Activision dropped a bombshell in February 2022 by confirming that a new Call of Duty: Warzone game is in the works. As part of the official Modern Warfare II reveal, the company then announced the new battle royale’s name: Warzone 2.0. This new battle royale experience is built from the ground up with a refined vision, taking into account over two years’ worth of feedback to hopefully make the best experience possible. But what do we know about the forthcoming sequel?
When is the Warzone 2.0 release window?
Activision confirmed Warzone 2.0 will launch in 2022, but did not offer a solid release date just yet. Modern Warfare II is gearing up to release on October 28, 2022, so it’s likely Warzone 2.0 will follow suit shortly thereafter.
However, a recent leak suggests the new game will launch on November 16, 2022. The leak comes from a Redditor who obtained an Activision Blizzard document with upcoming release dates. It’s unclear if this will come to fruition, but the November 16 date certainly makes sense.
We’ll surely find out more during the September 15 Call of Duty: Next event.
How is Warzone 2.0 different from Warzone?
Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 is a new battle royale experience built from the ground up alongside Modern Warfare II.
Much like the original Warzone game, its sequel is tied to Modern Warfare II, sharing progression, weapons, assets, and other features.
At this point, it’s still too early to know all the details about Warzone 2.0, but based on statements from many content creators — such as Jackfrags — who participated in a call with Activision, a number of things are in the pipeline.
For starters, Activision said Warzone 2.0 is “a massive evolution of battle royale.” While the company didn’t elaborate on what that means, specifically, content creators seem to believe the new game will feature an upgraded gunsmith system and significant meta changes with future updates beyond new weapons.
Warzone 2.0 will likely feature a brand new map that coincides with the release of Modern Warfare II, along with all the same weapons, perks, and mechanics from that game. Since Activision has confirmed that Modern Warfare II and Warzone 2.0 are being built together from the ground up on the same engine, we can expect unity across both titles. Not only that, but Activision revealed that all future COD games will be built on the same engine as well, hopefully making it much easier to integrate those titles into Warzone 2.0.
It was also confirmed that cosmetics will not carry over from Warzone to Warzone 2.0.
What studio is the Warzone 2.0 developer?
Warzone 2.0 is being developed by Infinity Ward and is being built alongside Modern Warfare II. This is great news, as Infinity Ward has a positive track record for creating critical and commercial hits.
This also means longtime Warzone developer Raven Software will serve as a support studio, rather than leading development on the new game. Other Activision teams like Beenox and High Moon Studios will continue working in supporting roles, as well.
How will Warzone 2.0 impact future COD reveals?
The Warzone 2.0 announcement was underwhelming and unusual, considering just how massive the franchise is. Activision publishing a blog post with a few lines of vague information, while giving content creators more details was an odd move, but considering the current state of Warzone and the publisher in general, the company likely wanted to avoid any potential bad press.
Activision has received heat for the poor treatment of its workers, while Warzone itself has been a mess for the majority of its lifespan.
It’s possible Activision will continue to deliver news to COD content creators who are less likely to criticize the company, in an attempt to garner positive buzz. This means future reveals could be presented in a different way than the community is used to.
What are the Warzone 2.0 platforms?
With Warzone 2.0, the discussion of platforms is complex due to the many moving parts. Most importantly, following Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision, the biggest question is whether or not COD will be exclusive to Xbox going forward. Microsoft’s Phil Spencer confirmed that Call of Duty will remain on PlayStation. “Sony is an important part of our industry,” Spencer said.
Warzone 2.0 will come to PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Battle.net and will make its triumphant return to Steam.
Original reports about the sequel indicated that Warzone 2.0 was only planned for current-gen hardware, but given how difficult it is to find PS5s and Xbox Series consoles, Activision has opted to bring it to previous-gen as well. This will also ensure the game has a large player base right from the start since there are over 150 million PS4 and Xbox One players combined.
Activision will reveal more about Warzone 2.0 at the September 15 Call of Duty: Next event.
