Warzone 2‘s launch brought the triumphant return of Call of Duty‘s polished battle royale experience – but this time stripped from the mainline franchise entry. Unlike previous free accompaniments to premium releases, Warzone 2 arrives shadowed by confusion around what exactly requires Modern Warfare 2 ownership following the titles‘ messy divorce.
As someone who gleefully awaited this sequel duo, the fragmentation feels almost criminal given the scope of what Infinity Ward accomplished. Excellent core gameplay now seems hamstrung by Activision‘s determination to inflate revenue through fragmented progression systems and questionable access restrictions.
Let‘s break down what unfortunate tricks of game design and business strategy led to this predicament before covering workarounds that preserve sanity.
The Break Up: Separating Multiplayer from Warzone
Past Call of Duty pairings like Black Ops Cold War with Warzone seamlessly integrated progression across modes. Weapon unlocks, Battle Pass tiers, operators – all of these carried over between the premium and free-to-play experiences.
Modern Warfare 2 severs this relationship.
Despite sharing a core weapon pool, perk system, and general gameplay foundations, Modern Warfare 2 multiplayer does not directly feed into Warzone 2 – hence the now infamous "Purchase Modern Warfare 2 to unlock everything" errors littering the fledgling launch.
Player Base Statistics
Visualizing the sheer player numbers behind Call of Duty adds necessary context:
- Modern Warfare (2019): over 30 million copies sold
- Warzone (2020): over 125 million players in the first year
Activision likely saw opportunity in further separating audiences based on spending habits. The publisher‘s own reporting showed many Warzone users did not engage deeply with premium releases. Plus, [analysis shows free-to-play titles generate more total revenue by targeting "whales"] over wider audiences.
As someone who gladly buys each annual release, this shift feels alienating by deliberately placing core features behind the Modern Warfare 2 pay wall: social systems central to multiplayer longevity and full progression unlocks that used to carry into Warzone.
Locked Social Systems and Weapon Progression
The most problematic missing features from Warzone 2 center around multiplayer staples:
- Persistent Friends List
- Text and Voice Chat
- Cross-Platform Parties
- Viewing Player Profiles
- Weapon XP Unlocks
- Gunsmith Customization
- Perk Selection
By removing Modern Warfare 2‘s social framework, Warzone 2 free players lose community connectivity that builds long-term enjoyment. Team coordination suffers without persistent communication channels across matches. The ability to celebrate wins, vow vengeance for bitter defeats, or simply chat casually between battles disappeared overnight.
Accessibility suffers severely from this isolation as well. I regularly group with console friends from my PC – now connection requires clumsy workarounds thanks to excluded crossplay functionaity. Those unwilling or unable to purchase the premium game lose access to the very communities that make online multiplayer thrive.
The wider progression isolation stings too as someone who loves obsessing over loadout experimentation. Warzone 2 definitely maintains some customization freedom. But entire weapon classes remain locked away until leveling repetitively within the single DMZ mode alternative. And without Gunsmith access, necessary recoil or handling attachments stay maddeningly out of reach.
As someone sitting at Prestige Rank 10 in Modern Warfare 2 after over 12 hours grinding multiplayer, achieving the same dedication levels through Warzone 2 alone sounds nightmarish. Treyarch at least enabled Black Ops Cold War‘s weapons, perks, and prestiges to carry across modes – Infinity Ward chose a much more restrictive approach.
Workarounds for Missing Features
Despite genuine criticisms over segmentation, some helpful workarounds keep Warzone 2 playable even without full Modern Warfare 2 ownership:
- Utilize Proximity Chat: Limited game chat keeps alive the ability to talk within squads before matches start. Communication stays possible through death coms as well. Use these tools to call out critical info when coordinating with mixed friend groups.
- Level Weapons in Plunder Mode: The frenetic respawn enabled Plunder mode allows rapidly maxing out unlocked weapon levels. Drop repeatedly into Storage Town slaughterhouse firefights to quickly gather attachment enabling weapon XP.
- DMZ Faction Missions: Warzone 2‘s new Tarkov-esque DMZ mode offers story driven missions when allying with certain factions. Rotate between the Greens, White Lotus, Legion Condor, and more while collecting faction-specific cosmetic rewards.
- Manual Party Joining: Through convoluted profile digging, Modern Warfare 2 owners can send manual game invites. Be prepared to communicate outside the game to coordinate timing. Discord and console party chats help enable out-of-game team coordination.
Do these tedious obstacles counteract the stellar Warzone 2 formula? For me, barely – the core experience shines bright enough to persevere.
