Warzone 2 has reached 25 million players in its first five days, Activision says

Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 has reached 25 million players in its first five days, Activision has claimed.

A tweet posted on the official Call of Duty Twitter account states: “Thank you: 5 days, over 25 million players.”

The free-to-play sequel, which launched on November 16, has seemingly been a huge success in terms of establishing a large player base in a short time.

However, it remains to be seen if it will continue this momentum and overtake the previous milestone set by the first Warzone.

Back in 2020, when the original Warzone was released, Activision announced that it had reached 30 million players in 10 days, following a claim that it had reached 15 million in three days.

By way of comparison, fellow free-to-play battle royale game Apex Legends took seven days to reach 25 million players, according to developer Respawn.

One of the factors potentially contributing to Warzone 2’s strong start is Activision’s decision to temporarily deactivate the original Warzone for 12 days, starting around two hours before the sequel launched.

“Once the Warzone 2 ecosystem is fully stable, and after a small development break for Thanksgiving for the developers who observe this US holiday, Warzone is planned to be relaunched as Call of Duty: Warzone Caldera as a separate experience,” it said in a statement at the time.

Warzone Caldera is expected to re-launch on November 28 at 10am  PT / 1pm ET / 6pm GMT. Until then, Warzone fans are only able to play the sequel.

Further reading

Warzone 2’s proximity chat is already causing chaos (and peace deals)

Players call the new feature “the best thing ever” as trash talk and collaboration ensues

Microsoft has reportedly offered Sony a deal that would see the Call of Duty franchise remain on PlayStation for a decade should its proposed $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard gain approval.

The future of the Call of Duty series as a multiplatform product is one of the key areas being examined by competition regulators scrutinising the deal.