'Call of Duty: Warzone' is a free battle royale game launching tomorrow
You don't need a copy of "Modern Warfare" to play the game.
As expected, Activision has announced Call of Duty: Warzone, a brand new free-to-play battle royale based on its popular first-person shooter franchise. If you already own a copy of Modern Warfare, you'll be able to play the game starting tomorrow at 11am ET on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Everyone else gets to join at 3pm ET.
At launch, the title will feature two gameplay modes -- battle royale and plunder -- and a single map called Verdansk that can support up to 150 players simultaneously. In plunder mode, the goal is to finish the match with the most money by searching the map for loot, taking down other players and completing in-game contracts.
In addition to five different vehicles you can use to travel across the map more quickly, Warzone will feature a mechanic called the Gulag. The first time you die in a match, you'll find yourself in prison with other players who recently fell as well. You'll then have to fight another player in a one-on-one challenge. If you win the showdown, you get to rejoin your teammates as they go about trying to win the match. Lose and you'll have to wait and hope your buddies earn enough in-game cash to purchase a respawn for you.
The contracts mentioned above allow you and your teammates to complete specific objectives as a way to earn in-game money. You can use then use the funds at stations located across the map to buy things like killstreaks and an item that will revive you after you die. In the game's plunder mode, you can also purchase a balloon that safely stores the cash you're trying to obtain to win the match.
If you already own Modern Warfare, any battle pass items, weapons and skins you've earned will carry over to Warzone. Similarly, any progress you make in Warzone will carry over to Modern Warfare. It's also a cross-platform title, so you can play with buddies on other systems. That said, if you're interested in Warzone, you may want to check how much space you have on your console or PC as Activision says new players will need to download up 101GB of assets to start playing the game.
