Black Ops 2: Treyarch u-turns on Nuketown 2025 map removal

Cal of Duty: Black Ops 2 pre-orders granted access to an exclusive Nuketown 2025 map, but just one week on from launch, it vanished from XP-generating multiplayer playlists. After an outcry from gamers the map has been re-added, along with a new chaos match type.

Update: Eurogamer reports that Nuketown 2025 has been re-added to the game as part of a new Chaos Moshpit playlist.

The playlist is for fast-paced battles on the maps Nuketown 2025, Carrier, Cargo, Express, Hijacked, Slums and Standoff, as confirmed by Treyarch's David Vonderhaar who had been responding to criticism from fans who had pre-ordered the game to get the Nuketown 2025 map.

On Twitter, Vonderhaar said of the studio's u-turn, "You killed the messenger, but I still fight for the users. RT to #bringbackNuketown2025 and we will add to a small maps moshpit."

However, the dedicated Nuketown 2025 playlist has been removed from active service, despite being a 24/7 mode dedicated to that one map.

Original story: Treyarch's David Vonderhaar confirmed the removal of the map on Twitter. Nuketown 2025 appeared in just one playlist, and its removal means there is now way for players to earn XP while using the pre-order incentive map, as it is only available in custom matches.

Vonderhaar said the map will return for future special events, and when asked whether it would be added to other playlists, said "probably" and "eventually".

"We're talking that over internally," he said.

Nuketown 2025 is a remake of a popular map from the original Black Ops, exclusive to those who pre-ordered the game. Call of Duty Black Ops released for PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on November 12, and accompanies the Wii U at launch.

Thanks, Polygon.