Along with the launch ofCall of Duty: Warzone 2and all the changes coming with it, Infinity Ward is releasing a new seasonal battle pass for it which also looks to shake up the current model in use across the wider game industry.Warzone’s battle passhas typically been a linear progression design, much like other games such asDestiny 2andFortnite, where new items unlock through consistent gameplay and leveling. This time around, though, Infinity Ward is taking a non-linear approach to give players more control of what rewards they unlock and when.
Call of Duty: Warzone 2is set to continue offering the chaotic battle royale action players have become accustomed to, though Infinity Ward is making some changes and additions to further expand the option.Warzone 2will be trading the city of Verdansk for the coastal area of Al Mazrah, with the battle royale offering new means of acquiring and managing gear, while the Gulag becomes a 2v2 affair. Then there is DMZ,Call of Duty’s take on PvPvE where players will infiltrate the area to complete missions for three competing factions, defeat both AI soldiers and enemy Operators, and exfil with their rewards or lose it all.
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Alongside the revamped battle royale andnew DMZ mode, players will be able to unlock various seasonal items inside the revamped battle pass which, as mentioned above, gives players more control over their item unlocks. The revamped battle pass is trading in the “long horizontal strip of tiered content” for 21 “combat sectors” containing the various rewards inside the “Battle Pass Area of Operations.” Each combat sector will contain the battle pass' rewards which can be unlocked using “Battle Token Tier Skips,” which players earn by playing the game and can spend on whichever items in the combat sector they want until unlocking the “high-value target” option. The HVT option is the marquee weapon blueprint in the sector, becomes available after unlocking four other items, and must be purchased to move on to the next sector.
Infinity Ward will also continue offering standalone content packs for players to purchase, which will contain additional weapons, operator skins, and more for players to use inWarzone 2. One of the first themed packs coming toWarzone 2on November 20 are theModern Warfare 2FC Stars packs, which was previously announced shortly afterModern Warfare 2’s release. Players who pick up the three packs will be able to go into battle as either Cymar Jr., Paul Pogba, or Lionel Messi insideModern Warfare 2’s multiplayer orWarzone 2.
WhileCall of Duty’s content packsmay not be new, the overhauled battle pass is an experiment players could argue is worth watching. The accepted model for battle/season passes, as of this writing, is the aforementioned “strip of tiered content” where players simply unlock items over time simply by playing the game. If the non-linear approach giving players more say in their unlocks proves popular, it is possible more games could begin adopting similar battle pass models in the future.
Call of Duty: Warzone 2is scheduled to release November 16 on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
