Call of Duty: Warzone launched on March 10, following significant leaks, rumors, and speculation. Even though Activision kept tight-lipped about Call of Duty: Warzone until it actually launched, there was significant hype for the battle royale, and that hype has generated into insane player numbers for its first day of availability. Activision has confirmed that Call of Duty: Warzone was played by over 6 million people within in the first 24 hours.
These are huge numbers for Warzone, but not all that surprising. After all, Call of Duty is consistently the top-selling video game franchise each year, and Warzone doesn't even require Modern Warfare to play. While those that own Call of Duty: Modern Warfare were able to access the Warzone battle royale a few hours early, anyone can download a standalone version of the game as well.
The trick for Call of Duty: Warzone will be maintaining such a huge player base, and hopefully for the developers, growing it. So far, Warzone is off to a hot start, with many online praising the mode and the various innovations it brings to the battle royale genre. Warzone's 1v1 Gulag respawn system has earned a great deal of praise, as has the game's streamlined inventory management, meaning players are more consistently in the action instead of fumbling through menus like other battle royale games.
One way that Infinity Ward and Raven Software will be able to keep Call of Duty: Warzone players engaged for the long-term is by adding new content to the game. We've already seen how consistently Infinity Ward has supported Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, which is currently in its Season 2 of content, and so it stands to reason that Call of Duty: Warzone will get the same kind of attention.
It will be interesting to see what kind of new content will make its way to Call of Duty: Warzone in future updates. New items and weapons seem obvious, and it wouldn't be surprising to see some battle royale map changes as well. Other battle royale games have drummed up hype by changing their maps, and so it wouldn't be surprising for the Warzone map to get a similar makeover, or for the developers to introduce a brand new second map.
Warzone players will no doubt be excited for more team size options when they come to the game as well, with Infinity Ward mentioning 4- and 5-player squads. But while they wait for what's coming to Warzone in the future, players can master the current map and modes.
Call of Duty: Warzone is out now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.