Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is currently without a dedicated multiplayer ranked mode, and with a lot of negative sentiment being expressed about skill-based match-making in multiplayer right now, competitive players really want one.
While Black Ops Cold War’s predecessor, Modern Warfare, did introduce a CDL playlist that allowed players to compete with the modes, maps, weapons, and rules of the Call of Duty League, it too was without a ranked mode. However, the long wait for a ranked mode could soon be over, as leaks suggest League Play, the competitive mode in pre-Modern Warfare CoD titles, will be returning in Black Ops Cold War very soon.
Insider Tom Henderson claims that League Play is being lined up for this quarter of 2021, meaning that the ranked mode should be introduced by March. He does however say that League Play will likely drop towards the end of the quarter and is unlikely to appear in Season One. Season One is currently billed to end during the last week of February, so it would make sense for League Play to be added to the game with the start of Season Two.
This would also line up similarly with the release of League Play in Treyarch’s last Call of Duty game, Black Ops 4. The mode was released in that game on February 21.
League Play in its most recent form saw the Call of Duty esports ruleset used and would award players Gems depending on their placement in online divisions. A certain amount of Gems would then result in you progressing to the next rank, and there were a total of 20 ranks to climb.
It’s likely Black Ops Cold War’s ranked mode will take on a similar form, and will hopefully give competitive players an arena to do their thing.