Treyarch design director David Vonderhaar has revealed some more info on Call of Duty: Black Ops II’s prestige system.

As we already know, there are 55 levels in the main progression and 10 levels of prestige. And as ever, when you prestige In Black Ops II you will have the option to start all over again from level one.

However, unlike previous COD games, when you prestige in Black Ops II you will not lose all of your progress. So for example, weapon experience will be constant. When you unlock a weapon again it will remember your progress.

On stage at the Eurogamer Expo in London today, Vonderhaar joked about the previous prestige system by saying, “Prestige. Prestige! Congratulations. Here's a new icon. Repeat the entire game. What? What?”

Vonderhaar then went on to describe the new system and the reasoning behind it.

"I've been thinking about it non-stop, about how to get people to prestige,” he said. “We kept going about it the wrong way. We kept saying, here are some more rewards if you do it. Here is this extra stuff if you decide to hit the prestige button.

"Then I looked at a graph of the people who play and what happens to them when they hit level 55 or whatever the max level is, and how they drop off, and how few people actually go to max prestige. I know they could go to max prestige because their time play suggests they could have. I have this data. I know this for a fact.

"They just stopped levelling. Maybe it's because we keep taking away everything. Maybe. Maybe that's the reason."

"In Black Ops 2 prestige is not a start over system," he continued. "When you prestige in Black Ops I will not reset your weapon levelling. If you are level four on a gun you will still be level four when you cycle back around to that gun. Same with all your cosmetics, any camo you've unlocked or emblem, all the personalisation, all the fancy backgrounds you managed to achieve, all of that will still be there."

Vonderhaar concluded by saying, "In this case I feel damned if we don't try something new to get you to prestige. Prestige already! Please, you can do it! Look at the cool icons you get." In Blops II each prestige level has a shiny new icon.

"When you finish up the prestige you become the prestige master."

Hungry for more? Here's 5 Things You Should Know About Call of Duty: Black Ops II Multiplayer. The game's out on November 13th.