Warzone 2 DMZ work began way before it did on Verdansk, share COD devs
We know it sometimes feels like Call of Duty was hopping on the extraction shooter trend somewhat last-minute with its' Warzone 2 DMZ mode, like how it felt with Battlefield 2042's Hazard Zone, but that really isn't the case at all. Warzone 2 DMZ is largely getting the extraction shooter formula right at the moment and that, it seems, is due to years of development. In fact, Infinity Ward was already testing a working build of DMZ - which we now see in Warzone 2, which is one of the best battle royale games - before the studio started developing Verdansk - the battle royale's original map.
Speaking exclusively with media outlet Dexerto, multiplayer design director Geoff Smith revealed that Infinity Ward "actually had working protoypes before started making Verdansk". He also added that the studio "felt those trends that early, but didn't have the bandwidth to execute on it at that time".
While Smith didn't share any specifics - or, at least, specifics weren't reported on - you do have to wonder why it took quite so long for a DMZ mode to release. If we were to speculate, we would have to imagine that it would take quite some time - and quite a lot of rigorous testing - to ensure the mode itself was balanced. We know Call of Duty developers, including Infinity Ward, have been dealing with PvE content for years - primarily in the form of single-player campaign missions - but DMZ is clearly a different beast entirely.
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