Warzone 2.0 DMZ mode is actually just a beta as Activision quickly backtracks-Michael Beckwith-Entertainment – Metro

The more cynical fans think the beta launch was a last minute decision to justify its quality (pic: Activision)

Fans are split between being outraged and understanding over Call Of Duty: Warzone 2.0’s DMZ mode launching as a beta.

Recently, Activision and Infinity Ward lifted the lid on the new DMZ mode that will be included in Call Of Duty: Warzone 2.0 – an entirely new mode inspired by extraction games such as Escape From Tarkov.

The first gameplay videos were shared online by various streamers, who got to try it out for themselves, and Infinity Ward has since provided a detailed breakdown of how the mode works.

However, it’s now calling it a beta, not a full release, apparently as a reaction to many people not being impressed by the mode.

Described as a ‘dangerous, diverse and deep open world experience,’ DMZ is the latest attempt by a major publisher to copy the success of Escape From Tarkov, following the quickly abandoned Hazard Zone in Battlefield 2042.

Despite the sudden change in status it’s unlikely that the core setup for DMZ will undergo any radical change, but Infinity Ward is already teasing that it will evolve over time, saying ‘While DMZ begins in Al Mazrah, no one quite knows where it may lead.’

At the very least, this could point to the mode getting new maps, much like how Warzone’s main battle royale mode replaced its original Verdansk map.

Infinity Ward’s blog post makes no mention of how long it expects this beta period to last but, at the very least, it doesn’t appear to be a private affair and will be available to anyone who’s playing Warzone 2.0.

It’s strange to see Infinity Ward admit to this so close to Warzone 2.0’s launch, but then it hasn’t even shared an official gameplay trailer yet. At the time of writing, the only gameplay footage on YouTube comes from streamers.

Their excuse to say when it’s bad

— Gon Frisbee (@golokyo) November 12, 2022

Of course it’s only a „beta“ they ONLY had 3 years and over 3k employees to work on this game 🤔 smh

— MXFIA (@IamMxfia) November 12, 2022

Not too surprised with the reception it got this werk with streams even opening being critical of it while playing in studio this feels like an @Activision attempt to be like haha we know it’s bad of course we didn’t plan to have this be launch this is just the beta.

— Spencer W. Taylor (@MrLilTay) November 12, 2022

Fans seem split on the approach as well. Many are critical of the decision and see it as a bad sign, citing reports on how the mode has been in development for three to four years.

Some of the more cynical comments see it as damage control, saying it’s only now being called a beta to justify why the gameplay looks unfinished.

Others, however, are fine with it launching as a beta since Warzone 2.0 is free-to-play anyway and it means Infinity Ward is committed to building upon and improving the mode.

ok hear me out: at first i was like nah, thats a bad excuse. but they basically admitted its not how the community wanted it to be and are working to fix it. imo thats great news. means they are listening to the community and MAYBE HOPEFULLY we’re getting an economy system

— norissalajan (@norissalajan) November 12, 2022

That’s fair. Hope this means they make a LOT of big changes and don’t shy away from experimenting. Also severely hoping they make the map a bit darker for this mode.

— TheUnknownOne (@TheUnknownLurks) November 12, 2022

Given Call Of Duty’s track record, it’s difficult to imagine any such outrage actually affecting Warzone 2.0’s popularity.

Hazard Zone was cut from Battlefield 2042 after only a few months, but it seems unlikely that Activision would do that with DMZ unless it proved distractingly unpopular.

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Fans had nasty things to say about Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 during its beta session and yet it had the biggest launch ever for the series.

Fans won’t have to wait that much longer to find out how DMZ actually works in practice. It will be included with Warzone 2.0 when it launches in just a couple of days.

Call Of Duty: Warzone 2.0 launches for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and PC on November 16.

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