Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 arrives in just a week, and Activision is finally fully pulling the curtain back on their new battle royale experience. This includes new details on how exactly Warzone 2.0 will stand apart, the fate of the original Warzone, and, at long last, some details about the mysterious extraction-based DMZ mode. In fact, we’re actually getting our first look at DMZ and Warzone 2.0 in action today, courtesy of a variety of CoD influencers. You can check out popular streamer DrLupo take on DMZ mode, below.
Don’t have time to watch the stream? Here’s a brief new description of DMZ mode.
“In addition to traditional Warzone modes — Battle Royale Solos, Duos, Trios, and Quads — Warzone 2.0 will launch with a brand-new experience known as DMZ. DMZ is an open-world, narrative-focused extraction mode where Operator squads have free rein to complete faction-based missions, take on additional side objectives, engage with enemy Operators or AI combatants, and search for valuable items, all while fighting to survive toward exfiltration.”
Meanwhile, here’s the full rundown of what Call of Duty Warzone 2.0 brings to the table…
Warzone 2.0 Overview
Al Mazrah — New Big Map
Central to the Modern Warfare II universe, the city of Al Mazrah within the United Republic of Adal is your first battleground for Warzone 2.0. Those who are playing Modern Warfare II right now are getting some serious training on Al Mazrah. The following Multiplayer maps are subsections of this massive region:
- Al Bagra Fortress (Core Map)
- Embassy (Core Map)
- Zarqwa Hydroelectric (Core Map)
- Taraq (both Core and Battle Map)
- Sariff Bay (Battle Map)
- Sa’id (Battle Map)
Loadouts Are Not Leaving
Custom Loadouts are back for Warzone 2.0. Similar to the original Call of Duty: Warzone, Loadouts play a large role in what makes this game unique, and in this new era, players will have quicker access to their Loadout’s primary benefit: the Primary Weapon. There are three ways to earn a Loadout. Additionally, in-match Cash can be used to purchase your Primary Weapon from created Loadouts.
- Shops – Players can use in-match Cash at the Shops (new name for the Buy Station) to purchase their Primary Weapon from their created Loadouts.
- Loadout Drop Public Event – Loadout Drops will drop into Al Mazrah in the middle of Battle Royale matches. However, these are not limited or assigned to individual squads, but instead can be accessed by any players.
- Strongholds and Black Sites – Players can also earn their Loadout in the early game as a reward for clearing a Stronghold or a Black Site.
Looting Mechanics
Warzone 2.0 will implement a new Backpack system, fully integrated for DMZ and streamlined for Battle Royale modes. In Battle Royale, like the previous Warzone, Supply Boxes will throw out items to pick up. When a player interacts with any other loot container, such as a duffel bag, medical case, they will function with a loot menu. When a player dies, they will drop their Primary Weapon on the ground and their Backpack, which contains the rest of their content, and is accessed through a loot menu.
Defining the New Gulag
The Gulag will be a 2v2 environment where randomly paired Duos must coordinate to take down their opposition. All players will receive a predefined Loadout — at launch, this will be a Pistol or a Shotgun, a Lethal Grenade, and a Tactical Grenade — with highly effective weaponry and gear placed toward the map’s center.
The Gulag will also include a Jailer, who will appear in the middle of the match to help speed up combat. Defeating the Jailer will return all four Gulag prisoners back into the Battle Royale, which offers a dilemma: Do both Duos agree to wait and fight this powerful enemy together, or does one get greedy and try to go for the elimination victory? Instead of a traditional Overtime mechanic, if neither team nor the Jailer is eliminated after a brief period of time, all four Operators lose.
AI Combatants in Battle Royale
The Gulag is just one of three places where players can fight AI combatants, as they will be restricted to guard specific locations. The other two locations are Strongholds and Black Sites, which are clearly designated on your in-game Tac-Map to allow you to opt-into engagements with AI combatants. During each match, several Strongholds will be activated around the map. Squads can visit these areas to fight AI combatants. The first team to complete a Stronghold must disarm a bomb and will earn a key to a Black Site and their Custom Loadout. Successive teams must eliminate a specific number of defenders (AI or players) and will earn their Custom Loadout, but not a Black Site key.
Black Sites are a more dangerous form of Strongholds, but they offer a permanent Weapon Blueprint reward and even more valuable in-match items for those who clear it out. These are available only via Black Site key, given to the first team that clears one of the active Strongholds.
