Call of Duty Fans Are Reviving Classic Warzone

The iconic and beloved Black Ops Cold War version of Call of Duty: Warzone appears to be making an unofficial comeback, as a group of die-hard fans has committed to bringing an operation build of the game from 2021 back online. Call of Duty: Warzone was first released in March 2020 and has evolved significantly over the years, with each new mainline release fully integrating with the free-to-play title. But as the community begs Activision to bring back the classic version they know and love, some fans have grown tired of waiting and said, “Fine, we’ll do it ourselves.”

Call of Duty: Warzone‘s first iteration debuted a few months after the release of the Modern Warfare reboot, which had already brought tons of eyes back to the franchise. Publisher Activision then shadow-dropped the free-to-play Battle Royale title, with progression between the two games aligning. Weapons, XP, Battle Pass tiers, cosmetic items, and more were all transferable between Modern Warfare and Warzone. Then, when Black Ops Cold War arrived in late 2020, Season 1 added even more content to Warzone as a new era began. This trend has continued year after year, but many feel as though the shooter has transformed into something vastly different from what it once was, and they’re eager for it to return to its glory days.

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Call of Duty Fans Are Bringing Back Classic Warzone

Fans’ nostalgia-filled dreams may finally be about to become a reality, as a group of developers are in the process of bringing back a 2021 build of Call of Duty: Warzone, with operational servers, full progression, a Battle Pass, all of the classic weapons players know and love, and much more. At the time of writing this article, the classic edition of Warzone isn’t currently playable, but the team behind it is in the process of rolling out a free playtest sometime this month, which will require players to have 2019’s Modern Warfare purchased, installed, and specifically on the 1.38 build of the game.

YouTuber Rara recently interviewed one of the project’s developers, who made it clear that this is not being done for money but to preserve the Warzone that fans know and love. As shown during the interview, the build looks to be nearly identical to what was available in 2021, with fully functioning stats, rank progression, and a Battle Pass, which the developer says will even have usable COD Points. The team also intends to bring back cut content that never made it into the full game, and other custom features fans always wanted to see, such as the ability to use custom camos.

Those who are looking to keep their eye on this project and jump into the upcoming playtest this month will need to join the team’s Discord channel to stay updated on any new announcements.

One cause for concern, however, is how Call of Duty publisher Activision will take to this classic Warzone preservation. While the team behind the project isn’t charging anybody to play it, Activision is unlikely to be happy about fans being taken away from the current iteration of Warzone. We’ve seen similar situations in the past result in disappointment, such as the highly anticipated fan-made Modern Warfare 2 remastered mod, known as H2M. Unfortunately, just as the team was gearing up to launch the mod, Activision sent a cease-and-desist letter, forcing them to shut it down. Given that the Call of Duty IP is owned by Activision, the publisher doesn’t take too kindly to fan projects such as these, which could result in it being taken down before it even sees the light of day.

Activision is also currently gearing up to release some nostalgia of its own, as the very first Call of Duty Battle Royale mode, Black Ops 4‘s Blackout, is set to make a comeback during Season 2 of Warzone. Developer Raven Software has yet to fully pull back the curtain on this new Blackout-inspired mode, but it has been confirmed that it has been built from the ground up and will be available as part of Season 2 Reloaded.