Call of Duty: Warzone 2 has recently revealed that it will have proximity chat. Warzone 2 is the sequel to the hit 2019 battle royale Call of Duty: Warzone. The first game launched for free alongside the remake of Infinity Ward's Modern Warfare, and while the second Warzone won't have the exact same release date as Modern Warfare 2, they will drop in similar periods. The release date for Modern Warfare 2 is set for October 28, while Warzone 2 drops on November 16.
The release date for Warzone 2 was one of many details revealed about the upcoming title at Activision's Call of Duty Next event. The stream was held to showcase what is coming in Call of Duty's near future and gave fans some clearer view of the content they'll be getting later on in 2022. Call of Duty: Warzone 2 was a clear focus of Call of Duty Next, with fans getting a look at everything from a brand-new map to the new DMZ game mode.
Something else that Activision revealed was that Call of Duty: Warzone 2 will have location-based proximity chat. For those who aren't aware, proximity chat allows players to speak with one another in a game, but only if they are within a certain distance of each other. This adds an extra sense of realism for many gamers when they are trying to engage in more tactical games and come up with a strategy.
In Warzone 2, this feature will allow communication between both friends and enemies, and it will always be turned on, but if a player wants to opt out, they can do so via the settings. There's also a new feature known as "cloud parties," which allows squads to dynamically add new teammates in-game, so those working well together thanks to proximity chat could choose to team up on the fly.
Proximity chat should allow for some interesting communication in Warzone 2, as it means that players who don't know each other can still strategize when they are near each other and have a better chance against pre-made parties. The feature is already present in other battle royale games, such as PUBG: Battlegrounds which has proximity chat on PC and mobile. However, it hasn't been brought to Warzone until now, despite demands from Call of Duty fans dating all the way back to 2020.
While proximity chat should allow for some more tactical gameplay, especially among parties of strangers in Warzone 2, the strength of those who already know each other may still be hard to surpass, as they will likely already be chatting in a pre-made party, allowing for communication across the map. With third-party communication apps like Discord now being integrated fully into Xbox, it seems that party chats are still going to be tough to beat.
Call of Duty: Warzone 2 launches on November 16 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
Source: Washington Post