Battlegrounds

"It's war like you've never seen before."

- Official Game Tagline

Battlegrounds (stylized as BG and originally known as Call of Duty: Battlegrounds) is an open world, role-playing first/third-person shooter game developed by Infinite Development Incorporated and published by Activision for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Wii-U, Imagination, and Infinite Development Inc.'s own system, the Multi-Purpose Home Entertainment System (MPHES).

Officially announced on June 23rd, 2013 by both IDI and Activision, the game was released worldwide on September 19th, 2014. It is set between the years of 2013 and 2019, and takes place during /World War III/. The game is set to be the start of an entirely new trilogy of games. A direct sequel, Final Stand, was released on October 4th, 2017.

Battlegrounds recieved largely positive reviews from critics and gaming websites around the world. The game attained multiple 95% or higher ratings, with Metacritic, Game Informer, IGN, and Gamestop rating the highest at 100%. Praise of the game varied from the innovative multiplayer and gripping singleplayer to the game's engine.

Development
Battlegrounds was the first game project ever taken upon by Infinite Development Incorporated. Initial development of the game started in late 2010 where Ethan, Byung-Seok, and Colin came together to figure out a way to implement an open-world environment with a war-based story. Eventually, all three of them managed to form the basis of a game based on those traits and dubbed it Call of Duty: Battlegrounds.

As time went on, IDI began to grow larger and gain more of a foothold in the gaming community. By 2011, work on Call of Duty: Battlegrounds halted after discovering problems in alternating between missions, interactions between AIs, and plot holes in the game's story. By October 2011, Call of Duty: Battlegrounds was being completely rewritten and the "Call of Duty" name was omitted from the title.

By 2012, the game's development exited the planning stage and entered the development stage after the completion of the Ultimate Experience Engine. By 2012, IDI reached a total of 97 employees, all of which were working on the game. On May 7th, 2012, IDI began talks with Activision to have them publish the game to which Activision accepted.

In 2013, Battlegrounds was near completion and Ethan knew that it was time to publicize the game. Both IDI and Activision began releasing statements regarding the new game and began leaking pictures and videos of the game's development.

It wasn't until E3 2014 where Battlegrounds made its first official appearance. At E3 2014, Battlegrounds was awarded 17 accolades. The game also recieved critical acclaim for the innovations it brought to the plate.

The game was officially released on September 19th, 2014.

Game Builds
A year after the game's release, IDI revealed that Battlegrounds went through a total of five pre-beta builds, two beta builds, and a single alpha build which later became the final game.

First Build
The first build of the game began on March 4th, 2011 as a test build for the game. It ran on the Blender game engine and included many features that were eventually cut from the game or redesigned. Work ended on May 19th, 2011.

Second Build
Work on the second build of the game began on August 22nd, 2011 and, once again, ran on the Blender game engine. At this point, missions and work on some of the game's features were worked on. The test provided valuable experience for future builds. Work concluded on November 8th, 2011.

Third Build
After the second build was completed, work on the third build started on June 7th, 2012. With the completion of the UEE, IDI was able to pretty much create the entire game on this singular build. According to IDI CEO, Ethan Sumner, this was the most important build of the game. Not only did it introduce the power of the UEE, but also gave IDI staff members a chance to learn how to use the new engine and created most of the final game's models and set pieces. Work concluded on December 27th, 2012.

Fourth Build
The fourth build of the game brought the sounds and effects into the game as well as fixed bugs that hindered gameplay. Work started on February 9th, 2013 and ended on March 13th, 2013.

Fifth Build
The final pre-beta build began on April 20th, 2013. This build was mainly used for fine tuning the game's mechanics, features, and models/textures. It also removed items, characters, vehicles, ect. that were deemed not to fit in with the story at the time. Work ended on June 3rd, 2013.

First Beta Build
The first beta build of the game was constructed on July 4th, 2013 and fixed sound and effect issues present in the game. The initial beta test proved satisfactory, but still required work. Work concluded on July 25th, 2013.

Second Beta Build (Open Beta)
The open beta build of the game was constructed on September 27th, 2013 for the game's presentation at E3 2014. The open beta fixed problems present in the first beta build and removed some vehicles and weapons to enhance gameplay. Work concluded on January 9th, 2014.

Alpha Build
The alpha build of the game was the final build of the game. It remained pretty much identical to the open beta, with the exception of polished textures and fluent motions from characters and vehicles. Work started on April 17th, 2014 and concluded on June 16th, 2014.

Taglines and Trailers
Battlegrounds has multiple taglines and trailers for the game. Each tagline is featured in its own trailer.

"It's war like you've never seen before."

- Official Game Tagline and featured in the A New Conflict trailer. "Crush your enemies in a real-time multiplayer experience."

- Tagline featured in the Call to Arms trailer. "Chose your loadout for combat."

- Tagline featured in the Weapons trailer. "Dominate with the most powerful vehicles on land."

- Tagline featured in the Armored Warfare trailer. "The sky is yours."

