VIDEOGAMES: All the leaked details about Call of Duty: Modern Warfare's battle royale mode

 

The footage has been removed from YouTube now, but we managed to compile details through early views of the video, sources like Reddit and other YouTubers who ripped the footage. Keep in mind that neither Infinity Ward nor Activision has confirmed these leaks as authentic footage from the game, and as an unreleased product, this information is subject to change. But while this is somewhat speculative, the tone of the video and the highly-detailed footage, not to mention the speed with which these videos are being taken down, suggests the validity of the footage.

When does Warzone release, you ask? We don't know when it's coming for certain, but the Modern Warfare mode select screen now has a countdown timer that will zero out at 11 a.m. ET Tuesday, March 10. It doesn't seem like that's a coincidence. Additionally, Images captured by several users earlier Monday showed a Twitch ad for Warzone on PlayStation Plus, so it appears the mode is incoming shortly.

Read on below to find out everything we observed from the, apparently accidental, YouTube reveal. Again, these are all according to the video, which has not been confirmed.

- It's free to play and cross-platform

Warzone comes at no extra cost, and you won't even need Modern Warfare to play, Chaos said in his video. It's a standalone experience that differs greatly from Blackout, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4′s battle royale mode. You can easily switch from PC to consoles, too, thanks to cross-platform save progression and cross-play. This is a smart move for Activision as it competes with other free-to-play battle royale games like Fortnite and Apex Legends.

- 150 players can compete via trios

While Blackout could hold 100 players, Warzone ups the player count to 150. It's unclear whether this number will increase when it comes to duos and quads. Previous leaks suggested 200 players as the maximum, so we won't know for sure until Infinity Ward and Activision break their silence.

- New respawn system (and the Gulag)

Unlike most battle royale games, death doesn't necessarily translate to a lost match in Warzone. A downed teammate can be revived as long as you spend some cash at a virtual kiosk found on the maps. If you die, you can also revive yourself via escaping from the Gulag. Players defeated in the main game are "captured" and brought to the Gulag where a victory in a 1v1 fight with another player will grant you a second chance and let you rejoin your living teammates. According to Chaos's YouTube video, spectators will watch the 1v1s live while they await their turn, and can even throw rocks or even notify a teammate (if they're in the fight) of the enemy's location.

- A mix of old and new locations

Warzone's map is massive, and appears to match the (extremely low-res) version we saw via the COD Caster mode last month. It contains bits and pieces of maps that have appeared in the series before, including Terminal, Scrapyard, Overgrown and Broadcast. Notably, there are also locales with snow. For traversal, you have a number of vehicles at your disposal, including but not necessarily limited to: an ATV, helicopter, cargo truck and rover.

- Simplified looting and kits

Remember the anxiety of rifling through bags after you drop your foe in Blackout, trying to find the right attachments and ammo while praying you don't get sniped? It appears that system will instead give way to a Fortnite-like experience where a player's stash scatters around their body when they drop, allowing you to quickly and easily identify what you want.

All players will drop into the map with a pistol, according to Chaos, and additional guns are found around the map, color coded by power - white is more basic, for example. Also, armor isn't leveled, as it was in Blackout. Rather players simply grab up to five armor plates to protect themselves, according to the video.

- You can purchase killstreaks

Using money found in the game, you can exchange it for killstreaks like air strikes or cluster strikes. Chaos noted in his video that this was sometimes unenjoyable late in games, as teams spammed the final circle, which devolved into wave after wave of explosions.