Call of Duty Warzone will live on in future sequels, Infinity Ward says

Call of Duty Warzone, which embarks upon its fifth season at 11 p.m. PT tonight, will continue beyond 2020 and will “become tied to other games in the Call of Duty universe,” according to Infinity Ward’s design director.

In an interview with GamesRadar, Geoff Smith reiterated that Warzone “was designed from the beginning as its own game.” Call of Duty’s core multiplayer community has often shifted from game to game as newer entries are released. It seems the plan for Warzone is that it will continue to exist alongside these newer entries, maintaining its own community over the years, while also incorporating new elements and characters from those newer games.

“As [Warzone] continues to be updated over time, it will evolve and become tied to other games in the Call of Duty universe,” Smith told GamesRadar.

Yesterday, Infinity Ward and Activision dropped a trailer outlining some of the major changes coming to the battle royale. The Verdansk map is getting a rather dynamic makeover, blasting the roof off its stadium and ramming a train through the middle of downtown.

Call of Duty Warzone is free to play, which goes for the new season’s content as well; Activision sells a $9.99 Battle Pass to give players additional content and rewards. The free-to-play/Battle Pass model would suggest Activision intends to keep Warzone around, rather than start over with something else when this year’s still-unannounced sequel launches.

Warzone has become known for chonky updates more befitting a full-size game download. The latest one is 36 GB on PlayStation 4, big enough that pre-loading players on that console had to be split into two groups at random, one getting the update on Sunday and another yesterday. The update is live for everyone as of now, and the season begins at 2 a.m. ET/11 p.m. PT tonight.