There was a bit of controversy over the weekend when David Vonderhaar, Game Design Director at Treyarch, announced that Nuketown 2025 would be pulled from the daily map selection in Black Ops 2. The map had been a part of a dedicated Nuketown 24/7 playlist that was only available to players who had pre-ordered a copy of Black Ops 2 or picked up the Hardened Edition.
Vonderhaar made sure to mention that Nuketown 2025 would be back for special events and added, “don’t kill the messenger.”
Well, apparently fans did everything shy of murder, because less than 24 hours after Vonderhaar’s tweet, Treyarch had returned Nuketown to the rotation by adding a new playlist called Chaos Moshpit.
Obviously, we understand that Treyarch needs to move the furniture around from time to time in order to keep fans engaged, but the real problem, of course, was that many fans purchased a pre-order expressly because Nuketown 2025 would be included as bonus content. And, when their favorite map was suddenly taken away from them only seven days after the game’s launch, people were understandably angry.
Now, I’m not exactly sure why Treyarch decided to yank the mode from Black Ops 2. Vonderhaar made it sound as though this was their plan from the beginning. However, it seems a little strange that they would create a map specifically for the pre-order crew and then take it away a week later.
However, there is one other possibility: Nuketown 2025 inadvertently skewed the Black Ops leveling economy.
See, Nuketown is a very small map. Small maps translate into fast-paced gameplay, which translates into shorter round times. And with a handful of bonus points being awarded at the end of every round, obsessive Nuketown players may have been heading toward the level cap faster than Treyarch expected. So, in order to maintain an orderly leveling experience across the entire Black Ops community, Treyarch decided to remove the problem altogether.
Obviously, I have no idea why Treyarch decided to pull the plug on Nuketown. I desperately want to give them the benefit of the doubt, but if I had known that Nuketown would only really be available for seven days, I would have been much less enthusiastic about my preorder.
And even though I’m glad that it has been reinstated in Chaos Moshpit, it doesn’t fill the hole that Nuketown 24/7 left behind. If you think I’m being dramatic, you’re obviously not a Nuketown aficionado.
Don’t judge me. I’m grieving.
 | By Josh Engen News Director Date: November 21, 2012 |
*The views expressed within this article are solely the opinion of the author and do not express the views held by Cheat Code Central.*