Call of Duty: Warzone 2 reports spark fan concern over what may be left behind
"Completely new game" said to ditch last-gen consoles.
Last night's report that Activision is developing a sequel to live service battle royale Call of Duty Warzone has sparked concern among fans who have spent countless hours - not to mention money - on the original.
Activision is yet to officially confirm it is making Warzone 2, but its existence emerged last night as part of a Bloomberg report which listed it as one of three upcoming Call of Duty games still to launch on PlayStation despite Microsoft's planned $70bn takeover of Activision Blizzard.
That reported stated Warzone 2 would arrive at some point next year, alongside another fully-fledged COD title, and on top of the next COD: Modern Warfare game this autumn.
Further Warzone 2 details were posted to Twitter by reliable Battlefield leaker Tom Henderson, who wrote that the sequel would be "a completely new game for the better hardware" of PC and current-gen consoles: PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.
"Warzone 2 is literally that... Warzone 2," Henderson wrote. "No past weapon integrations etc."
The suggestion is this second Warzone outing will be something of a blank slate, which is perhaps a surprise considering its territory. Fans have been left wondering if anything will carry over - such as the game's pricey cosmetics.
Numerous live service games have bridged the gap between console generations and released new versions without the need for a full-blown sequel.
There's no expectation of an Apex Legends 2 on the horizon, for example. Fortnite has effectively rebirthed itself three times while still supporting older consoles. Even Overwatch 2, which is also due sometime in 2023, will include all of the original game's content and unlocked cosmetics.
"So I've wasted money on cosmetics?" one fan wondered.
"Is this shocking to anyone? They also abandoned their first go round with battle royale in Black Ops 4," another replied.
Some fans have hoped Warzone 2 will enable the series to finally achieve a smaller download size. "Hopefully it won't be Warzone 2TB," a player quipped.
Activision declined to comment on Warzone 2 when contacted by Eurogamer.
Last week, Activision delayed Call of Duty Vanguard and Warzone's season two while it dealt with numerous issues across its many COD games.