Leaks are piling up regarding the forthcoming announcement of what's believed to be Call of Duty: Vanguard, the 2021 iteration of the popular Call of Duty franchise. These leaks include game modes, Operators, its release date, and much more. They're substantial and as authentic as can be without an official announcement. The latest Call of Duty: Vanguard leak is quite the surprise, however, with the game rumored to feature a type of "mini battle royale mode" akin to Call of Duty: Warzone.
The leak comes from reliable source Tom Henderson of DualShockers. He says in response to a different leak, which is related to some odd maps, that Call of Duty: Vanguard will feature what he describes as a "mini battle royale." He further describes that Call of Duty: Vanguard's miniature battle royales will have the "same mechanics as Warzone," Activision Blizzard's permanent battle royale fixture.
The context of Henderson's comments is tied to leaked details about how many maps Call of Duty: Vanguard will feature. He shared that Call of Duty: Vanguard will feature 16 maps at launch intended for 6v6 multiplayer. However, there will also be an extra 4 "special maps," first teased by leaker TheGhostOfHope. Henderson shared that they'd heard about these additional 4 maps as well and that they're for Call of Duty: Vanguard's miniature battle royale mode.
Exactly what a miniature battle royale mode is remains to be seen, especially since they're apparently a part of Call of Duty: Vanguard and not Call of Duty: Warzone. The separation implies that the miniature battle royale mode is built specifically for Vanguard's style of experience, which is World War 2-themed. Small-scale World War 2 battle royales do sound exciting in a new way.
Call of Duty: Vanguard having multiple different battle royale maps draws comparisons to PUBG Battlegrounds. PUBG features multiple different maps, with different set sizes including "small" maps. The smallest PUBG map size is 1 square kilometer compared to its largest 64 square kilometer large maps. The small map is designed for 32 players, rather than 100. Note that Henderson hasn't shared any details about the player count in Call of Duty: Vanguard's miniature battle royales.
Perhaps Call of Duty: Vanguard is trying to offer a small battle royale experience akin to PUBG, or perhaps it's just trying to offer a Vanguard style of battle royale without stealing Warzone's lunch. Either way, if Henderson's report is correct it'll be an exciting addition to Call of Duty: Vanguard's selection of game modes. An announcement for Call of Duty: Vanguard is expected soon.
Call of Duty: Vanguard is rumored to launch later this year on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.