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Call of Duty: Warzone

Released 10 March 2020 Developer Infinity Ward, Raven Software Publisher Activision

Warzone is a free first-person shooter where squads drop onto a large map, loot weapons and fight until one team is left, with a respawn-based Resurgence mode and a looting-only Black Ops Royale mode alongside the main battle royale. It runs on the same weapons and Operators as the paid Call of Duty games and is aimed at teenagers and adults.

Money health CautionBuilt to push spending
Addictive design Moderate3 of 5 — counts the hooks designed in
Average price Freefree to download
Spending ceiling No ceilingRepeat purchases, no limit
Australian rating ACBMA 15+Strong violence

How it makes money

Caution: built to push spending

Warzone is free to play. It makes its money from COD Points, a virtual currency sold in packs from 200 points (A$3.20) up to 13,000 points (A$159.95), spent on the seasonal Battle Pass and on store bundles of Operator skins and weapon blueprints. The Battle Pass costs 1,100 points (about A$16) and pays back up to 1,100 points as you play. BlackCell, a premium version of the pass, is A$47.95 for the current season. Bundles in the store start around 2,400 points (about A$32). The points are shared with the paid Call of Duty games, and a new season starts every couple of months.

How you pay

  • Free-to-play

    Free to download on PC, PlayStation and Xbox; no paid Call of Duty game is needed, and on Xbox no Game Pass Core subscription is needed either. It earns money from COD Points purchases.

  • Battle pass

    The Season 06 Battle Pass is 1,100 COD Points for 100 tiers and returns up to 1,100 points as you play. A bundle with 20 tier skips is 2,400 points, and BlackCell (A$47.95 on Xbox) adds an exclusive Operator, 1,100 points, 20 tier skips and extra blueprints.

Techniques it uses to keep you paying or playing

  • Game currency

    COD Points come in packs of 200 (A$3.20), 500 (A$7.95), 1,100 (A$15.95), 2,400 (A$31.95), 5,000 (A$63.95), 9,500 (A$119.95) and 13,000 (A$159.95); store items and passes are priced in points.

  • FOMO timers

    Each season's pass shows a days-left countdown and the store says Activision can update or remove content at any time. Themed Tracer Pack, Mastercraft and Reactive bundles of 2,400 to 2,800 points rotate through.

  • Never-ending

    Warzone has no ending; it receives a new season of maps, modes and weapons every couple of months, and its seasons follow the newest paid Call of Duty release.

  • Starter pack

    Cheap Starter Packs are sold, such as Arachnid's Mark and Command Force at A$7.95 each on the Xbox store.

    minor part of the game
  • Always online

    Warzone is online-only. Xbox One support ends at the end of Black Ops 7 Season 06, and PlayStation 4 and Xbox One are being dropped as the game moves to Modern Warfare 4 seasons.

    minor part of the game

Fairer alternatives

Similar games with a healthier money model

What it costs

Free to start, then A$3.20–A$159.95 a purchase

WhatWherePriceChecked
200 COD Points (smallest pack) Microsoft Store (AU) · Xbox Series ↗ A$3.20 Oct 2026
1,100 COD Points (the price of the Battle Pass) Microsoft Store (AU) · Xbox Series ↗ A$15.95 Oct 2026
13,000 COD Points (largest pack) Microsoft Store (AU) · Xbox Series ↗ A$159.95 Oct 2026
Season 06 Battle Pass (1,100 COD Points)
Priced in COD Points; A$15.95 is the price of a 1,100-point pack.
Microsoft Store (AU) · Xbox Series ↗ A$15.95 Oct 2026
Black Ops 7 / Warzone BlackCell (Season 06)
Premium pass; US price is US$29.99.
Microsoft Store (AU) · Xbox Series ↗ A$47.95 Oct 2026

Store prices change often and sales are common; we record the regular price on the date shown.

Reviews from across the web

What the critics said

  • 8/ 10

    IGN ↗

    Stella Chung · November 2022

    Found the relaunch refreshed by proximity chat and the new DMZ extraction mode.

  • 8/ 10

    GameSpot ↗

    S.E. Doster · November 2022

    Liked the fresh additions to the battle royale but thought some reworked features of the original were a step back.

  • 80/ 100

    PC Gamer ↗

    Noah Smith · November 2022

    Admired the combat and the map design, but said a rocky launch with technical issues held it back.

Scores belong to the outlets that published them; follow the links to read the full reviews. Summaries are ours.

Age ratings

Classification

ACBMA 15+

Australian Classification · record ↗

Strong violence

Interactive elements: In-game purchases, online interactivity

ESRBM

ESRB (North America) · record ↗

Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language, Suggestive Themes, Use of Drugs

Interactive elements: Users Interact, In-Game Purchases

PEGI18

PEGI (Europe) · record ↗

Violence, Bad Language, In-Game Purchases

Age ratings judge content (violence, language, gambling themes). They say little about how hard a game pushes spending — that's what the badges above are for. About rating boards

Safety & parental controls

Who can talk to your child, and what can they buy?

  • Text and voice chat
  • Players can interact with strangers
  • No user-made content
  • Needs an online account
  • Terms of service minimum age: 13

An Activision account is needed (a mobile phone number linked to it may be required). Proximity voice chat lets players hear strangers nearby in matches, and there is party voice and text chat; players can mute, block and report in game. Activision's terms say its products are for people aged 13 or older, that 13 to 17 year olds should read the terms with a parent, and that parents are liable for purchases. Spending and chat limits are best set on the console or PC account.

Platforms & release

Where you can play it

PlatformReleasedStore
Nintendo Switch 2
Announced for 6 November 2026; not yet released as of 22 October 2026
— —
PlayStation 5 16 November 2022 —
PlayStation 4
Support is ending as the game moves to Modern Warfare 4 seasons
10 March 2020 —
Xbox Series X|S 16 November 2022 Store page ↗
Xbox One
No longer playable after Black Ops 7 Season 06
10 March 2020 —
Windows PC
Free download via Steam or Battle.net; the Steam entry is the shared Call of Duty launcher
16 November 2022 Store page ↗
Cloud streaming
Xbox Cloud Gaming
25 October 2024 —

Further reading

Facts last checked 22 October 2026. Sources: www.callofduty.com, www.callofduty.com, www.callofduty.com, www.callofduty.com, www.xbox.com, www.xbox.com, store.steampowered.com, www.activision.com, en.wikipedia.org, www.metacritic.com, opencritic.com. Spotted something wrong? Send a correction.