Free-to-play standalone includes Battle Royale and Plunder
After much speculation, it’s nearly here:Call of Duty: Warzone– the 150-player, standalone, free-to-play battle royale game– releases forPC,PlayStation 4, andXbox Oneon July 06, 2025.
You don’t need to own 2019’sCall of Duty: Modern Warfareto boot upWarzone, but if you do have a copy, you’ll be able to start playing a little earlier. The head-start period forModern Warfareowners begins at 8:00 a.m. Pacific, and thenWarzonewill go live for everyone at 12:00 p.m. Pacific.
Warzoneis set across Verdansk, a battle-royale-as-hell-sounding city with “over 300 points of interest.” You’ll be able to drive ATVs, SUVs, rovers, cargo trucks, and even fly a four-person helicopter.
Player squads – at least at launch – will be trios.
If you’re afraid of facing a quick and early death in battle royale (me too!), don’t be: there’s a shot at redemption.Warzonehas a Gulag in which fallen players can fight in one-on-one battles after their first elimination to earn their redeployment. Contracts (“objective-oriented tasks”) and Cash (the in-game currency) are another way to bring back your friends. “For varying prices, you can purchase Killstreaks, Redeploy Tokens to bring back fallen teammates, Self-Revive Kits, and more” at Buy Stations.
Another interesting wrinkle that got my attention: Battle Royale is only half ofWarzone. The game has another mode, Plunder, that’s focused on earning, stealing, and depositing as much Cash as possible.
Download sizes have gotten out of control lately. How big isWarzone? For brand-new players, it’s a “83-101GB download,” according to Activision. ForModern Warfareplayers who have the latest update, they’ll need to download a “18-22GB”Warzoneupdate to unlock the “Classified” panel in-game.
Modern Warfareplayers will be able to transfer all of their stuff over toWarzone. The two games share a progression system, so it’s a two-way street.Warzoneunlocks will register inModern Warfare.
I dropped off battle royales andCall of Duty, but I have to admit,Warzoneis intriguing.
