With the release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, a lot of players (like our own Dylan Blight) were disappointed to find that there was no battle Royale mode as there had been in the previous year’s version, Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII, with Blackout. It has been long speculated that a COD Battle Royale mode was coming and we now have our first details through a pre-embargo review release.

Youtuber Chaos released a review video to his youtube channel filled with information footage from a Call of Duty preview event that he was invited to. It is likely that he accidentally released it earlier than intended or the embargo date changed but the video is still up at the time of writing and has been up for 9 hours. (Editor’s note: It has now been removed)

The biggest takeaway is that Warzone is a 150 person, free-to-play battle royale game. You don’t need to own a copy of Modern Warfare to play it, although if you do have a copy your skins and custom guns will be transferable. The game will also be cross-platform and available in Solo, Duo and Trio modes. In Warzone you will drop with a pistol, so there will be little fisticuffs at the start of matches.

Throughout the map will be Buy Stations which will let you buy killstreaks, the only way you can get them in Warzone, and revive tokens to get teammates back. The other way to get revived in the game is through the Gulag. If it is your first death and before a certain point in the match, you will be given the chance to fight your way back in via and 1 v 1 fight with the winner dropping back into the map. Players waiting to have their fight will be able to watch other fights from a higher platform. If you’re spectating one of your teammates fighting, you’ll be able to help them out by talking to them or throw rocks at their opponent which will stun them.

Another key point that the developers wanted attendees to this event to know is that the entire map in custom-made. There is none of the copy-paste jobs we’ve seen in games like Fortnite or Apex Legends where a building on one side of the map is identical to one on the other side. The map has a number of old Call of Duty maps integrated into it like Broadcast, Overgrown, Scrapyard and Terminal.

Vehicles are back which will be a huge plus given the apparent size of the map. Looting has been simplified with items dropping on the ground to allow you to get what you need quicker. Armour has also been changed to a plates system rather than armour levels. Warzone will also introduce a pinging system as has become standard across the genre.

Chaos also mentions a ‘Plunder’ game mode that will also be played on the same map and involves respawns and cash. It is pretty safe to assume that an official announcement is imminent and that a shadow drop is not entirely out of the question.

What do you think of Call of Duty Warzone? Where will you be dropping?