Call of Duty: Warzone Season 5's trailer has officially released giving fans a clear image of what is in store for the next season. Predictions, leaks, rumors, and teasers are being confirmed or disproven across the board allowing a clear image of the game's future to generate. Warzone is on the brink of a massive change that will serve as a turning point for the game's entire future.
Similar to when Fortnite threw a meteor at Dusty Divot, Call of Duty: Warzone is blasting a massive hole in one of the largest structures on the map. Since launch, Stadium has been a point of discussion with fans obsessing with what is inside the monolithic structure. With the massive hole in the roof and the doors flung open answers are finally at player's fingertips, but there is one fact that is much bigger then satiating curiosity. With Verdansk Stadium blown wide open, the entire game of Warzone is about to evolve into something more.
Warzone Is Evolving
The evolution can best be compared to the Dusty Divot incident. There was a point where Epic Games decided that Fortnite was going to be more than just another game mode. Activision is taking a page from that book and evolving Warzone into its own independent existence outside of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. The launch of Season 5 will be the first time that Warzone breaks from the Modern Warfare narrative and moves towards a bright and shiny future shedding its main campaign for a new evolution.
It could be argued that Warzone was an independent function at launch with its story already distant from the main campaign of Modern Warfare. Although there are some similarities, the game was headed in a very different direction than Modern Warfare's campaign would suggest. Mix this with the promotional opportunities for leaking Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War through in-game assets, and Warzone looks to be standing on its own two feet. The only thing tying it back to Modern Warfare is the Battle Pass itself, but that is the point of this evolution.
Activision is already positioning to continue Warzone past Modern Warfare's existence. There has already been confirmation from Activision that, into the launch of Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, Warzone will continue to act as a thread connecting the various sub franchises of the Call of Duty universe. Rather than moving on it appears that Activision will continue Warzone's evolution as a standalone title.
This opens several interesting evolutionary potentials for the Call of Duty BR. As a tool for promoting the game, it could continue to evolve its story, characters, and map design around upcoming Call of Duty titles for years to come allowing players an ever building experience. As a game, it can continue to adapt to changing Battle Royale standards and blame the adaptation on upcoming titles. Trends become easy to integrate and the game can retain an almost immortal status paralleling the growth of Fortnite into a standalone world of competitive Call of Duty opportunities.
Changing The Game Itself
Activision is no stranger to massive map changes. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 had no problem breaking its dam and flooding the entire countryside. Entire new zones were easily added to the already massive map, and it continued to change following a defined storyline of possibilities. If the same model is applied to Warzone, then fans have a strong potential for an evolving landscape that will constantly challenge players to adapt their strategies and challenge the current Warzone meta.
Although the addition of a Warzone train will add a roving loot station filled with potential and possibility, the sheer size of the Stadium alone gives it massive loot potential. As a first drop spot, players can land inside of the massive bowl sacrificing vulnerability for a high reward system. The stands and the field itself will no doubt be littered with loot that only the fastest players will be able to claim. This changes the drop strategy of the game itself and forces a faster respawn segment at the beginning of the game.
The natural player adaptation of this is to avoid the Stadium completely. This would allow the more bloodthirsty players to charge in headfirst while a different set of teams can come in several circles later and pick through what's left. By the size of the Verdansk Stadium alone, what is left is sure to be enough to gear up any squad lacking behind while still holding untold secrets within its crumbling walls.
One of the most interesting parts of the Stadium opening up is the method of which Activision and Infinity Ward chose to do it. Rumors were spreading of nuclear possibilities with one report even seeing a missile flying through Verdansk airspace. Once the trailer showed a familiar operator plating C4, the brutal frontal assault theory was confirmed as Shadow Squad descended into the Stadium itself. This narrative decision gives an interesting view of how the map may change in the future seasons of Warzone.
Whether or not Infinity Ward uses new squads as an excuse to evolve the map the blatant and frontal tactics of Shadow Company fit the need to open the Stadium itself. This clever use of narrative shows the potential that the developers are wielding and the game-changing effect that Season 5, and the Stadium opening up, will have on the future of Warzone.
Launch of Season 5 is way too early to discuss the potential of Season 6 or Season 7, but one fact remains very present. Season 5 is setting precedence in both secrecy, planning, and execution that will set fan expectations on the upcoming seasons. Infinity Ward and Activision may not be aware of the massive power of possibility that Season 5 generated, but fans are going to expect much more from the developer publisher combo than in any Season seen thus far. Warzone Season 5 is a game-changer, and it all starts with blowing the top off of a very popular sports stadium. Prepare to drop into the future of Warzone, and the future of Verdansk.
Call of Duty: Warzone is available on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
