Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 has a new update for fans regarding its footstep audio, revealing how enemy players will sound in the official release.
One of the most important things for a new Call of Duty title to get right is its footstep audio. If it’s too quiet, it’s impossible to tell where enemy players are coming from.
However, make it too loud and running the Ninja Perk becomes essential, holding your Perk 1 slot hostage at all times.
Thankfully, it appears that Treyarch knows exactly how impactful footstep sounds can be, and it’s taking steps to ensure that the mix is just right when it comes to Black Ops 6.
Black Ops 6 Footstep Audio Update
In a new Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 blog post that goes into detail about the game’s ‘Audio Innovations,’ Treyarch reveals new changes to the in-game footstep audio.
“The goal for the audio team on Black Ops 6,” Lead Audio Designer Collin Ayers states, “is what we’re calling the adaptive battlefield, a more purposeful and directional soundscape that focuses on the information players need when they need it while reducing the clutter of extraneous noise.”
In Black Ops 6, it should be easier than ever to focus in on faraway firing sounds, helping you track enemy positions even from a distance.
Perhaps more excitingly, the blog post also provided an update on enemy footsteps, and how they reverberate around the game’s maps.
In Black Ops 6, the environment plays a major role in how you hear the world around you. Snow, for example, absorbs most of the soundwaves that interact with it, while trees in a forest cause sound to reflect and bounce around.
But Footsteps Won’t Be THAT Loud
But, if you listened to the clip above and thought, ‘Those footsteps sound too loud,’ have no fear.
Associate Director of Design at Treyarch, Matt Scronce, reports that the footstep audio above is simply isolated for demonstration purposes.
In reality, while footsteps will resemble the quality in the clip, their volume will be similar to that of the second Open Beta weekend back in September.
Although Head Related Transfer Function technology has been implemented to better simulate how sound transfers from the game world to the player’s ears, users shouldn’t be expecting any sort of major volume change.
Of course, we anticipate that Treyarch will be paying close attention to audio performance when Black Ops 6 launches on October 25, 2024.
And, should the fans complain enough, the developer has already shown how it’s taking player feedback on board!