Call of Duty Mobile is now available in Australia thanks to a soft launch that has just been activated.
Today, Polygon spent some time with the title and confirmed that multiplayer maps included in the full game include the likes of Countdown, Nuketown, Standoff and Killhouse alongside game modes Team Deathmatch, Search and Destroy and Free For All. While Activision Blizzard confirmed that Call of Duty Mobile is live in Australia right now, we’re not yet sure what’s included in the soft launch.
Stevivor sat down with Chris Plummer, Vice President of Mobile at Activision Blizzard to discuss the game and its soft launch, which is live in Australia as of 11.00 am AEST today, 10 June. We’re working on download links to both versions of the game; they’ll appear below when they’re found.
Steve Wright, Stevivor: It seems a lot of mobile titles are choosing Australia for a soft launch – what about our region/market is so appealing?
Chris Plummer, Activision Blizzard: For western games, Australia is a great market to fine-tune games because the audience has similar gaming tastes and habits as other western territories. As the Beta continues, additional countries and audiences will be added to the mix later on.
Stevivor: What will Aussies have a chance to play?
Plummer: The Call of Duty: Mobile beta will be a feature-packed sample of our Multiplayer mode. We’re really excited for fans to play because we’re bringing together maps, modes, weapons and characters from across the series including Modern Warfare and Black Ops. Because it’s a beta, we will be iterating on several things, so you may experience feature changes, tuning changes, more polish going in – or maybe even a big new feature coming online.
In fact, we’ll be testing our Battle Royale mode, too. We’re excited for players to check out our take on the genre, with a distinct, standalone BR experience custom built for mobile. We may experiment with server load or matchmaking logic, which could result in an occasional hiccups, and we’ll be asking for feedback. I think for most players, it going to feel like a finely polished experience that is stable and fun, and it’s all helping us balance the game and test our servers to make launch as great as it can be. It’s going to be well worth your download.
Stevivor: Will the soft launch offering change in any way? Will modes be swapped in and out or will the core have new modes continually added on?
Plummer: are expecting to play around with availability of specific modes during the beta and perhaps beyond that. Stay tuned!
Stevivor: How has the title been optimised to control on mobile as compared to controller or keyboard & mouse?
Plummer: There is very little comparison between a mobile screen and traditional gaming control devices, so it’s hard to compare. It’s very different. If you are new to mobile FPS games, or a seasoned pro at using analog control devices like a mouse or console controller, then there could be an initial learning curve when transitioning to mobile. But very important to note, that we’ve paid particular attention to ease of use and accessibility, so we anticipate fans of all types will quickly pick up and play.
We’ve refined the controls are refined for just that purpose. In particular, we do some interesting things with ADS firing which gives our combat a uniquely COD feel. Control is such a personal thing, so we also let you fully customize the entire control scheme with pixel-perfect precision, so if you want to move UI elements or control inputs around on your screen – go for it – Call of Duty: Mobile gives you that degree of personalization.
Stevivor: I know we don’t have a release date as yet – but how much time has been allocated to gather and implement feedback from this soft launch?
Plummer: We want our worldwide launch to be as great as it can be. The Beta is crucial for that, and all the player feedback, balancing data and server testing is vital to the game. Once we feel good with the soft launch, we’ll open it up for worldwide launch.
Thanks to Mr. Plummer for his time.
Call of Duty Mobile is now available in Australia across iOS and Android devices. We’ll likely hear more of the title at E3 2019.
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