Call of Duty: Warzone 2is confirmed to be in the works, with the battle royale sequel set to release alongsideCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 2later this year. While rumors have suggestedCall of Duty: Warzone 2will have a desert map, all that is confirmed is that it will be next gen only. This is a big deal, as Raven Software can leverage the power of the new consoles to introduce lobbies with larger player counts anda console FOV slider.
However, with so much of the discussion regarding the nextCall of Duty: Warzonegame being built around speculation, fans lack official info on a lot of systems. One such topic is integration, as gamers are left wondering ifCall of Duty: Warzone 2will be a true fresh start for the battle royale title. If this is the case, and the game launches without integration forModern Warfare,Black Ops Cold War, andVanguard, a lot of fans that have purchased DLC could be frustrated.
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The Downside of Call of Duty: Warzone 2 Being a True Fresh Start
Obviously, there is no information on whetherCall of Duty: Warzone 2will have all the content from the previous version of the game. However, it is hard to imagine it launching with every weapon, Operator, and cosmetic item that is available in the original title. Many complaints about the game deal with how bloated it is, something that has led to a massive file size and too much content to properly enjoy. Further,Raven Softwarehas admitted that all the content in the game has led to more bugs, with it also being harder to fix the issues since Raven has to monitor so much.
With Raven talking about how past integration approaches were a mistake, and how difficult the original game has become to manage, it seems unlikely that all the assets will be ported over to a new engine. Instead,Call of Duty: Warzone 2could launch without any integration, featuring only the content fromCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Whether the content offutureCall of Dutygamesis incorporated remains to be seen, but a fresh start would help to avoid the currentWarzone’s bloat.
However, a fresh start would mean that all ofCall of Duty: Warzone’s current Operators would not be selectable, with only theModern Warfare 2lineup available instead. While this would be controversial enough on its own, the bigger issue comes from the fact thatCall of Duty: Warzonefans would also be losing all the skins they have for those Operators. TheBattle Passcontent would be inaccessible, as would all the cosmetic bundles purchased via the in-game store. While they would still be usable inModern Warfare,Black Ops Cold War, orVanguard, those hoping to use them inWarzone 2could be out of luck.
This same issue applies to the weaponry ofCall of Duty: Warzone 2. If onlyModern Warfare 2guns feature in the sequel, then all the blueprints players earned and bought for older weapons will be unusable. Whilegames likeFortnitehave managed to update cosmetics and let players use them in newer versions of the game,Fortniteis also able to vault its weapons to help manage the amount of content in the game.Call of Duty: Warzonedoes not have that luxury, as players are not buying wraps that work for every weapon. If a gun is vaulted, so too are all the cosmetics for it.
While this is just speculation,Call of Duty: Warzonefans may want to prepare for a sequel that does not allow them to bring their cosmetics along with them. While the success of playlists like Vanguard Royale andthe love for pre-integration Verdanskshow that aWarzoneexperience centered around one game is popular, it will come at a cost. IfCall of Duty: Warzone 2is a true fresh start, then players might not have access to the massive cosmetic lineup they spent years building.
Call of Duty: Warzone 2is currently in development for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X.
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