Should Call of Duty release Blackout 2 as Warzone player base declines?

Modified Mar 04, 2025 16:38 GMT

Two Operators shooting at their enemies in Blackout — Exploring the viability of Blackout 2 as Warzone struggles (Image via Activision)

It shouldn't come as a surprise that Warzone isn't performing well. Ever since the game was integrated with Black Ops 6, the title has been on a streak of problems. Rampant cheating, bugs, server stability issues, and more, have made the overall experience of players quite poor. As a result, the game has lost a huge chunk of its player base since November 2024.

While the game loses fans continuously, requests for bringing back Blackout in the community have risen. For those unaware, Blackout is the first battle royale game that Call of Duty released. It was launched alongside Black Ops 4. However, back then, the battle royale scene was quite heated. Despite being well received, the title didn't perform well for long.

Be that as it may, it had strong fundamentals and mechanics that are being praised to date by fans. This poses an important question about whether Call of Duty should focus on a sequel to Blackout instead of keeping up with Warzone with every other COD release.

In this article, we'll discuss why Call of Duty should consider releasing Blackout 2 as Warzone struggles to keep up.

Note: This article is speculative and subjective, and reflects the views of the author.

Call of Duty should be focusing on Blackout 2 instead of Warzone

Call of Duty releasing Blackout 2 can be one of the best solutions to preserve the battle royale genre in their lineup. Warzone has several problems, and one of them being that with every mainstream Call of Duty launch, it gets integrated with it. But this move hasn't proved to be fruitful, especially after Warzone 2.

Each time a Call of Duty game is released, its mechanics are imported to the BR title. This poses a problem for the developers, as well as players. For developers, it means that they will have to find a way to make every new element of the new title work with the battle royale game, which may not necessarily be designed for it.

Also read: Is Warzone shutting down? Possibilities explored

As a result, for players, the gameplay might feel wonky, progression doesn't feel quite satisfying, and the overall experience is lackluster.

This decision of integrating each release with Warzone has done more harm for the game than good. But this is just one of the many problems that the BR game faces.

Almost every year, the title essentially becomes a new game, yet nothing changes when it concerns the fundamentals, such as robust anti-cheat, decent servers, well-balanced gameplay mechanics, and more.

The developers can't be blamed here either, as they have to make do with the limited time that they have. In fact, according to a new report, if Verdansk fails to perform well, i.e., bring back players or maintain its current player count, COD will cancel their plans for a sequel to Warzone.

If the situation is so dire with the game, it means that fans have lost faith in the title and Activision realizes this.

It might just be the time to pursue a different route. Fans of WZ are fed up with the game and looking for alternate options. With the game's reputation on the verge of being tarnished, Blackout 2 could be Call of Duty's next battle royale.

Blackout already has a cult following, and in recent times, this following has only grown. But there's one thing that the developers must do to ensure its success — keep it as a standalone game.

Furthermore, they must avoid making any mistakes that they have made with WZ to ensure its success. The focus should be on delivering players a compelling and stable experience first. Then comes monetization. Keeping things straightforward should be the way to go, just like the original Blackout.

This will ensure that Call of Duty has a battle royale in their bag whose name still resonates positively with the fans.

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Edited by Ritoban "Veloxi" Paul