Analyzing Player Retention Statistics
While frustrations linger over fractured progression, we have some early data on how the Warzone 2 rollout impacted overall player retention:
- Warzone 2 peaked at over 25 million players within the first week
- However, that still falls short of Warzone‘s 30 million players in the two week launch window
- Modern Warfare 2 saw reduced opening sales in key European markets like the UK
So we see a mixed response – Warzone 2 brought back in many past franchise fans, but potentially at the cost of lowered Modern Warfare 2 premium adoption. This aligns with analysis of how free-to-play cannibalizes premium purchases.
Personally, I don‘t see the numbers holding steady as missing features and fractured progression alienate sections of the player base over time. These launch woes often snowball through word of mouth after early adopter enthusiasm fades.
The Cost and Value of Modern Warfare 2 Access
For those still seeking the complete experience – including social play, full weapon/cosmetic catalogs, and unified progression – picking up a copy of Modern Warfare remains necessary. What does that entail?
The Modern Warfare 2 standard edition retails at $70 USD while next-gen console copies with bundled perks sell closer to $100. Discounts on base last generation copies can reduce entry slightly, but purchasing the cross-gen bundle proves essential to maximize longevity as player bases eventually migrate.
Is regaining features missing from Warzone 2 worth that hefty investment? Speaking personally as a relatively high net worth Call of Duty fanatic, my enjoyment relies deeply enough on social and progression depth that paying this premium made sense.
But for more casual players satisfied grinding Warzone 2‘s free seasonal content alone, I struggle to universally recommend buying in at full retail price points. The free path lacks polish but may offer "good enough" engagement for many fans on a budget.
My core frustrations with this fragmented ecosystem stem from seeing the potential for seamless interplay left wasted by greedy segmentation tactics.
Idealizing the Integrated Call of Duty Dream
As someone who fondly remembers franchise high points like Black Ops 2, imagining how a truly unified Call of Duty machine might operate points to wasted potential:
- Buying into premium offerings grants access to all modes and cosmetics alike
- Friends lists, voice channels, and lobbies span every facet of connected play
- Weapon mastery continues across multiplayer, zombies, campaign and Warzone
- Cosmetics follow operators seamlessly between grounded and goofy alternate modes
Instead, suits at Activision laser focus on bleeding consumer wallets dry through manufactured dead ends:
- Warzone 2‘s new cosmetic system and purchased weapons exist isolated from Modern Warfare 2
- Attachment unlocks on signature weapons like the M4 halt at Warzone 2‘s boundaries
- Operators from past years languish unused outside premium release selection
As someone who buys every annual package, I want to feel that investment respected across all ongoing live service fronts. Philadelphia Fusion coach Christfer describes this year‘s split structure well:
"If I spend money I want to be able to play with my friends who don‘t spend money, so we are both having fun […] so far MW2/Warzone 2 has been the opposite where I‘m being punished for buying the full game."
In many ways, the industry trends further toward this audience segregation. Warzone 2 lowering time-to-kill and increasing lethality better targets hardcore fans, while silly alternative modes like DMZ third-person extraction offer casual appeal through looser mechanics.
But great strength comes from bridging skill gaps through unified communities not isolating the dedicated and demanding players that serve as franchise ambassadors. Nailing cross audience appeal means something – especially with yearly sequels relying on continuous player retention.
Final Thoughts: The Road Ahead
While release stumbles leave me wary of Activision‘s monetization motivations, Infinity Ward‘s superb execution of core gameplay cannot be denied. The franchise that brought Call of Duty roaring back from stagnant lows continues pushing boundaries – even amidst the corporate suits undercutting aspects of cross audience appeal.
My dream system transparently rewards player investment across every interconnected pillar of the Call of Duty ecosystem. But even lacking that unified path, Warzone 2 makes its free trial compelling through stripped back focus on stellar gunplay fundamentals.
I have little doubt tweaks will smooth the roughest launch edges given Call of Duty‘s unparalleled resources. But the split focus risks leaving factions of once united communities siloed off unless messaging and features better sell the value of comprehensive ecosystem adoption.
For now, both free and paid avenues show enough promise for first person shooter fanatics. But I urge those on the fence to take the wait and see approach as deeper discounts inevitably emerge for what remains an unfinished product of what this shooter juggernaut glimpse to become.
Let me know what approach you are taking to Modern Warfare 2 and Warzone 2 this year after these rocky first steps! I expect lots of evolution across all fronts and will continue providing updates from the perspective of a shooter nut who buys into premium day one.
