Call of Duty: Warzone Battle Royale Leaked – Gameplay, Details, and Crossplay Confirmed

The long-awaited Warzone battle royale component of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare might be releasing very soon, as advertisements and even gameplay footage have leaked online ahead of an official announcement.

Prolific Call of Duty YouTuber Chaos accidentally uploaded a video (which has since been taken down) containing roughly eleven minutes of footage from Warzone, confirming several details about the as of yet unannounced game mode. Advertisements for the mode have also started to appear on Twitch, indicating an upcoming release could be very soon.

The most significant detail is that Warzone will be available as a standalone, free-to-play game for those who do not own Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. Modern Warfare owners will most likely be able to access the mode when it releases using the newly added tab on the main menu, which currently reads “Classified.”

Warzone will also be considerably larger than Blackout, Call of Duty’s previous battle royale offering, hosting a maximum of 150 players in a single match across solos, duos, and trios, with the player count possibly being raised even higher in the future. The game will also feature a ping system as well as a jumpmaster mechanic similar to Respawn’s Apex Legends. Warzone will also feature respawns, although they’ll work a bit differently than they do in standard battle royale games.

The gulag, which was leaked alongside tons of other Warzone information last month, is confirmed to be a feature in the game. Dead players are taken to a small, Gunfight-sized map where they must defeat an enemy player in a 1v1 match where the winner is able to respawn. These 1v1 matches play out in real-time, with a queue of other dead players spectating as the two participating players duke it out.

Loot is comprised solely of weapons, with attachments coming only from supply drops. Also, to shake things up, every player spawns with a pistol, leaving no player defenseless right after they drop. Like Modern Warfare’s Ground War modes, vehicles will be available as well, ranging from ATVs to helicopters. The map itself pays homage to Modern Warfare’s history, containing several classic Modern Warfare maps like Terminal, Scrapyard, and Overgrown. Also, there will be two game modes available at launch. Warzone is the standard battle royale mode, while Plunder is a respawn mode. Earlier Warzone leaks have revealed elements relating to cash, so those will likely play a role in the Plunder mode.

Armor makes a return from Blackout, although it seems to be simplified for Warzone. Players can equip a set number of plates, streamlining the process rather than having separate body and helmet pieces. Unlike Blackout, however, players drop all their loot onto the floor when killed. There isn’t a bag or box to search. Also, killstreaks are a surprising addition, and they can be purchased with in-game cash during the final few circles. These are the same as Modern Warfare’s multiplayer killstreaks, so it’ll be interesting to see how things like precision airstrikes work in a battle royale setting.

Call of Duty: Warzone hasn’t been officially revealed at the time of writing, but given the Twitch advertisements and leaked gameplay (Chaos also states the game is “available now” in his video), it’s very likely that the game will be released sometime in the next few days.