Ghosts,

[Ubisoft] heard the community’s call for more news about Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon® Breakpoint, and [Ubisoft is] thrilled to discuss the PvP mode, Ghost War!  If you missed it, be sure to check out the brand-new Ghost War trailer that was released at GamesCom.

GHOST WAR

Ghost War is a unique and exciting PvP mode in Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint. Ghost War is built from Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon® Wildlands, with improvements based on more than a year of learning and feedback.

You will fight and adapt with your unit in 4v4 intense tactical matches in open and diverse environments. Your communication and teamwork are key to taking down elite soldiers in an epic showdown.

MODES

Two game modes will be available at launch in Ghost War: Elimination and Sabotage.

• Elimination: A 4v4 death match team mode with a tactical twist. In this mode, you’ll need to hunt down and eliminate the enemy team.
• Sabotage: A 4v4 game mode where one team tries to plant a bomb while the other team tries to defuse it.

By implementing a 4v4 design in both PvE and PvP, Ghosts can switch modes to test their skills in both environments.

At launch, six tailor-made PvP maps will test your teamwork. [Ubisoft wants] to see who the best of the best really are!

NEW FEATURES

[Ubisoft has] learned a lot from the feedback and data we gathered from Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands. Based on community feedback and the results we received from our playtests, we made a few changes to encourage a more active and tactical experience with each match.

Ghost War Elimination mode will have a twist to it: the Shrinking Combat Zone.

This zone will only activate towards the end of each match to bring the remaining players together for a final firefight.

The Shrinking Combat Zone is a way to break down late-game stalemates. The play area will gradually shrink, dealing damage to players outside of it. This will add an exciting twist to matches where both teams are excessively passive.

The placement of the zone is randomly generated on the map, forcing all remaining players to adjust tactically and to take a different approach for each match.

[Ubisoft] also integrated other changes, such as cutting cool downs in PvP and planting lootable items across the map. Doing so brings more tension, tactical depth, and quality matches. Another unique element is the intel component of the core gameplay loop, where you’ll need to find enemies before deciding how to engage them.

This creates a hunt or be hunted experience that is specific to Ghost War, with players relying on a more cautious, methodical, and tactical approach rather than just run and gun. There are several elements that play into this layer:

• The marking mechanic allows players to place temporary marks on enemies by aiming at them.
• Sound markers display a general area on the mini map where an enemy gunshot originated from.
• Sound and bullet trails are specifically tuned for PvP purposes to act like detection tools.

DEDICATED SERVERS

In Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint, we dedicated servers for Ghost War that will improve overall experience. Players will be able to access Ghost War early in the onboarding process, right after unlocking the first class.

BALANCING AND SHARED PROGRESSION

[Ubisoft wants] players to progress in Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint on their own terms, by playing PvE, PvP, or a mix of both. In a shared progression environment where PvE and PvP are linked together, players can easily move between PvE and PvP while keeping the same character and the same progression.

Your character’s XP level, specialization rank, equipment level, and belongings (gear, weapons, customization items, etc.) are shared.

Some customization and vanity items are exclusive to either PvE mode or PvP mode, but the vast majority of items will be shared across both modes.

[Ubisoft] teams are focused to get the right balance for each gameplay component with some limitations and tweaks applied to specific PvE elements such as weapons, items, and perks.

Each Ghost will have a progression tree, which contains all progression elements, some perks, and passive skills. In the PvP environment, almost all of those perks will work.

However, in terms of passive skills, a few are disabled to keep a balanced environment among the players and vice versa.

Players will start each round with a predefined set of tools such as grenades and syringes. As for passives, thermal vision is disabled in PvP, while night vision and stamina-related bonuses from the progression tree are made available by default.

Furthermore, there are some unique PvP items that every class can pick up and use. For example, the adrenaline shot is a syringe that fills up the technique gauge, and gas drones are special drones that can launch a gas grenade and behaves the same as the one available to the assault class.

PvP is meant to offer a level playing field, meaning you can successfully play Ghost War with a low-level character and gear.

Gear level is disabled in PvP. Weapons have PvP-specific damage, and caps are put in place to lower the max values of stats coming from gear and weapons. The progression tree dramatically impacts the balance of power between new and old players.

[Their] aim is to eliminate external factors and let the best Ghosts fight their way to glory!

[Ubisoft is] also refining the matchmaking brackets and speed so that brackets are enlarged when finding other players, and you’ll be matched against players who have a similar skill level as you.

ONLINE FEATURES

With our dedicated servers, we improved stability and connectivity, and [Ubisoft] made Ghost War more secure with the Battle Eye integration, making it more difficult to be hacked or exploited.

[Ubisoft] will also have reporting options in-game to highlight any instances of cheating or toxicity.

[Ubisoft] mentioned [they] are also refining our matchmaking, which will be achieved via the Glicko-2 formula to produce the matchmaking rating (MMR).

When a player is matchmaking in PvP, they will be matched with other players close to their own MMR. Moreover, while matchmaking, players can continue to experience the campaign world, interact with menus, or explore the PvP map they just played. The PvP map has a feature called the Matchmaking Lobby, meaning less time waiting on menus and more time enjoying or exploring the game.

[Ubisoft wants] to provide fair options to solo and group players. You can queue both as a solo player, a full 4-player squad, or any party size in between.

REWARDS

[Ubisoft wants] players to be satisfied throughout the game, whether it’s in PvE or PvP.

The PvP mode will have specific rewards awarded through PvP milestones.

The PvP milestones system features achievement-like missions that grant rewards such as progression points, in-game currency, customization items (titles, banners, weapon skins), and PvP-specific perks.

Several categories of PvP milestones are available, ranging from certification milestones to more challenging tests like Feats of Strength.

[Ubisoft] worked hard to make sure the reward system is balanced and feels fair.  The [Ubisoft] team has been very careful to ensure we don’t lock players out of critical path rewards such as progression points. All PvP-related progression points can be obtained through certification milestones.

High-skill milestones will offer unique customization rewards, which players can use for something extra to show of their talent.

GHOST WAR IN YEAR 1

Exciting additions will be added to Ghost War during Year 1, and post-launch support of Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint will be available. Ghost War will be supported by an extensive post-launch plan including new classes, maps, and modes.