Call of Duty: Warzoneis a recent sequel that has established itself quite well within the wider shooter franchise. While a lot of attention has been placed on the title’s gameplay and updates, a recent name change for the game left fans feeling confused as to what the future intentions are for the release.
These recent changes forCall of Duty: Warzonehave recently been contextualized by the news that the originalWarzonewill be shutting its servers down for good in the near future. With this controversial news, the recent changes that have come to 2022’sWarzoneare starting to make a lot of sense.
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The Recent Changes to Warzone
Call of Duty: Warzonerecently welcomed its fourth in-game season, which usually marks the introduction of many alterations to the game as standard. For example, Season 4 ofWarzoneintroduced an array of new vehicles, weapons, battle passes, and even anew core map called Vondel.
However, Season 4 took the expected level of changes to a new level, with the announcement thatWarzonewould be changing its name. Originally, the title was calledCall of Duty: Warzone 2.0, yet Activision announced it was dropping the2.0as of Season 4 of the release. This of course led to a lot of confusion, with the newer title now sharing the exact same name as its 2020 predecessor.
Many labeled this move as confusing, citing the obvious mess that this can cause among fans who are discussing and playing the two separate titles. However, recent announcements for the widerWarzonefranchise paint a pretty clear picture as to why this name change was introduced.
The Shutting Down of Call of Duty: Warzone
On June 22, Activision shocked huge portions of theCall of Dutyplayerbase by announcing that theoriginalCall of Duty Warzonewill be shutting downits servers indefinitely. The shutdown is set to come into effect on September 21, making it impossible for players to play the game ever again. Of course, this led to a lot of vocal disappointment within theWarzonecommunity, with the original game having a huge legacy thanks to its massive success and nostalgia with many fans. This is a pretty unprecedented move from Activision, withWarzonebeing the only globally availableCall of Dutytitle to ever be made impossible to play.
As well as this, many players are annoyed that the premium bundles andin-gameCall of Duty Warzoneitemsthat they have paid for in the original are now essentially redundant. While Activision has confirmed that in-game items will be made available within their respective mainlineCoDtitles, many of them were made specifically forWarzone’s gameplay.
This bombshell news regarding the originalWarzonemakes its successor’s recent name change make sense, with the newer title now taking over theWarzonemoniker in its entirety. This marks a potentially worrying trend of sequels completely replacing their predecessors, as was seen withOverwatch 2and the shutdown of the originalOverwatch.
WhileWarzone 2had a significantly larger playerbase than the original, there was still a dedicated community that preferred the mechanics and overall experience of the 2020 title. With these players now only having a small window to continue playing the game, it is clear to see why so many were shocked by the news. Regardless, the recent name change for the sequel makes perfect sense with the knowledge of the firstWarzone’s unfortunate fate.
Call of Duty: Warzoneis available on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X.
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