Big things are happening for Call of Duty . The series is getting a battle royale. Well, another battle royale, I mean. Activision announced Call of Duty: Warzone , and it seems poised to make another big splash in the community. But why could it be the next good time? There are a few things on its side.
The first reason Call of Duty: Warzone is going to be huge is because of one simple thing: the price. It has none. It is going to be a free-to-play game. Now, people are willing to always pay money for Call of Duty games. Each one is guaranteed to sell millions, even if it isn’t great. Like Infinite Warfare missed sales expectations after it didn’t catch on with fans, but it still sold 1.8 million in the United States alone the first week it was available. Now imagine there’s a free-to-play entry. Even if it’s bad, people will try it out.
Second, people already know Call of Duty can handle a battle royale situation. Black Ops 4 was the first installment to include it, with its Black out mode. It was well received and supported, with new weapons, updates, and features added throughout its life. The only downside was it was a part of a paid map, but people could almost see it now as a hint of things to come. People who did play and enjoy it have a heads up that Call of Duty: Warzone could be good, while those who didn’t get to try it have a chance to see a free experience.
We also have to factor in how organized the Call of Duty: Warzone launch seems to be. People knew exactly when it would launch and how much space it would need. Those with Modern Warfare even knew to make time in their schedule for their early access period. Activision even parceled it out so that people had something to do while they waited for, in some cases, the full 101GB download. Once you had part downloaded, you could go through Call of Duty: Modern Warfare’ s Gunfight offline matches alone against bots to help you prepare.
Not to mention, it seemed like Activision had a good lineup of modes prepared for the Call of Duty: Warzone launch. It confirmed that there would be two modes at launch. One would be a standard battle royale where people work in a team of three to be the last ones standing. The other is called Plunder. Again, it involves teams of three, only here the goal is to be the richest. Considering that some free-to-play battle royales launched with one mode, it’s really thinking ahead.
We won’t know for sure exactly how successful Call of Duty: Warzone will be for a few months. After all, a lot can change and post-launch support is everything. But at least at the outset, it seems like Activision attempted to have a smooth landing for people.