Warzone will die if it doesn’t learn from Apex Legends and go fully into esports

It was the face of games during the pandemic that brought out the need to connect with people and escape from reality. Although the focused dystopia was a war-torn place called Verdansk, Call of Duty: Warzone it quickly became a center of friendship, relationship, and alliances.

The promised world of war tournaments began to take off one by one, as even casual players scratched the competitive itch in Warzone; having the same odds of winning as a ghillie sniper jogging through the woods or a demon running with a gun meant that part-timers were rewarded with their four-stack evening games, and 24/7 grinders hit the jackpot.

The blueprint was in place for Warzone to continue and dominate the military world that had erupted with Fortnite, and the first year of the Call of Duty spin-off hit the nail on the head.

But that was more than a decade ago, and the once world-famous internet topic is now a distant memory for many.

Now, Warzone’s heartbeat is ringing, and it needs to swallow its pride and adapt if it doesn’t want to flatten. It’s time for sports to be hit.

Ever since its impressive launch saw millions of daily users fall into the hellhole of Verdansk, Activision has been very committed to keeping Warzone accessible to the masses.

Developers have been hoping to chase those glory days where it can escape its various crossovers and tap into the microtransaction gold mine; The makers of Call of Duty have tried to do everything from updating Verdansk and Blackout, new maps, and nostalgic meta throwbacks, all to help try to appeal to a wider audience.

But that audience is gone.

Back in 2020, Warzone was estimated to have 13 million daily logins and boasted that it had hit 100 million unique users just 13 months after launch. Although its corresponding console figures have not been shared, Steam (which was the least popular platform between Battle.net, Xbox, and PlayStation) reached 488,000 concurrent players during the launch of Modern Warfare 2, suggesting that approximately 2 million players were reached.

Today, Warzone achieves a fraction of that. The numbers of Steam reached 50,405 in June 2026, just over ten percent of what it saw five years ago – while it is true that we cannot look at the statistics of PlayStation and Xbox, it is a bad case of how much the title has fallen.

In comparison, Apex Legends hit a two-year high in May 2026 with a Steam count of 324,964; PUBG: Battlegrounds is strong with over a million active players in March 2026, while Fortnite is still pulling in huge numbers of over 4 million active players in June 2026.

It goes to prove that the battle royales it can be resistance to time, and the fault lies in the choice of individual subject instead of the change of genre that made the photographers famous – the new arc that became so popular Escape from Tarkov, Marathon, and Call of Duty DMZ was born out of the need for the shooter industry to produce something new after flawless BRs, not the other way around.

So, that begs the question: How did Warzone fall so hard, while its competitors thrived at all-time highs afterward?

Well, it starts with targeting your core audience. While Activision wanted to capture the hearts of casual fans who love to buy cool skins and war passes, it’s the everyday grind that needs to be rewarded to allow Warzone to thrive again.

That’s not an unusual turn, either, it’s been the same trend that saw PUBG and Apex Legends change from battle royale gameplay to dedicated esports, while Fortnite captured the hearts of those who like a quick dopamine fix after work.

If that direction happens, and the Warzone scene becomes an esports-first, casual-after topic, there is a two-pronged attack to be launched; not only must there be in-game adjustments with features that breed the desire to compete, but also an advanced esports circuit that is fun, exciting, and high-status champions.

It starts with a chain of command, and that relationship repair has already begun, thanks to input from public figures that speak out.

“I think the biggest thing, and I think almost everyone would agree, is that it mainly comes down to the chain of communication between the players themselves and the studios,” Warzone is a professional and a top figure. Ethan “Fifakill” Pink told me.

“I don’t always think we have a strong relationship, and it’s more about how the game is going.

“We’ve established a good foundation now, like Pullze Check – they’re in direct contact with Activision, and they’re working on it to produce really good events, which we’ve had.

“They should listen to the people who play about what works, what doesn’t work, and go with the majority.”

One of the biggest mistakes has always been the lack of an esports circuit worthy of attention. Previous World Series events — with the exception of Seth “Scump” Abner’s genius in the first installment — have been spectacular. The “solo” format has drawn much fanfare for the winner-takes-all gauntlet, but the team-based rounds always end in a drawn-out, predictable fashion, with the top teams crossing the line unchallenged.

Warzone took its first step to deny that recently. Fifakill, the regional champion in the independent division and the reigning world champion for three, says the biggest change is acknowledging that the coveted Match Point system of Apex Legends (where teams must be the last one standing after passing the point limit) is an ideal battle format, and adapting it to Warzone is important.

“This was controversial because when Match Point was introduced, there was one team that was head and shoulders above the rest, and in the six-game format we were playing up to that point, they were already outstanding,” said Fifakill.

“But in the arena, Match Point is much better. It’s better when you look at the perspective: there are stories coming back, crazy games, and when you have four or five teams in that important Match Point barrier, everyone is playing to win. You start to see people make plays that they never even thought about before.”

The second change is from a slow, conventional battle experience to a fast-paced helter-skelter Resurgence model that produces chaos and, most importantly for fans, a fun viewing experience.

Fifakill said: “In the scene we have, Resurgence is perfect [style] for the Warzone esports scene.

“That level of competition makes everyone push themselves harder because you’re playing for inches instead of miles. Every team in that area can win if they have a good day.”

That’s against the grain of Fifakill, who admits he’s better in the slow BR game, but is willing to admit his current hold on the tournament is due to product development.

Placing Resurgence in a pole position is the best way for Warzone to survive. It goes against the way Activision originally built Warzone, but now that the core playerbase has pushed the skill ceiling to a higher level, the rapid-fire, reworked mode combines the essence of Call of Duty with the ability to deliver an endless adrenaline rush to players and spectators.

That’s the Apex Legends arc. They have spent years refining their maps to provide more support, movement, and speed, while learning the art of refactoring that keeps multiplayer games alive.

In Warzone, Resurgence takes that Apex hype and doubles it, and triples it, but doesn’t overdo it. Granted, there’s always balancing to be done, but it’s a mod that needs to be prioritized.

Gone are the days of Verdansk’s rooftop snipers. That era is dead, and if developers chase its glory days as a priority, the game will die within two years (it’s starting to be eaten by Blackout and DMZ).

But there is a stellar product there. To rise again. Warzone’s fastest mode has all the makings of being the world’s best warroyale esport – or at least a thriving community – and now is the last chance for that change.