Call of Duty planned battle royale years before Warzone, but it wasn't to be

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The Name of Obligation franchise modified considerably in March 2020 following the launch of Warzone, Activision’s tackle the battle royale components the place the first goal is to be the final participant standing on the finish of a match. 5 years later, followers are persevering with to drop into the motion.

2025 marks the fifth anniversary of Warzone and to have fun, Raven Software program is reintroducing the long-lasting Verdansk map into the rotation as soon as once more. Whereas many are wanting ahead to a different journey down reminiscence lane, it seems Activision had deliberate to launch a battle royale a number of years earlier than Warzone made its debut.

Name of Obligation: WW2 may’ve had a battle royale

After exploring the recordsdata of Name of Obligation: World Battle 2, X person Lierrmm uncovered leftover belongings showcasing a part of an unreleased battle royale map. With the primary Name of Obligation Battle Royale mode launching in Black Ops 4 with Blackout, CoD may’ve entered the style a whole 12 months earlier.

Launched in 2017, World Battle 2 marked a return to a boots-on-the-ground components after three years of superior motion mechanics dominating Activision’s shooter sequence. A return to conventional motion mixed with a battle royale set in the identical time interval may’ve been a recipe for big success earlier than the style skyrocketed in recognition with the likes of Fortnite, PUBG, and H1Z1 attracting hundreds of thousands to turn out to be the final one standing.

These unaware of the World Battle 2 battle royale proceed sharing their frustrations surrounding the mode that by no means noticed the sunshine of day. An in depth arsenal of weaponry and simplistic motion mechanics may’ve steered Name of Obligation into a wholly new path.

Would a Name of Obligation World Battle 2 battle royale been a hit?

Followers wouldn’t have to attend lengthy earlier than Name of Obligation unveiled Blackout in 2018. The primary iteration of a Name of Obligation battle royale was drastically totally different to how Warzone performs in the present day. As an alternative of loadouts forming a stale meta, gamers needed to discover particular person attachments to equip onto whichever weapons they discovered on the bottom leading to big selection in every match.

A various meta together with a map containing fan-favourite areas from the Black Ops sequence made for a massively fulfilling gameplay expertise. It’s a disgrace it by no means reached the dizzying heights of Warzone which continues to draw hundreds of thousands to each informal and aggressive playlists.

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