Black Ops Royale solos are on the way, but they need to get here fast

Black Ops Royale solos are coming, and I'm already glancing at my watch for their arrival. The new twist on Call of Duty: Warzone gets back to the roots of why Blackout worked so well, stripping out loadouts and buy stations in favor of the classic battle royale experience. You drop in, you scavenge, you find weapons and equipment, and you prove that you're the best squad on the field. There's one key thing that it's missing right now, however, and that's the ability to go in alone, but developer Raven Software confirms it's high on the priority list.

"Good news," the studio writes, "We've heard your feedback on adding more ways to play Black Ops Royale, and solos are coming." At launch, the new Call of Duty: Warzone mode only offers four-man squads. It's an okay way to play, but with how deliberately barebones and back-to-basics a lot of Royale is, the tension of solo queue really leans into that tactical, skill-first gameplay. I'd love to see duos as well, but I'll take things one step at a time.

Raven notes that putting solos into place "will require some back-end work and a few changes that need to happen before it goes live," and says it will share more specific timing details as it gets closer. Solos will be initially introduced next week as a private match option "to help gather early data on match pacing and overall balance." I can only hope they're brought in before players start to drift away.

That's not the only change on the cards. Raven has a longer list of balancing it's working on, much of which we can also expect within the next week. To help compensate for the times your quads fall apart, it's ramping up the number of redeploy towers that are available in the mid-to-late portions of the match. The sound cues from them when active have been made louder, however, so other nearby players will be aware of what you're up to.

The spawn rates for the activities dotted across the map are being increased, so you should find more of them per match if you're looking. The reveal distance as you get close to them is being increased to help you spot them, as is the reveal radius for the Surveillance Drone, and you'll get more Safecracker USBs among the payouts for your activity completions.

On the loot side, Raven is making adjustments to the base spawn rates for several weapons. It doesn't give specifics here, but does note that you can expect both an increased sniper rifle presence, and more availability of weapon attachment kits. It's also improving the visual distinction between tier-two and tier-three armor vests, and investigating ways to make the mouse-and-keyboard controls for wingsuits feel better. You can keep track of additional bugs and issues that the team is targeting via its Trello board.

"We know this mode represents a significant shift from previous Call of Duty: Warzone experiences," the team at Raven explains. "We're closely monitoring both gameplay data and community sentiment as more players dive in." While the option for smaller squads should probably have been there from day one, it's good to see it being addressed so quickly. Hopefully we aren't waiting much longer for their implementation.