After the immense success of Call of Duty Modern Warfare, its free-to-play Warzone 2.0 is gradually reaching heights in terms of popularity.
[Mis à jour le 16 novembre 2022 à 13h03] Warzone has long dominated the Battle Royale market, seducing with its nervous gameplay, its complex and enjoyable progression system and its content that evolves over the seasons. But the lifespan of a Battle Royale can be limited, and this was the case for Warzone which lost almost 60% of its players during the year 2022. This is where Activision and Infinity Ward, which recently offered us Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. And the success was global for this sequel to Modern Warfare 2019, with no less than 800 million dollars generated in three days. And the small detail is that Modern Warfare 2 was accompanied by Warzone 2.0, a new version of the successful Battle Royale, offering gameplay that is both similar and greatly improved. And the success of this Battle Royale is beyond doubt, since it too has reached phenomenal figures.
The recipe for success
Activision has just congratulate Warzone players for reaching the astronomical figure of 25 million accounts. Impressive statistics for a game that barely celebrates a week of existence. In addition, the game has overtaken GTA 5 on the first step of the podium of the most watched games on Twitch, with nearly 150,000 viewers at all times. Figures that align with Warzone’s biggest competitor, Apex Legends, which reached no less than 25 million players in one week when it was released in 2018, and 50 million in one month. It’s hard to see Call of Duty reaching similar numbers, given the close proximity of content between Warzone and Warzone 2.0, although this release is a huge plus point for the license.
The trailer
Warzone 2.0 is for the first time available on multiple platforms at the same time. If you will find it in free access on the Xbox Store and the Playstation Store, it is on PC that a great novelty has arrived, the game is playable both on the traditional application of Activision Blizzard, Battle.net, but also on the immense inescapable Steam. A winning bet for Activision, which allows itself to distribute its free-to-play to as many people as possible, just like Apex Legends did a few years ago. You can find Warzone 2.0 on the app Battle. net at this addressand download Steam here.
Warzone 2.0 is not a graphic revolution compared to its predecessor, but it deepens certain elements of its gameplay. By bringing various innovations, particularly in terms of movement, weapon customization and gadgets, the game stands out from its predecessor and offers players a complete Battle Royale experience, taking the best from its competitors and its previous iterations. On top of that, Infinity Ward offered plenty of quality of life improvements.
New moves: the success of Apex Legends may have made Infinity Ward think about this, but the studio has chosen to integrate new movement possibilities into Warzone 2.0. Operators have the possibility of diving, of hanging on to a ledge, while of course pulling.
New Gadgets: a tactical camera, a wall-piercing charge, a decoy, an electromagnetic bomb… If you imagine it, Warzone 2.0 will have it. Infinity Ward did not hesitate to present us with some of the new gadgets that will punctuate the gameplay of its future Battle Royale, and we hope that there will be enough to compete with the eternal heart sensor.
New weapon customization: Modern Warfare 2 brings with it a new Gunsmith system, allowing more accessories to be added to their weapons.
Underwater combat: if a wet toe was fatal in Warzone, Warzone 2.0 intends to incorporate underwater combat into its formula. Operators will therefore be able to swim underwater at different depths, and even shoot. The ballistics of the bullets will of course be influenced by the resistance of the water.
Revamped vehicles: Vehicles are a huge part of Warzone, and Infinity Ward intends to capitalize on that. The studio claims to have improved the possibilities of interaction with vehicles, allowing the player to climb on the roof or shoot from a window. Tires can also be destroyed and repaired, and vehicle physics have been improved.
Proximity chat: the game will also integrate a proximity voice chat system, allowing you to happily spoof your enemies stashed on the first floor of a house before throwing them a bread of C4.
Multiple proximity circles: for the first time in the short history of Battle Royale, the circle of play will be able to be divided into several zones. Of course, these areas will come together at the very end of the game to determine a winning team.
Strongholds: some areas will be populated by aggressive AI, which will allow players who wish to risk their stealth or their lives to recover rarer loot.
Gulag: the Gulag, pillar of the Warzone experience, has been profoundly modified. It will now pit two teams of two players against each other in a fight to join their respective teams.
Of course, these different additions will allow Warzone 2.0 to offer us new “sandbox” moments. The new movement possibilities offer different options for approaching a fight, and give the player the feeling of freedom that made Warzone so successful in its early days. Between new gadgets, vehicle interactions, underwater combat, Warzone 2.0 could well find this little grain of madness and unexpectedness that served its predecessor so much. Failing to offer incredible graphic innovations (which is good news for older generation consoles and more modest PCs) Warzone 2.0 seems well on its way to reconquering the kingdom of Battle Royale.