Behind The Making Of
CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS COLD WAR
Welcome to the brink.
In Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, players battle across the world in iconic locations from Nuketown ’84 to Golova. In this title, our teams at Virtuos delivered a wide, complex range of art assets from weapons to maps.
Our Work
In Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, players will come across both brand-new and familiar maps and features of the game.
Our goal in this project was to reinvent iconic classics of the Call of Duty franchise in collaboration with Treyarch Corporation, the primary developer, while retaining the best aspects of it, and come up with innovative ways for players to enjoy the game in both classic and new maps.
To give players an immersive experience where they could relive history during the Cold War era, our teams conducted several layers of research to produce historically accurate maps and environment props.
What we delivered:
Concept Art
Level concept
Level Art
16 multiplayer maps
3D Production
Weapons, vehicles, props, environments
WEAPONS
WEAPONS
Our concept artists were responsible for creating a range of weapons and skins for Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, from assault rifes to handguns and SMGs.
NUKETOWN '84
NUKETOWN '84
As one of the most iconic maps of the franchise, Black Ops veterans would know Nuketown '84's terrain by heart.
For Nuketown '84, a location inspired by American historical events, our teams at Virtuos provided several aspects of the development of the map's concept and level art, including highly- detailed rooms and cul de sacs.
HIJACKED
HIJACKED
Yet another classic map in the Call of Duty series, Hijacked features a superyacht deep in international waters, setting the stage for tight, close-quarter battles among players.
Our teams at Virtuos reinvented this map frst found in Black Ops II with a futuristic design ahead of its time in the '80s. Our artists delivered the level art for hardpoint locations such as the center deck, a gym, the engine room and the kitchen and dining area.
APOCALYPSE
APOCALYPSE
Set in a Lao jungle cartel base in the heart of the Golden Triangle, Apocalypse are treated to a feast for the senses as they traverse and battle in ancient temples, thick foliage and tropical scenery.
Due to the specifc art style required to develop a map so steeped in heritage, our art teams underwent in- house training programs and cross-cultural exchanges to better understand the concept behind this tropical terrain, delivering highly-detailed level art for this culturallyrich jungle in Apocalypse.
GOLOVA
GOLOVA
Set in a traditional Russian village located within the Ural Plains, Golova boasts some of the most picturesque natural scenery seen in Call of Duty maps.
As one of the earliest maps that our teams developed for the brand-new Fireteam mode, we specifcally designed the map to accommodate a wide variety of playstyles from open areas for bush snipers to close-quarter combat in the Soviet-era buildings and village facilities.
To create a historically accurate Soviet-era village, our teams conducted comprehensive preproject research and feld visits to study Brutalist architecture, which were prominent in the Cold War era.
Ensuring Efficient Workflow
In our bid to ensure the successful release of the project, our teams put in place a set of measures to facilitate smooth workflows and consistent quality of our deliverables.
CUSTOM TOOLS
Our Technical Art and Quality Assurance teams created a set of custom tools and localization add-ons for this project to simplify workflow, improve efficiency and reduce errors.
Team mentoring
Our core senior artists organized mentoring sessions for junior artists and monitored their quality of work delivered, ensuring that issues were identified and resolved quickly.
Efficient communication
Through a solid communication plan comprising of virtual stand-up meetings and regular reviews and sync-ups, we ensured smooth workflows despite disruptions including the pandemic.
Engine support
Our dedicated technical experts helped create useful features and plug-ins which improved workflow.
Our collaboration with Treyarch was an overall success, with Black Ops Cold War becoming one of the bestselling video games of 2021.
Virtuos has contributed to over 2,000 game projects and counting, working alongside top industry players across the world. Contact us to explore collaborative opportunities and learn about how we make games better, together.
