Call of Duty: Warzone 2 is slowly turning back into Warzone 1

warzone 2.0 — (Image credit: Activision Blizzard)

Infinity Ward is hitting backspace on some of the most interesting changes it made to Call of Duty: Warzone 2. Starting in season 2, key adjustments to the gulag, loot system, and in-game economy will roll back to how they worked in Warzone 1.

It's a little unusual for Warzone 2 to be losing features that make it distinct from the original so soon after launch, but to some dissatisfied Warzone players, the news is a relief. Thin rumors of underperforming player counts over the winter break have quickly stoked a narrative that Warzone 2 is dying, despite the fact it continues to be played by hundreds of thousands daily. Following a two-week delay of Warzone 2's second season, an uninspiring season 1 update, and disruptive crashes that have persisted since November, the loudest corners of the Call of Duty fanbase are starting to turn on the free-to-play battle royale.

Possibly in a bid to win back these outspoken voices, Warzone 2 is slowly reverting back to Warzone 1 in several significant ways. The first big change came last month, when Infinity Ward added loadout drops back to buy stations, reversing one of the sequel's most dramatic meta decisions. Infinity Ward has spent the last week announcing more planned changes over Twitter.

Loadouts are back in buy stations (live)
Loot will once again pop out of bodies and sit on the ground (Season 2)
Players will find more cash on the map, and prices for consumables are going down (Season 2)
The gulag will return to a 1v1 fight instead of 2v2 (Season 2)

Apparently Infinity Ward isn't done yet, either. "We’ll be sharing more details about Warzone 2.0 changes in this week’s studio blog," one tweet reads.

every_cod_sub_now from r/CODWarzone

While Warzone 2 is far from a dying game, Activision's eagerness to tease specific changes on Twitter before a proper announcement is uncharacteristic of the company, and gives the impression that it's trying to get ahead of the negative sentiment. While I'm far from a dedicated Warzone player, I'm a little disappointed to see some of Warzone 2's smartest tweaks disappear so soon. I especially liked the 2v2 gulag for its similarities to the Modern Warfare 2019 mode that inspired the gulag idea in the first place—Gunfight.

Expect to see more Warzone 2 tweaks when Infinity Ward goes into more detail in a dev blog post sometime this week. Season 2 begins on February 15.

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Morgan has been writing for PC Gamer since 2018, first as a freelancer and currently as a staff writer. He has also appeared on Polygon, Kotaku, Fanbyte, and PCGamesN. Before freelancing, he spent most of high school and all of college writing at small gaming sites that didn't pay him. He's very happy to have a real job now. Morgan is a beat writer following the latest and greatest shooters and the communities that play them. He also writes general news, reviews, features, the occasional guide, and bad jokes in Slack. Twist his arm, and he'll even write about a boring strategy game. Please don't, though.