- Tagline featured in the Dogfight trailer. "Control the seas and support your allies."

- Tagline featured in the Naval Warfare trailer. "The war that really ends all wars."

- Tagline featured in the Total Warfare trailer. "Never forget those who have fallen."

- Tagline from the The Final Breath trailer. "The dead can't speak for themselves."

- Tagline from the Return to Hell (Zombies) trailer. "This will be the most realistic game on the market."

- Ethan Sumner at the IDI Press Conference.

Transcripts

 * For the transcript for the Return to Hell Trailer, see Battlegrounds/Return to Hell.

Gameplay
Battlegrounds follows an open world, role playing, shooter style of gameplay, with Call of Duty: The First Demise being another one, which was made by a longtime gaming partner NINE100 Studios. Battlegrounds uses the Mk.I version of the Ultimate Experience Engine, which is common in Infinite Development Inc. games due to it being easily modified for specific game genres. It also allows the players to create their own custom characters through a unique process called "/Character Mapping/." Another feature, called "/Loadout Assembly/," allows the player to access weapons and vehicles that have been used or obtained in game and to customize, repair, or sell them.

The first and third-person modes are greatly enhanced and far more realistic than in most other FPS/TPS', such as that the HUD does not retain any reticles, mini-maps, indicators, ect. Instead, it has the feel of an actual person during their everyday life. This also allows for more diverse interactions with the surroundings in game, thus making Battlegrounds 100% open-world.

The multiplayer in this game has all of the same mechanics as in single-player. Codenamed "Mutliplayer Campaign" the multiplayer server holds all players worldwide as they fight against each other. Due to these various features, Battlegrounds is considered the most realistic game ever made and is the first game in a planned trilogy.

Characters
Battlegrounds provides a wide variety of characters that can be interacted with or seen in combat. The following list features all main and minor characters in the game. A list of background/randomly generated characters can be seen here: /List of Background Characters/.

Weapons

 * For the weapons of Battlegrounds, see Battlegrounds/Weapons.

Battlegrounds contains a large range of weapons for the player to use in-game. Through most of the start of the game, only real world weapons can be found and used, though as the game progresses, fictional weapons can be found and used by both the player and NPCs in-game. More information can be found on the weapons page.

Vehicles

 * For the vehicles of Battlegrounds, see Battlegrounds/Vehicles.
 * For comparisons between vehicles, see Battlegrounds/Vehicle Comparisons.

Battlegrounds contains a large selection of vehicles in-game. The player has full control of real world and fictional vehicles throughout the course of the game. The player and NPCs can use tanks, planes, ships, etc. to change the course of the battle. More information can be found on the pages above.

Campaign
The campaign takes place during /World War III/. Just before World War III in the year of 2013, the China, North Korea, and Iran leave the United Nations, and leave confusion and mistrust among the remaining members. Covert operation into these countries launched on May 14th, and return on May 15th with no information being obtained. Four days later, the unthinkable happens, China and North Korea launch an invasion into South Korea.

As days and months go by, countries chose sides and throw themselves into combat. Two sides, the Allies and the Separatists, are formed and World War III officially begins.

It would six years before the war would end in 2019, leaving death and destruction in its wake.

Sparks - 2013
It's 2013. China, Iran, and North Korea just recently left the UN and cut off all communications to other nations. With unrest and distrust forming between the remaining members, it is agreed that a series of special operations must be taken upon to discover what North Korea, China, and Iran are doing.

Meanwhile, in the United States, Lieutenant Williams is finishing his training for the U.S. military through a brand new multi-branch training program, which teaches him the fundamentals of every branch in the military. After completing his training, Lieutenant Williams is chosen to be a part of the operation into North Korea.

Williams is assigned as a part of SEAL Team 5 for the duration of the mission. While preparing for the mission, Lieutenant Williams meets Gunnery Sergeant James Astor and Corporal William Barclay, with whom he becomes good friends with. Under the cover of night, SEAL Team 5 deploys into the county Nyŏngbyŏn with their main target being the Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center.

As Lieutenant Williams, Sergeant Astor, Corporal Barclay, and the rest of SEAL Team 5 secretly enter the compound, it becomes apparent that North Korea not only reactivated it, but are also using it for testing new types of nuclear power. The mission goes awry after one of the other teams is detected and SEAL Team 5 is forced to evacuate. The mission is considered a failure as no viable information for China, Iran, and North Korea's departure was found.

On May 19th, Lieutenant Williams is being redeployed to the Korean DMZ as a movement by the United States to strengthen the borders. With in only a few minutes of arriving at the DMZ, North Korea and China assault the border and begin crossing the DMZ. Lieutenant Williams and Lieutenant Gyeong, one of the South Korean lieutenants stationed there, have no choice, but to evacuate the base.

After Lieutenant Williams provided support for the evacuation, him and Lieutenant Gyeong report to Seoul. There, Lieutenant Williams meets up with James Astor and William Barclay again. Due to the fact that Williams was successfully able to evacuate the portion of the DMZ he was assigned to, which gave South Korea more soldiers to use in battle, the United States Forces Korea decide to form a new squad under their command with Lieutenant Williams leading it.

