Activision’s latest title, Call of Duty: Warzone, soars to the top after reaching 30 million players in just 10 days. The free-to-play first-person-shooter is on track to overcome fellow battle-royal game, Apex Legends’ record of 50 million players in four weeks.
The games’ growth slowed down a little compared to its release wherein it hit three million players in 24 hours. Not long after, Warzone took over Apex Legend’s record as the fastest-growing non-mobile game after registering 15 million players in three days.
Over 30 million of you have dropped in to play #Warzone. Thank you to this amazing community .
Jump in and play for free now. #FreeCallofDuty pic.twitter.com/KFKhb8CNNK
— Call of Duty (@CallofDuty) March 20, 2020
Side-by-side with the top titles
Compared to Fortnite, Apex Legends, and Playerunknownst Battlegrounds (PUBG), Warzone is still in its infancy. But, the rate that the game grew these past few days, makes it seem that it is more than prepared to take on the top three games in this genre.
In terms of the player base, Epic games stated that Fornite reached 250 million players back in 2019 alone. Respawn’s entry, Apex averages eight to ten million players last year. PUBG on the other hand averages 230,000 players for the past 30 days.
The amount of people staying at home right now and the strong name recall of Call of Duty is expected to contribute to the upcoming growth of Warzone. People are estimating that if the trend continues, the game might reach 100 million players in 30 days.
Battle royale mechanics with a twist
Warzone takes all the good elements of a great battle royale game. The shrinking circle, loot boxes and the huge number of players are all BR staples. One difference that Activision created for the game is the inclusion of a revival system.
Unlike Apex Legends’ version of reviving, wherein there’s a respawn beacon to bring a teammate’s banner, Activision created a new mechanic. When a player dies in Warzone, he is brought into a different arena called gulag with a smaller loadout. If the player manages to defeat the opponents inside the arena, then the player will return back to the game.
In-game self-revive kits are also available for purchase across the map. The stations that sell kits also have redeployments available. Teammates of dead players may restore them to the game even if they did not win their gulag fight.
While Apex introduced fast heals, Call of Duty opted for regenerating health bars and a refillable armor bar that stacks up to three. Looting, inventory mechanics, firearms, and in-game perks are also far from what previous battle royale games have shown.
Basically a Warzone match includes a player shootout, dying, fighting in the gulag, respawning, finishers. To put it simply, it’s beautiful chaos. It’s action-packed and keeps the adrenaline going for gamers.
With that being said, the new game experience that Warzone brings, plus the nostalgia of playing Call of Duty, coupled with the majority of the population staying at home, Activision might break another record anytime soon.