Call of Duty fans that have yet to upgrade to a current generation gaming console are in for some bad news. Call of Duty: Black Ops 3, the latest entry in the blockbuster shooter franchise, will not have a single player campaign on the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game.
Activision, the series' publisher, explained the reasons behind the glaring omission in a statement on callofduty.com:
As we announced back in June, we know that there are still fans waiting to make the switch to the newest console hardware and developers Beenox and Mercenary Technology have been working tirelessly to bring as much of the Black Ops 3 gameplay as possible to the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
The Black Ops 3 PS3 and Xbox 360 versions will feature Multiplayer and Zombies gameplay only, not Campaign. The ambitious scope of the 1-4 player coop Campaign design of the PS4, Xbox One and PC versions could not be faithfully recreated on old generation hardware.
Last generation versions of Black Ops 3 will retail for $49.99, which is $10 less than its current generation siblings. As a peace offering to last gen console owners, Activision is also including a free downloadable copy of the first Black Ops game. It's hard to imagine that these concessions will be deemed sufficient by players.
Call of Duty has always been a series centered on its multiplayer aspects, but the single player campaign is still a sizeable amount of content that many players look forward to. A $10 discount coupled with a game that many CoD fans probably own already hardly seems like a fair trade for such a huge loss.
Aside from this, last gen gamers will also be without features such as the new weapon paint shop and E sports mechanics.
Call of Duty Black Ops 3 will be released on November 6, 2015.