Lieutenant Williams becomes leader of Joint Task Force 1, and immediately requests for Lieutenant Gyeong, Sergeant Astor, and Corporal Barclay to be moved under his command. The request comes through and Gyeong, Astor, and Barclay become members of Joint Task Force 1.

Now in command of Joint Task Force 1, Williams begins to choose more members for his team. After completing the transfer requests for new team members, Williams receives reports of uprisings in Europe and Chinese/North Korean movements in South Korea. Williams knows that he cannot attempt to assist in stopping the uprisings and continues to fight in South Korea.

Williams continues to assist in stalling China and North Korea from pushing South, however, several European nations have fallen to the uprisings and their government officials are exiled. Fighting on the Korean Pennisula comes to an almost stand still, until Iran enters the war on May 29th. After Iran begins pushing through Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, Williams requests to extend the Joint Task Force's service range to the Middle East.

Initially, the request is rejected and Joint Task Force 1 remains on duty in South Korea. However, as the situation in the Middle East worsens, the United States Military officials allows Joint Task Force 1 to extend its operations to the Middle East as well as allowing them to recruit soldiers from ally countries.

Missions
Battlegrounds contains only four missions. After these missions are completed, the player gains access to the World Map and can chose which battles he or she wants to enter.


 * 1. Prelude: The Academy - Complete your training and trials for admission into the U.S. military through a multi-branch program.
 * 2. /Prelude: Sea Legs/ - Finish your trials with sea and air combat training.
 * 3. /Prelude: Behind the Lines/ - Take part in a covert operation in North Korea to discover the purpose of their departure from the UN.
 * 4. /Prelude: All Time High/ - You have been stationed in South Korea. Tensions between the North and South have been high, so be prepared for anything.

Asian Front

 * Defense of Gapyeong
 * Battle for Baengnyeong Island

Soundtrack
The soundtrack for Battlegrounds was composed and conducted through a collaborative effort of Ethan Sumner, Anthony Gurunian, William McKee, Hanz Zimmer, and Jack Wall. Musicians included Ethan Sumner, William McKee, Anthony Gurunian, Danielle Sun, Julia Healy, Annika Smith, Colin Arscott, Byung-Seok Kim, and Parker Griep.

The soundtrack can be viewed here: Battlegrounds/Soundtrack

Zombies
Call of Duty Zombies makes an appearance in Battlegrounds as the Survival Mode. Zombies was included in the game after IDI and Treyarch agreed to share the rights to the Zombies storyline. However, instead of continuing the current Zombies storyline, IDI makes everything from Five to Origins non-canon and is, essentially, a complete revamp of the entire story.

Remember When... Storyline

 * /Schule für die Untoten/
 * /Platzieren aus der Tod/
 * /Kirche der Verrückt/
 * /Die Blutige Krankenhaus/
 * /Haus der Geist/
 * /Einen Schmerzhaften Tod/

Years DLCs (Single-Player and Multi-Player)
Due to the expansiveness of the game, in order to keep the game running smoothly, Ethan decided to release the single-player and multi-player aspects of the game based on the years of World War III. The game comes standard with the year of 2013. Each Year DLC is released every three months.

/Steel Wall Pack/ - Vehicle DLC
Details to be added.

/Extra Munitions/ - Weapon DLC
Details to be added.

/Cold Front/ - World Map DLC (Single-Player and Multi-Player)
The Cold Front DLC affects all previous DLCs by adding in the continent of Antarctica, the region of the Noth Arctic, the Arctic Front, and missions related to them. With the release of this DLC, new weapons, accessories, vehicle upgrades, and vehicles in general are included.

Future's Fortune - Zombies DLC
The first Zombies DLC released for Battlegrounds, Future's Fortune takes a sharp turn away from the current Zombies storyline and follows the original canon of the Black Ops trilogy from the perspective of brand new characters. All information can be found on the main page linked above.

Easter Eggs and Cut Content

 * Main articles: Battlegrounds/Easter Eggs and Battlegrounds/Cut Content.

Battlegrounds contains excessive amounts of easter eggs and cut content for the player to discover. Easter Eggs can be found in-game by either completing tasks or as little surprises that usually go unnoticed. Meanwhile, cut content can only be found in the game's files, but some do have the ability to be brought back into the game.

HBO-IDI mini-series
On August 14th, 2015, the first of a thirteen-part series based on Battlegrounds premiered on international television. Following Lieutenant Williams and members of International Task Force 1, The Battlefield follows the same plot as the original game, but with carefully selected paths. The mini-series recieved generally positive reviews.

Trivia

 * Due to the use of the Ultimate Experience Engine, the developers were able to create the largest open world first/third-person in history.
 * Because of this, Battlegrounds greatly outclasses and overpowers such games as Mass Effect, Fallout, and Saints Row.
 * The only game that can compare to Battlegrounds is Planetside 2.