Despite the huge amounts of success that the Call of Duty franchise has enjoyed over decades, the core way that the series operates has changed drastically in recent years. With the advent of the Call of Duty: Warzone sub-franchise, which is the IP's foray into the world of battle royale shooters, a lot of developer attention has been placed on post-launch content for Warzone over more traditional multiplayer.
Prior to this, Call of Duty multiplayer was entirely staged within the annual mainline installments of the franchise, but core multiplayer modes have fallen in post-launch importance with the success of Call of Duty: Warzone. While it is to be expected that the scale of Warzone will draw some attention away from core CoD multiplayer, the fact that this core multiplayer is a paid-for online experience makes the lesser care that it is receiving all the more controversial.
The Success of Call of Duty: Warzone
The battle royale genre has exploded in popularity in recent years, with the likes of Fortnite and Apex Legends being some of the most recognizable and lucrative titles in the entire gaming industry. Given the already existing player base and high appeal of the Call of Duty IP, it seemed inevitable that the franchise would extend itself into the battle royale space.
This came with the release of the original Warzone in 2020, which released off the back of the massive hype surrounding 2019's Modern Warfare, and additionally may have benefited from a mass captive audience thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. The original Warzone had amassed over 85 million players as soon as December 2020, giving some context as to just how popular and successful the title was for the franchise. With its free-to-play nature and seasonal battle pass system, the title additionally proved to be extremely lucrative for Activision, and the recent release of Warzone 2 further reinforces the massive focus that WZ has on the current CoD cycle.
The Prioritization of Warzone Over Paid Multiplayer Modes
The current framework of Call of Duty multiplayer now appears to be split between the free-to-play Warzone 2 and the paid premium multiplayer of Modern Warfare 2. The premium core multiplayer provides the classic CoD multiplayer experience of combat within small high-octane arenas, while Warzone 2 maintains the expansive battle royale focus of its predecessor.
Despite the greater amount of overall Call of Duty content that this fosters, many fans are voicing their concerns at Warzone 2 seemingly taking priority over the life cycle of Modern Warfare 2's paid multiplayer. This is evident in the huge amount of content that is already slated to be added to Warzone 2; for instance, it's set to receive a mode inspired by Rocket League in the near future. With new expansive maps already rumored to come soon for Warzone 2, as well as continual support for the title's ambitious DMZ mode, there are huge plans around Warzone 2 that many believe to be detrimental for MW2's base multiplayer.
Compared to Warzone 2, MW2's multiplayer is receiving a much smaller amount of content. Fans currently only have rumors of old Call of Duty maps and operators returning to the game to look forward to. Of course, the huge scope of appeal, availability, and success of the Warzone franchise makes these recent delegations of content somewhat understandable, but serious concerns can be raised regarding a need for more MW2 content. When considering the $70 price-tag to access Modern Warfare 2's multiplayer when compared to the free nature of Warzone 2, having less support for paying players is a worrying precedent for the Call of Duty franchise to set.
Call of Duty Warzone 2 is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
