Call of Duty: Warzone 2 launches this week, kicking off a new map, a new mode, and loads of new features for the CoD battle royale. Although Activision is still officially calling it “Warzone 2.0,” don’t be fooled. The new Warzone is in fact a new game that won’t replace the original one, which will live on under a new name. The relationship between old and new—and Activision’s 2.0 name—has made launch week feel a bit muddy, but we’ll sort out all the dates and times you need to know right here.
The quick and dirty details you need to know about Warzone 2 are that it’s still a battle royale but includes the new extraction-style DMZ mode, the new map Al Mazrah, proximity chat, underwater combat, and a new gulag.
Here’s what you need to know about Warzone 2’s launch week and what’s happening to old Warzone when it arrives.
When does Warzone 2 launch?
Call of Duty: Warzone 2 launches at 10 am PT on Wednesday, November 16. Activision is planning to take the current Warzone down for maintenance two hours prior to that, so there will be no Warzone for about two hours on November 16. Here’s when Warzone 2 comes online:
- 10:00 am PT
- 1:00 pm ET
- 6:00 pm GMT
- 7:00 pm CET
- 5:00 am AEDT, November 17
Preloading for Warzone 2 has already begun as of Monday, November 14. You can start prepping for the launch by downloading it from Steam or Battle.net. Warzone 2 has its own page on Steam, but on Battle.net it’s packaged alongside Modern Warfare 2. Be prepared for a chunky 125GB download. If you’re a Modern Warfare 2 player on Battle.net looking to make room for Warzone 2, click the gear icon on the game’s page and select “modify install” to uninstall parts of the game you’re not playing (deleting co-op and campaign frees up around 30GB).
What happens to old Warzone?
Call of Duty: Warzone will go offline at 8 am PT (4 pm GMT) on Wednesday, November 16 and will relaunch as Call of Duty: Warzone Caldera at 10 am PT (6 pm GMT) on Monday, November 28.
The original CoD: Warzone isn’t actually going away. Which is confusing, given that Activision has been officially referring to the new game as Warzone 2.0. But no, it isn’t replacing the old one. The Warzone you’ve been playing up until now will go offline on November 16 and, around ten days later, come back under a new name, Call of Duty: Warzone Caldera. All existing guns and cosmetics will persist in Warzone Caldera, though the Rebirth Island and Fortune’s Keep maps will not be returning.