The Black Ops 4 beta will be updated in September, so don't delete it

Did you play the Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 multiplayer beta over the weekend? Did you like it? Are you looking forward to the second beta, coming in September, which will include the Blackout battle royale mode? If you answered "yes" to questions 1 and 3 (number 2 is optional), then Activision has a helpful suggestion.

Thanks for playing the Black Ops 4 Multiplayer Beta! We recommend not deleting the Beta – the file will be updated in September for the Blackout Beta.August 13, 2018

Obviously it matters less if you have huge, uncapped bandwidth at your fingertips, but if you don't—if you had to, say, pull an overnight download to get it onto your PC—then not having to do that all over again in a month is a pretty big plus. Obviously you'll still have to deal with a download of some (probably considerable) size, but an update is bound to be a lot less chunky and time-consuming than a full reinstall.

The start date for round two of the Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 public beta hasn't been set. If you want to get in on the action but haven't signed up for it yet, you can do so at callofduty.com.

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.