“In order to fully deliver this state-of-the-art experience, Warzone 2.0 will feature new ‘Modern Warfare 2’ content and systems with brand new progression and inventories,” Activision mentioned in an announcement to The Post. “Today’s ‘Warzone’ will continue on as a separate experience that will include a continuation of player progression and inventories within that Warzone experience. We can’t wait to share more details soon.”
The firm mentioned “Warzone 2.0” will ship “new technology, new features, and new gameplay that work seamlessly together” and, like “Modern Warfare 2” might be playable on each present and last-generation consoles.
Activision didn’t present a particular date for the discharge of “Warzone 2.0.” The previous two years, “Warzone” featured a significant replace in December to align with the present mainline sport.
“Warzone,” which debuted in 2020 and now has over 125 million gamers based on Activision, is a key half of a brand new franchise technique to higher align Call of Duty’s many properties and broaden their attain. Since “Warzone’s” launch, Activision has ramped up its assets round Call of Duty, with over 3,000 folks now engaged on the franchise, based on the corporate.
“Our goal here is not only to light up the Modern Warfare scene and deliver a step change transformation in that regard, but also to think much bigger and have a much bigger ambition for the future of the franchise,” Johanna Faries, Call of Duty’s common supervisor, mentioned. “We have a completely new shared vision around both ‘Modern Warfare 2’ and how that will relate to a subsequent launch of a brand new Warzone experience. And that will be on the back of shared tech and the engine that connects them in a way that we’ve never done before.”
Faries demurred when requested about what new gameplay options “Warzone 2.0″ would offer, but said player feedback had informed decision-making around the new version. She emphasized that game and server stability was critical to enduring success, along with continued focus on the game’s anti-cheat initiative. She also noted positive feedback around “Warzone’s” infusion of cultural touchstones, equivalent to a latest occasion that includes Godzilla and King Kong, in addition to introducing rapper Snoop Dogg as a playable character.
As half of the franchise’s growth, “Warzone” will even be coming to cell. This might be a separate product from the present free-to-play “Call of Duty Mobile” sport that incorporates a totally different battle royale expertise. “Call of Duty Mobile” has been downloaded by over 650 million customers globally since its 2019 launch, based on Activision.
“We now have players who are on the go more than ever,” Faries mentioned. “So just thinking in terms of the mobile lens and bringing a new Warzone experience that we are very excited about to mobile is a huge piece of that strategy going forward.”
Going ahead, all Call of Duty video games might be developed on the identical sport engine that debuted with 2019′s model of “Modern Warfare.” A more moderen model of that engine will energy each “Modern Warfare 2” and the brand new “Warzone 2.0.”
“This will in many ways be the most advanced engine we’ve ever utilized for Call of Duty,” Faries mentioned.
Previously, the annualized installments of Call of Duty had been developed by totally different studios utilizing totally different sport engines, which gave every new title a definite appear and feel. Both gamers and builders have mentioned they loved the differentiation of titles up to now, regardless of the dearth of consistency. But Faries famous that even with the consolidation of the franchise round one sport engine, new variations of the sport will nonetheless really feel totally different from each other, differentiating installments of, say, Black Ops video games from Modern Warfare video games.
“Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2″ will also return the franchise to Steam, Valve’s PC games platform and storefront. Faries said that decision was made to allow more players around the world access to the game.
“It’s just about showing up where players need and want Call of Duty to show up and make sure that they can access the game they love,” she mentioned. Across the lifetime of the franchise, Call of Duty has offered over 425 million models and pushed over $30 billion in income, per Activision.
That logic round participant accessibility may apply to a different platform within the future. With Activision set to be acquired by Microsoft in 2023, there was hypothesis as as to whether the franchise, which can quickly function 19 mainline video games along with the free-to-play “Warzone,” can be provided to the 25 million subscribers of Xbox’s Game Pass service. Faries declined to touch upon that chance, citing she couldn’t talk about the pending acquisition.
The announcement of Activision’s new technique for Call of Duty follows a February report from Bloomberg that the franchise wouldn’t publish a brand new sport in 2023, which might be the primary yr with no new Call of Duty sport since 2004. Through a spokesman, Activision declined to touch upon that report.
Faries didn’t specify whether or not the sample of syncing the “Warzone” expertise to the yr’s mainline Call of Duty title will proceed or whether or not “Warzone 2.0” will stay tied to “Modern Warfare 2′’s” universe.
“We’re very excited to share more details about this new Warzone experience, how that does expand the ‘Modern Warfare 2’ universe, but also what that means for the future,” Faries mentioned.