Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0: Everything we know about DMZ

When Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 launches in November, the battle royale spinoff will introduce a brand new mode: DMZ. Although many of the details still remain a mystery, Infinity Ward did confirm DMZ to be an “extraction mode” with a premise “about choosing your own experience within the warzone, working socially if you wish, and collecting gear to keep in your Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 inventory and utilize from match to match.”

While DMZ remains cloaked in mystery, previous rumors about the mode describe it as being inspired by Escape from Tarkov. For those unfamiliar, Escape from Tarkov is a first-person shooter survival with MMO elements. Players are dropped into the map and given an extraction point located on the opposite side. Their goal is to get to that extraction point, but how they do so is completely up to them. Any gear they collect during their raid can be extracted with them and stored in their stash for future raids. But if they die, any gear they’ve brought in with them or looted during the raid is lost.

I don’t know if DMZ will function exactly like this, but Escape from Tarkov does serve as inspiration. Plus, Activision even referred to it as an “extraction mode.”

And in a recent interview with Washington Post, scenarios outlined by Infinity Ward co-studio head Patrick Kelly certainly suggest the “sandbox” mode, which has been confirmed to support up to 100 players, will offer similar experiences.

With the addition of proximity chat, there could be scenarios in which two different squads of complete strangers meet up and on the map and rather than simply shooting each other, they could discuss strategy for a particular objective. This emergent type of cooperative gameplay could allow them to team up to embark on missions such as clearing and raiding Strongholds. This could help them obtain stronger weapons and equipment.

On the flipside, a squad could just as easily flip on their so-called allies. Pretend to work together to complete a Stronghold and then double cross them the second you’re successful.

Again, much of DMZ remains a mystery but Infinity Ward does have plans to share more about the new mode, along with new challenges, bounties, gameplay features and more. Hopefully, we get more details before DMZ arrives. It’s slated to drop alongside Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 in November.