PLEASE can we just get a better name for this game? Really, it’s okay for you to drop a title every once in a while, Activision.

Given the trend to return to more beloved settings, a Black Ops game set in an interesting period of history sounds like a distinct possibility.

Not everybody appreciates it, but the Zombies bits of the Call of Duty Black Ops series are probably my favourite of the disparate modes in your average Call of Duty game. They’re a fun bit of co-op gameplay that I can by with my desensitised-to-cartoonish-videogame-violence kids, as we work out how best to get through levels, while shooting the undead in the face.

While this year’s incarnation see’s Infinite Warfare’s Infinity Ward (try saying that five times fast without tying your tongue in a Gordian knot) step up to the plate for a rumoured new Modern Warfare 4, next year’s chapter in the franchise will see Sledgehammer back in action. Or maybe not.

The glitch, which is apparently known to the community and developers, caused the fan favourites to lose to Luminosity Gaming This last weekend the prestigious Call of Duty World League started nearing it’s conclusion, yet perhaps the tensest moment experienced during the elimination bracket wasn’t a heated game between rivals or a stand-out solo team kill, but rather the upset …

The major focus from Activision’s earning’s call yesterday is, rightfully, bound to be on the on the massive layoffs across the company. Eight hundred people are now without jobs, despite the company seeing record growth, with revenues up 6 per cent year-on-year and new executives having sizeable signing bonuses. According to Activision COO Coddy Johnson, last year’s Call of Duty, Black Ops 4, did exceptionally well in its launch period, but failed to maintain that momentum in the second half of the quarter.

There’s a lot to love about Call of Duty Black Ops IIII. It’s fast, the emphasis on multiplayer has made it more polished than ever and Blackout is a pitch perfect combination of battle royale ideas and Call of Duty’s own legacy. What the Blackout part of the game certainly isn’t right now, is anywhere near playable if you happen to live south of the equator, with many South American and South African players complaining lately of being unable to join any games in a variety of modes.

Earlier this week, Black Ops developer Treyarch responded to the controversy over the game’s reduced server send rates. It was discovered that the server send rate in the released version of the game was a third of the send rate seen in the beta. Then, Treyarch said that the rate reduction was done to ensure network stability, and that they would tune the network. They've been increased - but not as much as players had hoped.