Warzone is coming to mobile - will it replace Call of Duty: Mobile?

Call of Duty’s online battle royale Warzone is coming to mobile phones, publisher Activision has announced.

The game is described as “an all-new, AAA mobile experience that will bring the thrilling, fluid and large-scale action of Call of Duty: Warzone to players on the go.”

Activision says the mobile port of the multiplayer shooter will be a “large-scale, battle royale experience” that is “being built natively for mobile with cutting-edge technology designed to entertain gamers around the world for many years to come.”

The game was revealed alongside a series of job posts, advertising for new hires to work on the port. They include roles in production, engineering, design, and art.

Activation has given no estimated release window, but the number of job openings, the mention of a couple of senior roles, and the absence of any screenshots or gameplay videos suggest the mobile port is a good way from release.

The Warzone mobile port is being developed by several internal studios at Activision Blizzard, including mobile games developer Digital Legends that previously released a mobile adaptation of console shooter Battlefield: Bad Company 2, and Beenox, which worked in conjunction with Activision on Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, Modern Warfare 2 Remastered, and other mainline titles in the series.

Digital Legend’s Bad Company 2 port was released back in 2010, only a few months after the games’ main console and PC launch. It featured a single-player campaign and two multiplayer gamemodes (deathmatch and squad deathmatch), but differed greatly from the main release. It’s since been removed from the iOS App Store and Google Play Store.

Analysis: will Warzone kick out Call of Duty: Mobile?

This upcoming Warzone port won’t be the only Call of Duty game on mobile. Activision brought the series’ brand of military shooting to smartphones back in 2019 with Call of Duty: Mobile. That game, which features a mix of multiplayer, battle royale, and zombies game modes, has been a huge success, generating 250 million downloads only eight months after its initial release. With this new port, Activision will be hoping to replicate that success, banking on the Warzone brand and the battle royale craze to reel back players and attract many more besides.

It will also, however, leave Activision in the strange position of simultaneously hosting two official Call of Duty games for mobile. That raises the question of whether the older Call of Duty: Mobile app will be retired and replaced by this upcoming Warzone port. 

We reckon that's unlikely. While Warzone caters solely to battle royale, Call of Duty: Mobile features a broader selection of game modes. There's some overlap between them, but many players will be attracted to features of Mobile that aren't provided in Warzone. Add to that the seasonal updates and substantive content changes that Warzone enjoys throughout the year, and it's likely Mobile's battle royale mode will be gradually reduced or closed wholesale when Warzone hits mobile.

Regardless, it'll face stiff competition from other battle royales. The biggest of them already have mobile ports, including Apex Legends, Fortnite, and PUBG. But the sheer popularity of Warzone on PC and consoles will likely ensure this mobile adaptation succeeds in all the right commercial areas. The question now is how far that success will reach.

A few key questions remain, including how this mobile version of Warzone will differ from the main game, which phones will be able to run it, and how it will integrate with PC and console users. The mobile ports of Apex Legends and PUBG don’t allow for mobile crossplay, so those playing on their smartphones aren’t able to hop into the same matches as their PC or PS5 and Xbox Series X buddies. Fortnite, however, does give the option for Android users.

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