Call of Duty: Warzone got a surprise launch one year ago today, after a number of rumors, leaks, and finally a mysterious countdown timer in Modern Warfare’s main menu. The enormous free-to-play massively multiplayer shooter turned both Call of Duty and the battle royale genre on its head. It featured the biggest pool of players (150 default per match, and up to 200 in certain modes), an enormous map, and fresh twists on massively multiplayer shooter ideas. It also tied into other Call of Duty games in unprecedented ways.
Activision celebrated the one-year anniversary of Warzone with a look back at some of the biggest moments throughout the year. At launch, it featured both last-player-standing battle royale and new experience called Plunder, where players had to collect the most cash before time ran out. Plunder was a particular favorite of ours when we first reviewed Warzone as an addictive respawn game mode within the battle royale idea. Warzone would go on to expand on these ideas a lot. It also tied into Modern Warfare, sitting somewhere between an additional game mode and it’s own separate game. Players didn’t need to buy Modern Warfare to play Warzone, but Operators, weapons, cosmetics, and progression carried seamlessly between the two. The Gulag was also a fresh concept?a 1v1 second chance; a sort of “loser’s bracket” that allowed you the opportunity to drop back into Verdansk if you came out victorious.

Warzone also continued t...