Following a difficult period for Call of Duty: Warzone, the franchise has a lot riding on Warzone 2, which is set to release in 2023. Over the course of 2021, interest in the battle royale waned, and it now routinely trails several of its main competitors in the market, such as Fortnite and Apex Legends, in terms of Twitch viewership.
Dr Disrespect is one of the most prominent players who has expressed dissatisfaction with Warzone in recent months. The streamer and former designer for the previous Call of Duty games no longer play Warzone and is uninterested in its current state.
However, while discussing Warzone 2, the Doc had some ideas for bringing the once-dominant battle royale back to the top of the genre, and they were inspired by the game’s competitors.
Doc’s most important recommendation for Warzone 2 is a ranked system, similar to the popular Apex game mode. Several Warzone streamers have praised the Apex ranked system in the past, with some, like NICKMERCS, switching entirely to Respawn’s battle royale.
Doc also praised Fortnite and its popular Zero Build mode, which he described as a successful evolution of the game’s established formula, before questioning how Warzone could expand beyond simply adding a new map to the game.
Whatever the series’ next evolution will be, the battle royale genre is in desperate need of a reboot. It’s unclear whether a ranked mode to appease competitive Call of Duty players looking for more to grind in Warzone, or new maps and tweaks to the formula could provide the series’ evolution that Doc desires.