Along with the launch of Call of Duty: Warzone 2 and all the changes coming with it, Infinity Ward is releasing a new seasonal battle pass for it which also looks to shake up the current model in use across the wider game industry. Warzone's battle pass has typically been a linear progression design, much like other games such as Destiny 2 and Fortnite, where new items unlock through consistent gameplay and leveling. This time around, though, Infinity Ward is taking a non-linear approach to give players more control of what rewards they unlock and when.
Call of Duty: Warzone 2 is set to continue offering the chaotic battle royale action players have become accustomed to, though Infinity Ward is making some changes and additions to further expand the option. Warzone 2 will be trading the city of Verdansk for the coastal area of Al Mazrah, with the battle royale offering new means of acquiring and managing gear, while the Gulag becomes a 2v2 affair. Then there is DMZ, Call of Duty's take on PvPvE where players will infiltrate the area to complete missions for three competing factions, defeat both AI soldiers and enemy Operators, and exfil with their rewards or lose it all.
Alongside the revamped battle royale and new DMZ mode, players will be able to unlock various seasonal items inside the revamped battle pass which, as mentioned above, gives players more control over their item unlocks. The revamped battle pass is trading in the "long horizontal strip of tiered content" for 21 "combat sectors" containing the various rewards inside the "Battle Pass Area of Operations." Each combat sector will contain the battle pass' rewards which can be unlocked using "Battle Token Tier Skips," which players earn by playing the game and can spend on whichever items in the combat sector they want until unlocking the "high-value target" option. The HVT option is the marquee weapon blueprint in the sector, becomes available after unlocking four other items, and must be purchased to move on to the next sector.
Infinity Ward will also continue offering standalone content packs for players to purchase, which will contain additional weapons, operator skins, and more for players to use in Warzone 2. One of the first themed packs coming to Warzone 2 on November 20 are the Modern Warfare 2 FC Stars packs, which was previously announced shortly after Modern Warfare 2's release. Players who pick up the three packs will be able to go into battle as either Cymar Jr., Paul Pogba, or Lionel Messi inside Modern Warfare 2's multiplayer or Warzone 2.
While Call of Duty's content packs may not be new, the overhauled battle pass is an experiment players could argue is worth watching. The accepted model for battle/season passes, as of this writing, is the aforementioned "strip of tiered content" where players simply unlock items over time simply by playing the game. If the non-linear approach giving players more say in their unlocks proves popular, it is possible more games could begin adopting similar battle pass models in the future.
Call of Duty: Warzone 2 is scheduled to release November 16 on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
Source: Call of Duty
