Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 server tickrate seemingly back to 60Hz in multiplayer
During the Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 beta, players discovered that multiplayer ran at a stable 60Hz tickrate, with only 20Hz for Blackout.
Come launch, both Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 modes played at 20Hz. This naturally made many players more than unhappy, but Treyarch quickly admitted it did this to prevent server issues at launch.
At the time, the developer promised to optimise network performance going forward. In an update, Treyarch upped multiplayer tickrate to 30Hz in some regions, and it now appears it's back to the beta's 60Hz.
Players have been testing server send and receive rates since the information was made public, and many are now reporting a 62Hz tickrate for multiplayer. This appears to be the case on PC, and PS4 across different regions, and it's likely the same way on Xbox One. Some regions, notably Australia, appears to be less consistent than the rest of world.
Unfortunately, though hardly surprising, Blackout remains hovering around a substandard 20Hz tickrate. Treyarch made no specific comments about Blackout's netcode in the past, but it's not the first battle royale developer to struggle with server tickrate.
PUBG Corp., and Epic Games both reworked PUBG, and Fortnite's netcode extensively to support much higher tickrates. The start of the round, where the highest number of players are alive, remains a challenge for all these games, though Fortnite has all but eliminated the cause.
Even still, Fortnite runs at just 30Hz, compared to PUBG's 60Hz. That said, Epic managed to figure out a way of reducing input delay without upping the tickrate, which means the game now provides an overall smoother experience compared to PUBG, despite having a slower update rate.
Where's Blackout in all this? The push to create the biggest map in Call of Duty history with that many players likely hasn't been achieved without a few compromises, though we do hope Treyarch is able to eventually bring it up to the industry standard.
Whether you're enjoying Blackout yourself, or maybe spending more time playing Zombies - our big Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 guide will get you sorted.