The badly kept secret that is Call of Duty: Modern Warfare's battle royale mode sprung another leak today, with a big chunk of footage appearing on YouTube a bit earlier than it should have. It's confirmed a slew of details, as well as revealing the mode's name: Warzone.
YouTuber Chaos uploaded the video, which is unlisted, after being invited to take it for a spin by Infinity Ward. We were expecting an announcement soon, but it looks like we're getting a lot more than that. It's been taken down now, but the details have been saved for posterity thanks to Reddit.
Chaos' footage confirms that Warzone will be free-to-play, so you don't need to own Modern Warfare to play, and you'll be able to jump between consoles and PC thanks to the cross-platform progression and crossplay. Matches will feature fights with up to 150 people on a massive hybrid map that contains bits and pieces from existing maps like Scrapyard, Terminal and others, though you'll also be able to explore a bunch of new areas.
- CoD: Warzone download: how to get battle royale free
Standard battle royale features like solo, duos and squads, jumping out of a plane and outrunning a deadly toxic cloud all return, but you'll also be able to hop into a wide range of vehicles, including helicopters, ATVs, trucks and more, and you'll be able to purchase killstreaks that give you airstrikes and other abilities.
Death isn't the end in Warzone. As well as being able to buy respawn tokens, you can return to the fight through the Gulag. You've been captured by the enemy, not killed, and by winning a 1v1 fight for the entertainment of your captors—and everyone else in the queue—you can earn your freedom. While you're in the queue, you can spectate the fights, support your squadmates and even chuck rocks at people you don't like.
So there are some added complexities, but in other ways Infinity Ward seems to have simplified the mode. Loot spills all over the ground, ARPG-style, so there's no rooting around in inventories and putting yourself in a vulnerable position; you won't be able to loot attachments, though they will appear in supply drops; there's health regen, and you can protect yourself further by equipping up to three pieces of armour, which seemed to be plentiful.
As well as the mode shown off in the video, there's another called Plunder, a respawn game mode where the objective is getting lots of cash. We didn't get to see any footage, but you can expect more details soon.
While the video is no longer available, it sounds like it won't be long before you'll be able to check out the free-to-play mode for yourself.
