This afternoon, Activision’s anticipated shooter Warzone 2.0 launched earlier than expected in certain regions, in a shocking break from the live-service launch tradition of everything getting delayed by a few hours. We’re looking at you, Overwatch 2.
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Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 was set to launch at 10 a.m. PT on November 16 (5am AEST on November 17 for us — David) but it seems like some regions (New Zealand and Europe first, then the United States) may have gotten access to it at least an hour earlier. To prepare for launch, players were able to pre-download Warzone 2.0 as early as November 14 as a reasonably sized addition to Modern Warfare II. But as soon as Twitter started tweeting that the battle royale was available early on November 16, I ran to my Xbox Series S and booted it up.
At around 12:00 p.m. ET (that’s around 4am for us – David), all I had was a slick new opening upon booting up Modern Warfare II that showed off Warzone 2.0’s new map Al Mazrah, and two tabs on the main page for the Warzone 2.0 DMZ beta and Warzone 2.0. Both of those tabs were locked. But just 15 minutes later they became unlocked and playable. Much like in the original Warzone, Modern Warfare II, the Warzone 2.0 DMZ beta, and Warzone 2.0 are their own sections on the main menu, with the latter currently only offering Battle Royale Quads as a playlist option. Keeping it simple, I see.
Considering that so many live-service games launch with myriad issues like delayed start times, server disconnects, and matchmaking snafus, it’s honestly surprising that Warzone 2.0 wasn’t just on time, but early — like that one friend you can always count on to get to your party before everyone else with some type of finger food in hand.
So, Warzone 2.0 is up and ready to go, although it’s unclear how well the servers will handle what will ostensibly be a massive influx of players. I’m loading into a match right now, so stay tuned.
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