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How to play Warzone 1

Everything you need to know about how to play Warzone 1, including when it relaunches as Warzone Caldera and how long the battle royale is offline for

How to play Warzone 1 - an ATV is driving on a snowy path with one driver and one gunner. The gunner is shooting at a helicopter that has blown up another ATV next to them.

You may be wondering how to play Warzone 1 after the imminent launch of its sequel. After all, you’ve probably sunk many hours into the battle royale game, unlocking all of the best weapons. However, following the shutdown of Warzone during the Warzone 2 release date, it may surprise you to learn that Activision isn’t altogether abandoning the original game; it’s just having a bit of a rebrand.

Warzone 1 will officially relaunch as Call of Duty: Warzone Caldera and is set to be a separate game. Player progression and cross-progression will work the same as it does now for the original Warzone and its compatible games (Modern Warfare, Black Ops – Cold War, and Vanguard). However, it won’t be compatible with either Modern Warfare 2 or Warzone 2.

Warzone 1 release date

The Warzone 1 release date is on November 28, but it will be known as Warzone Caldera. The official Call of Duty Blog post says it will relaunch at approximately 10 am PT / 1pm ET / 6pm GMT.

Changes to Warzone 1

Aside from the name change to Warzone Caldera, since Activision is moving on to focus on Warzone 2, there will be significant changes in how the original Warzone handles progression, playlists, and more. Here is the full rundown of everything that’s changing:

  • There will be a standard Battle Royale playlist.
  • You can’t transfer double XP tokens between Warzone Caldera and Warzone 2.
  • Neither Rebirth Island nor Fortune’s Keep maps will be there when Warzone Caldera becomes available.
  • Player progression and cross-progression rewards for the original Warzone will be accessible only within Warzone Caldera and their original games.

That’s everything we know about how to play Warzone 1, or should we say, Warzone Caldera. However, with the upcoming release of Warzone 2, you may wish to know more about the free PC game, including what the new Warzone 2 map looks like and how the Warzone 2 DMZ mode plays.