Activision dropped a bombshell in February 2022 by confirming that a new Call of Duty: Warzone game was 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? As of September 2022, we actually know quite a bit. Here’s when you can expect to play it, with details about its new map, features, and more.
When is the Warzone 2.0 release date?
Activision confirmed Warzone 2.0 will launch for free on November 16, 2022. Since this game will share progression with the next mainline Call of Duty entry, players will have two weeks to level up their weapons in Modern Warfare II ahead of Warzone 2.0’s launch.
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.
Warzone 2.0 will include a new Gunsmith, which is shared across Modern Warfare II. This Gunsmith allows players to permanently unlock specific attachments across all weapons at once, eliminating the need to grind as much. For instance, unlocking an Optic for one weapon will give you access to that same Optic on another firearm. But there will still be individual attachments to earn across other weapons, giving players plenty to work towards.
Another new addition is the revamped Gulag, which will now consist of 2v2 battles instead of 1v1. After you’re eliminated, you’ll get paired with another random player for the duration of the Gulag engagement. You’ll become enemies once the Gulag battle is over, but until then, you’ll need to work together to survive.
Activision also confirmed that multiple circles will appear at the end of a match, splitting off and creating individual battles for players to participate in. These circles will then come back together during the final moments, hopefully leading to climactic endings across the board.
It was also confirmed that cosmetics will not carry over from Warzone to Warzone 2.0.
What is the Warzone 2.0 map?
Verdansk and Caldera are gone and now, Warzone 2.0 players will get to enjoy Al Mazrah, the all-new map. This is the largest battle royale map Activision has ever created and it comes with a slew of POIs, a wide variety of terrain, and underwater areas to explore.
The map will include revamped versions of old Modern Warfare 2 (2009) areas such as Airport and Quarry. Al Mazrah will feature busy, condensed cities with plenty of desert areas in between, giving players lots to see across the new map.
What is DMZ?
DMZ is a new free-to-play mode launching alongside Warzone 2.0. This extraction mode will play a lot like Escape from Tarkov, requiring players to loot, defeat enemy players (and AI), and extract to survive. It will take place on Al Mazrah and is treated as a sandbox experience. Activision didn’t reveal much about DMZ but did confirm its existence and release date.
What studio is the Warzone 2.0 developer?
Warzone 2.0 is 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.
Warzone 2.0 will launch on November 16, 2022.
