Call Of Duty: WWII At E3 2017 - Beta Date, Multiplayer Headquarters, Tank & More Revealed

Call Of Duty: WWII was shown off in a multiplayer trailer during Sony’s press conference Monday night, but there were quite a few essential reveals and announcements made throughout the day that fans may have missed. These focus on vehicles, features and beta details for online play.

First and foremost, it should be known that the Call Of Duty: WWII Private Beta is set to begin Aug. 25 on PS4 for those who pre-order the game. There will be betas on other platforms including Xbox One, but the dates for those will be revealed in the future. Given how console betas have been conducted in the past, we also wouldn’t be surprised if testing went public before the period was complete.

Beyond that, there are a few key multiplayer features that have been confirmed. The game’s new shared Headquarters social space will officially support a total of 48 players, as suggested by Xbox One product pages shortly after the title’s April reveal. During E3 interviews, Headquarters was called the “biggest innovation for multiplayer this year,” but we have yet to see a full detailing of how the communal environment will work. In passing, it’s been roughly compared to Destiny’s Tower.

Scorestreaks will be returning to the game, and one of them was shown during the E3 trailer. In true World War II style, it’s a fighter plane bombarding enemies from above.

Tanks were teased as well, and Sledgehammer revealed how those will function online. They’re limited to the game’s new PvP objective-based mode called War, and they exist for the sole purpose of being a useable objective. In other words, you won’t be able to dominate other squads with tanks in standard Team Deathmatch or Capture The Flag scenarios. That’ll probably be read as good news for those who don’t want to disrupt the sanctity of traditional multiplayer balance, however. Maps will take players to locations like Russia, Spain and more, but tanks will only be part of the action when appropriate.

While not the focus of E3, Sledgehammer devs briefly touched on WWII’s co-op Zombies mode. It was described by officials as “scarier and more visceral” than in previous years.

“It’s Nazi zombies, but not [the kind] that you’ve ever played before,” one studio representative said.

Something curiously absent from the trailer and post-reveal interviews was any mention of the game’s new Divisions class system. Just prior to the showcase, it was described as a meaningful alternative to the create-a-class mainstay. We anticipate that we’ll hear more about Divisions from press impressions over the next few hours and days.

Apart from online play, Call Of Duty: WWII will feature a Band Of Brothers-inspired single-player campaign with multiple playable characters. The goal of the experience is to bring the Call Of Duty franchise back to its roots with true boots-on-the-ground gameplay.

Call Of Duty: WWII comes to PS4, Xbox One and PC Nov. 3.

What do you think of Call Of Duty: WWII’s presence at E3 so far? Will you be playing the Private Beta? Tell us in the comments section!