Call of Duty: Vanguard has been out for just about two weeks now and it is already receiving a free weekend. If the limited sales data we have seen so far is anything to go by, the game isn’t selling so well. In the UK, Vanguard launched with 40% fewer sales than last year across digital and physical sales. If that has extended to the rest of the world, Activision may be trying a desperate attempt to entice players into the new game.
Call of Duty: Vanguard’s free weekend will be from November 18 to November 22. Players will be able to experience the full-fledged Vanguard multiplayer with no restrictions, unlike some previous free weekends in Call of Duty games.
The first free weekend (actually it was a week) for Black Ops Cold War wasn’t until mid-December last year. Despite the disappointing sales and reviews, the multiplayer experience in Vanguard has actually been well received. The single-player story has been panned and zombie-mode has had issues but the multiplayer alone is a solid entry in the popular multiplayer series. That’s what Activision will be hoping players discover when they try the game out during the free weekend.
Despite the lackluster campaign and zombie modes, Vanguard’s multiplayer has been praised for the quality of the maps, the World War 2 aesthetic, and the balance of the game. Despite being a sales disappointment thus far, Vanguard‘s multiplayer has struck a good mixture of classic Call of Duty components while still improving and feeling fresh. One of the biggest improvements from last year is the number of multiplayer maps in the game. Black Ops Cold War was criticized by fans for only launching with a measly eight multiplayer maps. Vanguard has launched with 20 playable maps which have helped to make the game feel a lot fresher than the previous entry. Vanguard has also received a World War 2 variant of Call of Duty’s classic map, Shipment. It was added to the game today, November 17, just in time for the free weekend.
Call of Duty: Vanguard’s multiplayer will be free to play on all platforms from November 18 to November 22.