Other New Features
- Circle Collapse – There may not be only one safe zone — in Battle Royale modes, there can be up to three circles within the collapse, which will ultimately remerge for the final showdown. Prepare to adjust your strategies accordingly, as this feature is randomized in each match.
- Proximity Chat – Got something to say? Comms are now open, so any in-game chatter can be picked up by any other squad. This can open up new ways to tackle engagements . . . or mess with enemies who are holed up inside buildings.
- Assimilation – In squad-based DMZ modes, as well as special Battle Royale playlists, you have the choice to join up with enemy Operators and form a larger squad.
- Interrogation (Battle Royale and DMZ only) – In squad-based modes, intel is everything. Reveal enemy locations by successfully shaking down player-controlled enemies while they are downed.
- Heavy Chopper and Hummer EV – Two new vehicles define the refreshed vehicle roster for Warzone 2.0: an aerial powerhouse known as the Heavy Chopper, which can hover in the air without a pilot, and the and the GMC HUMMER EV Pickup, a versatile means to quickly cover serious ground with the whole squad in this all-electric supertruck.
- Vehicle Fuel, Gas Station Mechanic – All vehicles (yes, including the EV) use fuel over time, and when it runs out, that vehicle is no longer usable. Vehicles can be refilled either with Gas Cans found around the map or at Gas Stations. Gas Stations can also repair body damage and tires, thereby restoring vehicle health. However, Operators can also perform flat tire repairs anywhere in the world by interacting with individual tires.
- Aquatic Combat – Whether by boat or breaststroke, Operators can navigate waterways, rivers, and the open sea as part of their overall victory strategy. Remember: only Sidearms, melee weapons, and Throwing Knives can be used while you’re submerged. Also, try using Lethal and Tactical Equipment on or underwater for a wide variety of potentially destructive effects.
Meanwhile, here’s what’s going to be happening with the original Call of Duty: Warzone, which is being rebranded as Warzone Caldera.
Call of Duty: Warzone Intermission
While we look ahead to Warzone 2.0, we also want to address our plans for Call of Duty: Warzone. Access to Call of Duty: Warzone continues as normal until November 16, when a short “intermission” takes place during the launch window of Warzone 2.0:
- At approximately 8 AM PT on November 16, Call of Duty: Warzone servers will temporarily go offline as Call of Duty: Vanguard Season Five concludes.
- At 10 AM PT, Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 will be released as part of Modern Warfare II Season 01.
- During this time, studio development resources (led by Raven Software) will be focused on ensuring the new Warzone 2.0 free-to-play ecosystem is running effectively.
- At this time, you are encouraged to jump in and play Warzone 2.0 for free.
- Once the Warzone 2.0 ecosystem is fully stable, and after a small development break for Thanksgiving for the developers who observe this U.S. holiday, Warzone is planned to be relaunched as Call of Duty: Warzone Caldera as a separate experience. This will happen at approximately 10 AM PT on November 28.
- As a token of our appreciation, those who played Call of Duty: Warzone will be gifted a few items to use in Warzone 2.0.
Call of Duty: Warzone Caldera Relaunch
Following the relaunch, you will have two different Warzone games you can play: Warzone 2.0 and Warzone Caldera. Warzone 2.0’s weapons, progression, and inventory systems will be tied to the new Modern Warfare II content and systems. This is due to a combination of feedback from the community, technical limitations, and a need to simplify the next and newest Warzone to create a seamless player experience moving forward. Call of Duty: Warzone Caldera continues as a separate game from Modern Warfare II and Warzone 2.0. Expect the following gameplay experiences once it launches:
- Player progression, cross-progression for XP and Weapon XP, inventories, Battle Pass content, weapons, Store Bundles, and other purchases from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019), Call of Duty: Warzone, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, and Call of Duty: Vanguard will be accessible only within Warzone Caldera (and within their respective games).
- Expect to access a standard Battle Royale Playlist.
- Modern Warfare II or Warzone 2.0 content, including new Battle Pass and Bundles, will not be available.
- 2XP and 2WXP Tokens will not be transferrable between Warzone Caldera and Warzone 2.0.
- While Warzone Caldera won’t have an in-game store, COD Points will be transferrable between all games.
- Rebirth Island and Fortune’s Keep maps will not be present when Call of Duty: Warzone Caldera becomes available to play.
- For those fans of smaller maps, expect exciting developments in Warzone 2.0 during future seasons.
