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A new, free-to-play Call of Duty title launches on March 10 starting at 8AM (PT). It's called Call of Duty: Warzone and features support for up to 150 players in a game at one time. It will include two game modes: Battle Royale and Plunder. Those who own Call of Duty: Modern Warfare will get access to Warzone starting at 8AM (PT) on the 10th. Everyone else will get access to Warzone starting at 12PM (PT).
Call of Duty: Warzone is being billed as a "game-changing free-to-play experience." At launch, players can form three-man squads with their friends on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and on PC via Battle.net.
Battle Royale mode has squads fighting to be the last ones remaining out of 150 players. As with all battle royale modes, the play area will continuously shrink as the round goes on thanks to a deadly gas ring.
In the Plunder mode, players will try to collect the most in-match Cash by looting it from around the map. If you take out other players, you will be able to steal their Cash. You also earn Cash by completing various in-game Contracts.
Warzone Map
Both of these modes take place in Verdansk. This is an "expansive city with multiple named zones and well over 300 points of interest." The city of Verdansk is made up of several varied zones, from dense cities to more rural locales. There are also distinct landmarks dotted across the map including Gorengard Lumber Yard and the Gora Dam.
As Call of Duty continues to embrace vehicles in their online multiplayer, so too will Warzone. There will be five vehicle types all with different levels of protection, speed, seating, and off-road abilities. Here is a quick overview of each of the five vehicle types.
- ATV – two seater, provides minimal protection, good at offroading, fast.
- Tactical Rover – four seater, provides minimal protection, solidly fast, solid at off-roading.
- SUV – four seater, provides good protection, medium speed, not ideal for off-roading.
- Cargo Truck – holds the squad plus equipment, excellent protection, not for off-roading, slowest.
- Helicopter – four seater, decent coverage, flies.
Call of Duty: Warzone also features a few unique gameplay elements not typically seen in most other battle royale style games. These "new and game-changing mechanics" include things like the Gulag, Contracts, Buy Stations, and Seamless Play.
The Gulag is a 1v1 fight to the death where your victory allows you to redeploy into the battle. If you lose, you still have a chance to be redeployed if your squad completes enough Contracts and earns enough in-game Cash to get you back into the fight.
Contracts are objective oriented tasks. Teams can have one Contract activated at a time. Completion of a Contract rewards the squad with in-game Cash and "other loot items." Contracts come in a variety of types including Scavenger Contracts where players need to "find and open a series of Supply Boxes." There are also Recon Contracts where you need to secure a specific location ala the old Domination mode in multiplayer. Some of those "other loot items" include the ability to see the location of where the next circle will close in on before it happens.
In the Battle Royale mode specifically, Cash is used at Buy Stations. Buy Stations will allow you to spend your Cash on things like Killstreaks, Redeploy Tokens, Self-Revive Kits, and more. In the Plunder mode, these stations include "items to help you gain an advantage over other teams." It also includes a Cash Deposit Balloon that allows you to deposit your Cash from a safe location.
"Seamless Play" is a fancy way of saying that Call of Duty: Warzone features crossplay and unified progression. If you already own Modern Warfare, all of that content you own with the Battle Pass will carry over to Warzone. Likewise, all Warzone progression earned will count towards your overall Modern Warfare progression. If you ever decide to purchase Modern Warfare, progress and items earned in Warzone will be retroactively rewarded in Modern Warfare multiplayer and Special Ops modes. Activision notes that there is no level cap in Warzone.
Download Sizes
If you own Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and have it up to date, the download will be between 18-22GB in size for Warzone. The download for Modern Warfare owners begins at 8AM (PT) on March 10.
For those that do not own Modern Warfare or those that do not have it installed, the download will be between 83-101GB in size. This F2P release begins at 12PM (PT) on March 10.
