Call of Duty: Warzonereleases today under the promise of beingfree to play for everyone, but it can’t really guarantee that due to a lack of control over its host console’s rules, particularly the Xbox’s. Xbox One owners will still need an Xbox Live Gold subscription or a Game Pass Ultimate subscription to playWarzone.
In a way, this isn’t surprising: Xbox has always required players to pay a subscription to use online gaming services. For those unaware of what each subscription does, they both allow players to use their game’s online functions, though, the Game Pass subscription also enables players to stream any game currently available in its library. But even though it’s not surprising thatCall of Duty: Warzonerequires an Xbox Live subscription, it’s still no doubt disappointing for some players.
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Those that own a PlayStation will be able to playWarzonefor free, as aPlayStation Plus membership will not be required to hop on and participate. However, anyone that does have a PlayStation Plus will be gifted a free bonus in something called the “Combat Pack.” What exactly comes in the Combat Pack has yet to be revealed at the time of this writing. But the details for it are scheduled to release today alongside thefull release ofWarzoneat 12 PM PDT.Call of Duty: Modern Warfareowners should have access toWarzonealready, however, as it released at 8 AM PDT.
Unfortunately for Xbox and PC users, the Combat Pack will be exclusive to PlayStation owners until August 04, 2025. While there’s no reason to think that the Combat Pack will contain anything game-changing, Xbox and PC players should take note thatWarzonewill have cross-play enabled, so they’ll run into the Combat Pack’s contents at some point. On the bright side, anyone looking to play on the PC will be able to do so for free, just like with PlayStation. But players will still need an active Battle.net account to accessCall of Duty: Warzoneon the Blizzard desktop app.
While things like exclusivity, subscriptions, and account requirements are disappointing,Call of Duty: Warzonehas been something that players have been looking forward to since even beforeCall of Duty: Modern Warfarereleased. AndWarzonestill has 150 players being able to participate at the same time, making it one of the biggest battle royal games to date. Hopefully, the game’s unique gameplay and twin modes will make up for some of its more disappointing aspects, and the wait fans have had to go through.
Call of Duty: Warzoneis out now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
