Shroud explains biggest lesson Warzone devs learned from Blackout

Twitch star Michael ‘shroud’ Grzesiek said Call of Duty: Blackout might still be around if the devs had taken the steps they eventually did with Warzone.

With battle royales becoming the most popular genre in gaming, Call of Duty has now taken two swipes it with Blackout and Warzone.

The latter came as a part of Call of Duty Black Ops 4 and was a bit of a hit with fans, but it never quite lived up to its early potential. When Warzone was released as a part of Modern Warfare, and as a standalone free-to-play game, plenty quickly made the switch.

While Warzone has its downfalls, and some fans believe Blackout was ultimately better, Shroud says that it’s clear that the devs have taken the mistakes made with Blackout and that’s helped make Warzone as big as it is today.

During his July 17 stream, the former Counter-Strike pro made his return to Warzone, dropping into the Rebirth Island mode when he realized the map had a familiar look, given it was used in Blackout as Alcatraz.

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“That s**t was fun. Yeah, Blackout was sick. Unfortunately, it didn’t have cross-play, if it had cross-play it would still be here, and if it was free I think, that would be the bigger one,” the Canadian streamer said.

“That’s what they learned with this game, they learned that free + micro-transactions (is) a W.”

While fans continue to pick their favorite, it’s unlikely that Blackout will make a storming return anytime soon. Leaks have revealed that Warzone is going to be supported through Call of Duty’s next release, Vanguard.

Players might make the odd return to Blackout for a change of pace, but Warzone still reigns supreme when it comes to battle royales.