A report from earlier this week talked about how the next three Call of Duty games would be on PlayStation consoles. One of the games mentioned was, surprisingly, Warzone 2. A follow-up to Activision’s incredibly successful free-to-play Call of Duty: Warzone battle royale game. Shortly after the report, reputable leaker Tom Henderson stated that Warzone 2 is “current gen and PC only” and “a completely new game for the better hardware.”
That wasn’t too much of a surprise given that the expected release date for Warzone 2 is 2023. By 2023, next-gen consoles will have been on the market for three years. Indeed, they won’t be “next-gen” consoles anymore, simply “current-gen” consoles. Warzone 2 being developed for the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S is just the natural progression for the franchise.
After hearing more about Warzone 2, Henderson has since clarified what the outlook for the game is. As mentioned previously, Warzone 2 is being designed exclusively with next-gen consoles in mind. However, there’s the possibility that a separate version of the game could be created for last-gen consoles. Although there would be no cross-compatibility between consoles as they would be different versions of the same game.
Whether Warzone 2 comes to last-gen consoles appears to hang on one thing, the sales performance of the new consoles. Sales of next-gen consoles have been simultaneously setting records and struggling due to supply constraints. It seems that Activision may be worried about Sony and Microsoft not being able to meet the demand for the new consoles even in 2023. It’s an understandable concern for a free-to-play game like Warzone. Free-to-play games need to attract as many players as possible. The way to do that is by being on the most platforms and biggest platforms possible. As of this month, the PlayStation 4 has sold a massive 116 million consoles. That makes it the fourth best-selling console of all time. The Xbox One has sold around 50 million consoles. The PS5 and Xbox Series X/S have sold 18 million and 12 million respectively. Although the consoles have only been on the market for a little over a year.
It would make financial sense for Activision to release Warzone 2 on last-gen consoles. However, if the current consoles can meet demand and sell as fast as they are, there might not be much point.
