Stress test, well, as the phrase suggests, could be stressing. It gets intense when playtesters are too skilled. It was kind of the case with Call of Duty: Warzone, the popular battle royale title. Infinity Ward co-studio heads Dave Stohl and Patrick Kelly shared the story behind the development of the game, especially touching on the creation of the original Verdansk.
The game may have gotten bad in the eyes of some fans, but it certainly changed the way enthusiasts played battle royale games. They also did something that almost killed one of their least favorite activities in the game: camping. Players were rewarded for moving around Verdansk, which prompted them to get out there on the battlefield.
‘Pro-Level’ Players Raised the Bar for Testing in Call of Duty
After the game’s creation, it was time for the playtest to check the areas for improvements or changes. To truly understand the functioning, the team had to create worst-case scenarios. One of the instances included around a hundred players throwing a grenade at the same time; this required quite a bit of coordination.
Speaking in one interview, both studio heads were worried about the skewed test results. Stohl said,
Imagine what that yields from a play test point of view. Then an average Joe would come in to play and they’d just get the s— kicked out of them … because everybody’s like basically a pro level player.
The tension in the room was palpable, as there were a few instances of trash talking. Still, Stohl maintains that it never reached toxicity. Kelly too got overwhelmed by testing, as he got frustrated when his team was trying to test a dynamic but failed many times due to the ‘pro level players.‘
But Then Again, Those Were the Days Giving Nostalgia Today
We cannot possibly imagine what went in there until we committed the seat of our pants to the one of a playtester chair. But then again, that was all part of the process that brought Call of Duty: Warzone to fruition. As of now, thousands of users are actively playing the game.
Dave said that,
Man, people were screaming at each other, yelling at each other and hooting and hollering. It’s like when you’re in a room together playing, and you’re s— talking. That makes it even more fun than it would be in the real world.
The game surpassed 100 million players before transitioning to Warzone 2.0, which was released on November 16, 2022. In essence, everything was handed over to the sequel on a silver platter. The battle royale game recently made its entry into the mobile gaming market; however, it’s still a long way from being considered a success.
How do you think Call of Duty: Warzone is performing after the transition? Is it still worth playing? We would like to know your thoughts in the comments section.
