Call of Duty is preparing to enter territory long defined by Counter-Strike and VALORANT with a new game mode dubbed Collateral. This mode is built around the Search and Destroy model and requires players to purchase equipment throughout each match.
Teams will alternate between attacking and defending two bomb sites, which is part and parcel of Search and Destroy, but they’ll start rounds with a pistol and will earn in-game cash to buy upgrades between rounds. It’s a carbon copy of Counter-Strike and VALORANT, but it could have some drastic ramifications for the game’s esports ecosystem.
Could Collateral Be The Future of COD Esports?
Each year, fans of the Call of Duty esports ecosystem wonder what the game modes will look like in the Call of Duty League. We’ve had a few changes in recent years, with Control surfacing (and being mostly hated), only to be replaced last season with Overload.
It’s almost a guarantee that Modern Warfare 4 won’t accommodate Overload, a mode best represented by a game with high verticality, and this year’s Call of Duty title is firmly boots-on-the-ground by nature.
But could there be room in the Call of Duty League for Collateral? Might it be a mode that replaces Search and Destroy after more than fifteen years of it being a staple in competitive Call of Duty?
Per a recent Call of Duty blog post, Collateral sets two teams against each other, and at the start of each game, they’ll be equipped with pistols. From there, every action they perform earns them cash, which they can spend on upgrades, weapons, equipment, and perks.
That list includes:
- Armor and Perks: Armor Vest, Battle Hardened, Lethal Reach, Fast Hands, Ghost
- Equipment: Flash Grenade, Molotov Cocktail, Frag Grenade, Stim, Smoke Wall, Riot Shield
- Pistols: Silenced Pistol, Revolver, Akimbo Pistols, Power Pistol
- Standard Issue: Shotgun, Light Machine Gun, Marksman Rifle, Silenced SMG, Agile SMG
- Tier 1: Semi-Auto Rifle, High Damage Rifle, Burst Rifle, Silenced Rifle, Sniper Rifle
- Team Buy: UAV
As with Counter-Strike and VALORANT, when you die, your loadout is gone. And like Counter-Strike and VALORANT, it’s back to basics, with no custom configurations, no killstreaks, no automatic health regeneration, and no respawns.
It sounds exciting in principle, and it could address one of the burning concerns folks have with the Call of Duty esports ecosystem. Things have remained relatively the same for far too long, and everything from the franchised operating model of the CDL to how new players break into the highest echelons of the circuit is riddled with inherent issues.
RELATED: COD Pro Player ‘Nero’ Banned From Ranked Play
Strangely, Activision has described Collateral as being a PC-only mode, which means it won’t be available to those playing the game on PlayStation 5 and XBOX platforms. It’s tough to figure out why, but hopefully the team offers some clarification closer to launch.
Modern Warfare 4 is set to be released on October 23. Will you be trying out Collateral when it drops? Let us know on the Insider Gaming Discord server.
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Grant has been gaming for 30+ years and in the industry for 10+. You'll probably find him playing a post-apocalyptic game or an extraction shooter somewhere.
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