmatch, Domination, and Kill Confirmed — and a new one called Patrol, available during Weekend 1.
• A return to Champion Hill, now with a new weapon set.

Those who participate in the Beta and reach level 20 will receive a Weapon Blueprint for Call Of Duty Vanguard and Warzone (available in Vanguard following the game’s launch on 5 November 2021 and in Warzone when the new main map launches later this year).

Also, those playing Call Of Duty Mobile will receive an Arthur Kingsley Operator, available shortly after the end of the Beta.

Call Of Duty Vanguard Weekend 2: Crossplay Beta

Depending on the platform, the start of Vanguard’s second Beta weekend — from 1am GMT+8 on 17 September 2021 to 1am GMT+8 on 19 September 2021 — is either an Open or Early Access Beta. More information to come next week.

Everything You Need to Know — The Most Ways to Play

Sixteen maps for traditional core play, four maps for 2v2 Gunfights, and one Champion Hill experience — this is what players can expect on day one for Vanguard’s Multiplayer. These maps take place across a wide variety of different global environments and are ready to host an abundance of game modes. 

More Modes to Play

Outside of Champion Hill — a fast and frenetic tournament for Solo, Duos, and Trios — Vanguard will introduce another new game mode: Patrol. Based on Hardpoint, this objective-based mode features a scoring zone in near-constant motion; if Operators want to rack up points for their team, they should keep up and move around the map within this Patrol point.

These modes are in addition to the classic offerings one would expect in Call of Duty. Modes like Team Deathmatch, Kill Confirmed, Domination, and Search & Destroy are just some of the ones returning with Vanguard. These are also the exact modes you can play alongside Patrol during the Beta period (Search & Destroy to be available later in the Beta).

Combat Pacing: More Ways to Play

Although these returning modes will be familiar, a new Combat Pacing system offers a new dynamic in the name of player choice. When queuing up for Multiplayer, the following Combat Pacing options are available to you:

• Tactical: These are the lobbies that franchise veterans know well. This is the experience that you’re used to with classic Call of Duty combat timing. Tactical Comat Pacing is always 6v6.
• Assault: This option provides balanced Combat Pacing that gives you enough room to breathe and a lot of targets to kill. Assault is a middle ground between Tactical and Blitz. In Beta Weekend 1, player counts will vary between 20 and 28 players.
• Blitz: High-action lobbies see the intensity cranked up to frenetic levels. Prepare for plenty of combat when choosing to join a Blitz. In Beta Weekend 1, player counts will vary between 28 and 48 players.

Those who want to hop into a game can also set the Combat Pacing to “All” and get a variety of Combat Paces between each match, in a similar fashion to how Quick Play allows you to hop between an assortment of modes you select.

More Ways to Squad Up: Clans and Group Rewards

No matter what map or mode or how big or small the lobby is through Combat Pacing, expect more innovations when you play as a squad with an all-new Clan system. The Clan system will feature elements from the Modern Warfare (2019) Regiments system, which will be carried forward and renamed “Groups.” Clans will feature bespoke progression, emblems, and even Battle Pass–related rewards unlocked for your entire group, giving you and your squadmates something to aim for outside of victories during play sessions.

And remember: Vanguard will be cross-generational and cross-platform — no soldier will be left behind, especially with Clans on the horizon. 

Everything You Need to Know — Tactical Gameplay

Given all those maps, modes, pacing, and the Clan system, what can you expect after getting the squad together and loading into a match?

Sledgehammer Games is building Multiplayer on a pillar of tactical second-to-second gameplay and giving players tons of customization along with a reactive environment for new and improved movement features.

Create-a-Class and Gunsmith

When choosing a loadout for Multiplayer, players will be gearing up at the Gunsmith within Create-a-Class. An evolution of a system first introduced in Modern Warfare (2019), the Gunsmith will now feature up to 10 attachment slots on certain weapons, allowing for thousands of additional possibilities to help with nearly every combat scenario and playstyle.

For example, Shotguns can now be outfitted with a “Buck Slug,” which is a shell filled with short-range buckshot and a slug round for longer range. This combination is just one way that ammo can change for weaponry — expect other attachments that adjust a weapon’s caliber up or down to affect bullet penetration, fire rate, and more.

Those who would rather bring a knife to a gunfight should know that Riot Shields are returning in addition to two melee options: a standard-issue knife at launch and a bayonet charge for weapons that can equip this underbarrel blade. And to counter those hand-to-hand combat fiends, Akimbo will return for select weapons, making for a high-powered, yet less accurate, close-quarters option.

Reactive Environments, Mounting and Sliding, Blindfiring

Once you have a weapon, it’s time to tear through the map to defeat your enemies. Tactical destruction was a driving force for Sledgehammer’s innovations to this game’s engine, so expect to blast through specific weak walls, break down doors and windows, or destroy tiles, scenery, structures, and other objects to flush out those pesky campers.

When you find cover behind sturdy objects, you now have two options for firing back aside from normal hip or aim-down-sights fire: the first is mounting, which returns from previous games, though Operators can additionally “slide” their mounted weapon along the vertical or horizontal surface to move around. The other is blindfire — at the sacrifice of some accuracy, this manoeuvre allows for better cover in situations where you’re about to experience suppressing fire. 

