The original Call of Duty: Warzone is back, kind of
Call of Duty's first battle royale has returned from the dead
➡️ The Shortcut Skinny: Warzone returns
🥳 The original Call of Duty: Warzone is coming back
🔫 A pared-down version of the battle royale is out now
🗺 It only includes the Caldera map and two playlist options
😕 Activision doesn’t expect to release any more content for the game
Activision has released a stripped-down version of Call of Duty: Warzone, after taking the original game offline following the launch of Warzone 2.0.
While Warzone 2.0 was busy shaking up its battle pass, Activision was preparing to release Call of Duty: Warzone Caldera, returning the original battle royale with only a few missing features. Quads and solos are the only available playlist options and, as the name suggests, Caldera is the only playable map.
Warzone’s smaller maps – Rebirth Island and Fortune’s Keep – haven’t been relaunched, so fans of those close-quarters options will have to make do with the game’s default big map mode. Similarly, Activision hasn’t announced the battle royale’s original map, Verdansk, will ever make a return. At least Warzone 2.0 features an iconic Call of Duty map for fans to get excited about.
In fact, it looks as though Warzone Caldera will remain static forever, having shed all of its live service elements. All player progression, previous battle pass unlocks and purchases will be available to use, but there’s no in-game store or forthcoming battle passes to progress through. COD points, however, can be transferred from the original Warzone into Warzone 2.0.
“Player progression, cross-progression for XP and Weapon XP, inventories, Battle Pass content, weapons, store bundles, and other purchases from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Call of Duty: Warzone, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War and Call of Duty: Vanguard will be accessible only within Warzone Caldera (and within their respective games),” Activision previously said in a blog post.
Additionally, if you ever hopped into the original Warzone before it shuttered, you can pick up “a few items” as a gift in Warzone 2.0.
The battle royale sequel has ridden a huge wave of popularity since it launched in mid-November, driven partly by the unprecedented success of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 just a few weeks before. Warzone 2.0’s since experienced a few glitches, but fortunately, there’s an easy fix for its most annoying loot problem.
Despite some confusion around the series’ annual release schedule, it now looks like another major Call of Duty release is coming in 2023, even if it might not be a fully-fledged original game.