Battle royale game modes have become exceptionally popular in recent years. With new games such as Apex Legends and Fortnite exclusively offering the game mode, many already established franchises, such as the long-running Call of Duty series, have begun testing the waters and adding their own battle royale mode.

At first, fans of regular FPS titles had trouble adjusting to battle royales, as they play quite differently than traditional game modes. But soon, many seasoned players found it impossible to resist the highly competitive and ever-changing nature of battle royales. Call of Duty: Warzone not only helped keep the franchise alive in a market full of battle royales and FPS games, but it has become one of the most enjoyable games in the genre. With that said, the Call of Duty franchise has an interesting history with battle royales, one that has definitely had its ups and downs but ultimately led to the success of Warzone.

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The Humble Beginnings of Call of Duty Multiplayer

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The original Call of Duty game launched in 2003 and only for PC and Mac, but it did feature a multiplayer mode, albeit an extremely basic one. Just about every year after the first game, Call of Duty would release another entry into the series, each of which added to the campaign and multiplayer. However, it was Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare which was released in 2007, that really put the franchise, and indefinitely the multiplayer, on the map.

Call of Duty 4 is arguably the most influential title in the franchise and has also done a good part in helping shape modern competitive FPS games. Using this game as a jumping-off point, the many different developers that have created Call of Duty games have made sure to keep close to the series’ roots, while also attempting to expand the series and keep up with modern gameplay tropes.

Having a solid formula and fan base, Call of Duty has been many players' top choice when it came to a competitive FPS. However, not every iteration of the game has been a smash hit and there are definitely titles in the series that took risks that have not paid off or provided fans with the polished experience they expect from a Call of Duty game. That said, the booming success of Call of Duty: Warzone and the recent announcement of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 have kept the series’ multiplayer thriving.

Call of Duty’s Lesser-Known Battle Royale Beginnings

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The Call of Duty name has been around for a long time, and it has had so many different sequels, remakes, and spin-offs that many fans may be unaware of just how many titles are in the franchise. Case and point, there was an entry in the series that was released in 2015 exclusively in China: Call of Duty Online.

Call of Duty Online was a free-to-play game that was released solely on PC and featured many of the iconic Call of Duty game modes, weapons, and characters. However, two years after its launch, Call of Duty Online introduced a battle royale mode that would go on to revolutionize the series’ multiplayer.

Though the game mode was not necessarily an original idea, it mostly became popular through mods of multiplayer games and then gained momentum through stand-alone titles such as PUBG and Fortnite, Call of Duty Online was technically the beginning of the game mode for the franchise, and it would help create the more widely known versions.

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Black Ops 4 and Call of Duty: Mobile’s Versions of Battle Royale

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Fans of Call of Duty who are not able to find every title or follow every single release would be far more familiar with another version of battle royale: Blackout. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 launched in 2018 as one of the first titles in the series to not feature a campaign. Instead, it featured Blackout, a battle royale mode that included many characters, weapons, and vehicles seen in the Black Ops story.

Blackout featured one of the largest maps in Call of Duty’s history, as it had to allow for up to 88 players to fight to the death in either solo, duos, or quad squads. Though neither Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 nor Blackout were a rousing success for the series, the latter piqued a lot of players’ interest, and Blackout laid much of the groundwork that later Call of Duty battle royales would expand upon.

Call of Duty: Mobile also featured a battle royale mode that plays exactly as one would expect. Though competitive FPS games may not be designed to be played on a mobile device, Call of Duty: Mobile remains fairly popular. Given that many other FPS games and battle royales, such as Apex Legends, have made the jump to mobile, it made sense for Call of Duty to follow suit by including a battle royale mode into its already established mobile game.

How Call of Duty: Warzone has Surpassed its Predecessors

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Call of Duty: Warzone is the most successful and well-known version of the series’ battle royale. As it is the culmination of all the other battle royales before it, and perfectly combined the classic Call of Duty multiplayer experience with the battle royale game mode. Warzone allows players to use their own custom weapons and equipment in-game, while staying close to the series’ roots with familiar feelings maps.

The most recent rendition of Call of Duty battle royale was originally launched as a component of the 2019 version of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Warzone was officially released in 2020 as a free-to-play multiplayer experience. And the title has continued to grow and gain popularity, with its most recent updates have had the battle royale integrating with recent games such as Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War and Call of Duty: Vanguard.

Though Warzone does act as a standalone title, it has taken elements from the previous Call of Duty games and will likely continue to expand through additional titles, such as Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. And with different game modes, maps, and events, Warzone continues to stay relevant while also keeping close to the core gameplay of the franchise and providing a unique experience from other battle royale games.

Call of Duty remains to be one of the most inspirational FPS titles on the market. And it has helped set the standard for competitive multiplayer games. Even though there have been a few odd experiences with the series getting started with battle royales, Warzone’s success proves that the series has found a formula that works and will likely continue to stay popular through the years.

Call of Duty: Warzone is currently available for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.

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