However, it’s not all-powerful, and specific Perks are there to counterbalance its effects. 

Perks and Proficiencies

Speaking of Perks, both Operator Perks and Weapon Perks — now known as Proficiencies — make a return, with some of these augmentations affecting movement and firing techniques. For example, the Lightweight Perk allows for increased speed, including with Tactical Sprinting, while the Weapon Perk Gung-Ho, which is active when using a weapon with it “attached,” allows for an Operator to fire this weapon while sprinting. 

Then there are Field Upgrades — yes, Dead Silence will return, and its active time will be extended through earning kills.

Everything You Need to Know — Sights, Sounds, and Feel of War 

Although it will be tough to stop and admire the art direction during the heat of battle, especially when the environment is being ripped into fragments, Vanguard will leave you fully immersed in World War II through a contemporary lens.

Built on the engine that powered Modern Warfare, Vanguard’s visuals are developed in part using photogrammetry, yet based in a “neo epic” style. Its tone is also a departure from the traditional WWII fare: while remaining reverent to the background and time period, Sledgehammer Games is treating Multiplayer as an expression of celebration toward heroism — even through antiheroes, but not villains — on a truly global scale.

Photorealism and Reactive Environments

Those reactive environments have life to them in the four main theatres of war thanks to new lighting techniques and photorealism. Two of the maps shown during the live stream were Hotel Royal and Eagle’s Nest, which offer a solid representation of what to expect with visuals and give a rough idea regarding the sizing of Multiplayer arenas and level of tactical destruction.

Both of these maps, in addition to Red Star and Gavutu, will be available during Vanguard’s Beta, with Eagle’s Nest to make its landing during the second week.

There will be maps coming to the full game that are love letters to those who enjoyed Call Of Duty World At War. Returning from that era are Castle and Dome, which will receive changes through reactive environments. Castle, in its Vanguard form, will see all its iconic shoju screens become destructible.

Expect similar effects across all maps, including persistent graphical details, such as grime, dirt, wear, burn marks, and other stains giving more life to every arena of combat. Such bespoke flourishes add evocative elements to specific areas; examples include dust-filled chambers, leaking pipes, and evidence of violence, such as marks from a body being dragged across the floor. Another effect is “combat fog,” realistic dust kicked up in the air during a firefight from bullet impacts hitting different surfaces.

Everything You Need to Know — Become the Original Special Forces

Heroism is built upon heroes, individuals with personalities who aren’t to be trifled with.

The Operators of Vanguard represent a global cast of countries, cultures, ethnicities, and walks of life. Through Sledgehammer’s diverse writing team and an expert World War II historian, these fictional characters are inspired by real people who fought in WWII, and they all have a story to tell.

As some have already noticed during Vanguard’s Alpha, Captain Carver Butcher is back, and he’s just one of the characters you’ll get to know in Multiplayer.

Operator Insight and Dialogue

Learn about Vanguard’s Operators through new and updated systems: the first is an extended background for each Operator, which gives insight into their upbringing and purpose in the greater cause. Another is an expansion of the Quip system. Quips existed before for individual Operators, but with Vanguard, expect more unique dialogue from these characters that bring out their personalities like never before.

Operator Leveling and Weapon Favorites

Then there is Operator levelling. By earning Operator XP — separate from the regular, weapon, Battle Pass, and Clan XP — players can unlock new cosmetics, Skins, Calling Cards, Finishing Moves, and more just by playing matches with a specific Operator. Outside of their biography (which includes their nickname, citizenship, and ethnicity) and challenges, each Operator also has a Favorite Weapon.

For example, Polina Petrova’s Favorite Weapon is the 3-Line Rifle. In addition to it being a tool for her character that fits with her background, it has a purpose for gameplay as well: when using this weapon while playing as Polina, you receive additional XP. 

Polina is also one of six Operators available for the Beta. Although Operator levelling will not be available until launch, you can still get to know her, Daniel Take Yatsu, Roland Zelmet, Lucas Riggs, Wade Jackson, and Arthur Kingsley during this experience.

Everything You Need to Know — PC Details

Vanguard’s Multiplayer reveal also gave Beenox and Raven Software the opportunity to share what they have been working on, in what is shaping up to be another exciting year of Call of Duty.

With Call Of Duty Vanguard, lead PC developer Beenox is putting together features and improvements they have built over the years, such as uncapped frame rates, a whole host of customizable settings and key binds and ultrawide and multimonitor support. For that continued monitor support, Beenox is adding something called “focused mode,” which is ideal in borderless mode when the brightness needs to be reduced on other monitors for multitasking.

Other new features include options to reduce motion sickness, improved text readability, ease-of-use settings, and work to reduce input latency to help you improve reaction time in terms of milliseconds. 

There will also be a brand-new, multifaceted anti-cheat system for PC when it comes to Warzone.

Call Of Duty Vanguard will launch for the PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and PC on 5 November 2021. In the meantime, check out the trailer below: