Rumour: Modern Warfare’s standalone Battle Royale, Warzone, is coming in March

At this point, it’s almost certain that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare will soon have a Battle Royale mode tacked onto it. It will, however, also be available as a free download in the Fortnite vein, with Activision hoping to monetise it through Battle Passes and the like. According to the chaps at Video Games Chronicles (headed by former staff from the respected and reputable CVG), citing their own inside sources, the mode is “at least a few weeks away” and scheduled for release in early March.

Apparently, the mode will unlock within Modern Warfare itself for those who own that game, while those who download the standalone launcher will get an option to purchase and unlock the full suite of Modern Warfare’s modes.

Much of the information we know about Warzone so far has come from datamining the existing game. As with other Battle Royale games, it’ll have players parachute in as they vie for victory on a large battlefield. The closing circle in this instance will be a deadly gas that encloses the play area. According to VGC, the map will be familiar to Modern Warfare players as it’ll largely be stitched together from existing Ground War maps. Similarly to Treyarch’s Blackout, it’ll feature maps and locations extracted from Infinity Ward’s Call of Duty games – including Vacant, Broadcast, Killhouse and Scrapyard.

According to the pulled data, Warzone will support up to 200 players per round. It’ll be a bit different to existing Battle Royale games thanks to its focus on an in-game currency called Plunder. Plunder will be used to buy weapons and gear in the middle of rounds – with the precious resource being dropped by those who’re killed in battle while holding it.

“This risk-reward dynamic is further strengthened by the introduction of banks,” says VGC “which can be used to store collected Plunder for future matches, but in the process alerting every nearby player to your presence inside the bank with valuable loot.”

Sounds a bit like MAG, really. That said, there’s another aspect to Warzone that sounds interesting. Death needn’t be the end in Warzone. Instead, those who’re killed will be sent to the Gulag, where they compete for a chance to respawn to the battlefield.

Last Updated: February 18, 2020