Call of Duty therapy: Treyarch designer tells us how to get better in Black Ops III multiplayer

Over a few weeks of intermittent play, I’m slowly working my way up the multiplayer levels in Call of Duty: Black Ops III. I’m at level 14 [Update: Now at level 28], and my kill-to-death ratio is a frustratingly low 0.42. For every four kills I get, I’m killed 10 times. That is no doubt familiar to other aging gamers like myself, who suffer the daily ignominy of getting our heads handed to us in the fast-action first-person shooter game.

My troubles are not miniscule in the grand scheme of things. Call of Duty games have pushed the technological edge and generated $10 billion over more than a decade because developers like Activision’s Treyarch studio have found the right balance in multiplayer combat, enabling hardcore gamers to show off their skills and onboarding “noobs,” or new players, in a way that is not entirely intimidating.