Rebirth Island is one of the most popular maps for the original Call of Duty: Warzone. The first iteration of the battle royale title, which saw the CoD formula applied to a free-to-play title, was much appreciated by fans.
The title’s reception got increasingly worse with later iterations, but many people still play the game. But the recent news of Verdansk coming back as a map in Warzone: Mobile and rumors of Rebirth Island making a comeback also beg the question: can someone still jump in and play the first iteration of the battle royale?
Warzone 1 in 2024: Who Says No?
Unfortunately for battle royale enthusiasts who have stuck around since 2019, there isn’t a way to play Warzone 1 in 2024. Activision shut down the game when the second iteration of the free-to-play battle royale title came out in 2022.
Fortunately, it was revived in the form of Warzone Caldera, but that, too, didn’t last long. September 2023 saw the end of the Caldera without any reasons officially highlighted by Activision. So, for anyone wishing to play the original title in 2024, it is impossible.
It is a sad state of affairs that there isn’t a way to play the original as the only iteration to get positive reviews on platforms like Steam, and the general wave of opinions on the battle royale title has been going down with time.
Do People Want Warzone 1 at All?
The title is still a viral battle royale game in the current scenario. It is still being played by many people, as per ActivePlayer.io., a site that specializes in reporting player retention statistics for various multiplayer titles.
Despite that, one can look at the title’s Steam page, and the review summary isn’t encouraging. Both recent and all reviews the game has received have been summarized as Mostly Negative. That gives a clear-cut idea that players may be giving their time to the title but aren’t very happy with it.
But that still isn’t a clear indication that people want the OG to make a comeback or for Caldera to be revived. While adding two fan-favorite maps could make the title pan out, the players could be looking for something entirely different.
For example, if one were to go to X, the popular social media site, various tweets of people calling for the comeback of the original can be found. For example, one gamer was severely frustrated with everything the franchise has been rolling out after Modern Warfare (2019):
Everything after MW 2019 and Warzone 1 has been a huge downgrade instead of an improvement.
— Kapz (@KapzLocked) March 12, 2024
If we want cod to be good again it’s time to face some facts pic.twitter.com/HBNYC8VjRi
Another player can be seen reminiscing about the good old days with this retweet:
It is uncertain if fans will be able to get the original battle royale title in their game libraries, considering how the current iteration is still pulling the masses, even if the reviews aren’t great. Despite that, if Activision could make that happen, it would impact the reviews.
Do you miss the OG battle royale? Let us know in the comments!