Phew, that’s a lot to take in, but Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II Season 1 will also be launching, with new maps, a whole mess of operators, and more.
New Maps
Shoot House (Launch)
Situated in the jungles south of Las Almas, the Shoot House’s new home was built for training cartel hired guns with the same level of intensity as Mexican Special Forces Operators. This live-fire facility is just as deadly as you remember it — a small, three-laned map conducive to all playstyles.
Shipment (Mid-Season)
Set on a cargo ship taking on water in a storm-ridden part of the Atlantic Ocean, a new Shipment is ready to bring back the chaos that only an ultra-compact map can provide. Thinking about working around and off the map’s boundaries, which was possible in previous versions? You might find yourself all at sea…
Special Ops
High Ground
Successfully find and destroy enemy communication servers to locate and extract three hard drives with vital enemy intel. One Operator will be tasked with piloting an Attack Chopper to clear out dangerous land mines, while the other works with AI allies as part of a Ground Assault Team to infiltrate the buildings that contain enemy equipment.
Coming Mid-Season: Raid Episode 1
Continuing the story of the Modern Warfare II Campaign, Raids will be the ultimate challenge for Trios with a mix of stealth, all-out action, and puzzle-solving objectives.
New Operators
Squad Goals: Modern Warfare FC Kicks Off In-Season
Whatever name you call it by, the international game of football is making its impact in Season 01 through the Modern Warfare FC event. During this event, you can sign three of the world’s greatest athletes to your Operator roster by picking up special, limited-time Bundles: Neymar Jr., who will debut on November 21; Paul Pogba, set to debut on November 25; and Leo Messi, who will complete the Operator hat trick on November 29. More details, including information on a limited-time CODBall mode and a community Support Your Team Pick’em minigame, will be shared in-season.
Zeus (Launch)
Following his year of military service shadowing a Nigerian Army Special Forces Battalion, he enlisted and rose through the ranks of those same Special Forces. At the same time, his family became involved in a high-profile state election but tragically died to a local Al Qatala cell. Orphaned, and now the last of his name, Zeus established the “Thunder” Corps, a counterterrorism group dedicated to hunting AQ wherever they hide and bringing them to true justice.
- How to Unlock: Zeus is automatically unlocked with purchase of the Season 01 Battle Pass.
Klaus (Mid-Season)
A member of Denmark’s Elite Special Forces, Klaus Fisker can almost be considered a living legend among Operators. Some say his scotopic vision — his natural night vision — was powerful enough to help him navigate a mile in pitch-black darkness before he could read. Others witnessed his exceptional training record, leading his peers with unbridled optimism through exercises.
Gaz (Mid-Season)
Price’s right-hand man, Gaz became legend in 2019 when his valiancy during an attack on Piccadilly Circus grabbed the attention of the formidable SAS Bravo Team captain. He ultimately joined Price’s elite unit, known as Task Force 141.
- How to Unlock: Obtain Klaus and Gaz in Bundles to be featured during the Mid-Season Update.
New Weapons
Victus XMR Sniper Rifle — Imperatorium Platform (Launch, Battle Pass)
Hard hitting, bolt action sniper rifle with .50 cal BMG ammunition. Its tungsten sabot tipped bullets are fast and powerful, but require precise shots over long distances.
- How to unlock: Free weapon within the Battle Pass.
BAS-P SMG — Bruen Ops Platform (Launch, Battle Pass)
An aggressive fire rate and modular frame make the BAS-P perfect for the discerning operator who wants to customize their submachine gun. Subsonic ammo hides kill skulls from the enemy team.
- How to unlock: Free weapon within the Battle Pass.
Chimera Assault Rifle — Bruen Ops Platform (Mid-Season)
With an integrated suppressor and slow, high-energy .300 BLK rounds, the Chimera is adept at close-quarters combat. Subsonic Ammo hides skulls from the enemy team.
- How to unlock: Store Bundle or Weapon Unlock Challenge.
M13B Assault Rifle — Bruen Ops Platform (Launch)
The M13B features a short-stroke piston system that allows for a high rate of fire and low recoil.
- How to unlock: Store Bundle or Weapon Unlock Challenge
Activision Blizzard has faced a series of lawsuits and other legal action on the heels of a suit filed by California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) alleging widespread gender-based discrimination and sexual harassment at the Call of Duty publisher. You can get more details on that unfolding story here.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II can be played on PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, and PS5. Modern Warfare II Season 1 and Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 launch on all the aforementioned platforms on November 16.
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