Black Ops Cold War’s release will “breathe more life into Warzone”

Black Ops Cold War  will “breathe more life” into Warzone, an Infinity Ward designer has said. 

Joe Cecot, the studio’s co-design director for multiplayer, told Red Bull he was excited about the influence of the forthcoming Black Ops Cold War on COD’s free-to-play battle royale.

“With the recent reveal, there’s definitely opportunities to merge that content in and keep pushing Warzone forward with that franchise and Modern Warfare in mind,” Cecot said. “I’m really excited.” 

Infinity Ward and Raven Software, the two developers on Warzone, are still working to “solidify” the specifics of Black Ops’ integration into the game.

“We’re working through that,” Cecot said. “But I think that is gonna breathe more life into Warzone.”

The crossover is significant, and not just because it’ll likely mean the appearance of 20th century weaponry and imagery in Warzone. It’ll also necessitate close collaboration between Infinity Ward and Black Ops studio Treyarch, where traditionally the two have operated independently.

Infinity Ward’s former creative strategist, Robert Bowling, once said that “the design state of mind from the teams at Infinity Ward and Treyarch are completely different.”

“We don’t work together, we don’t collaborate,” he told GameTrailers in 2012, as reported by GameZone. “The teams are very focused on what we’re doing and we really don’t let what happens in another game impact that.”

Evidently, much has changed since - not least the rise of service games and their need for a constant feed of content. Starting with Black Ops character Frank Woods, who will be playable in Warzone by anybody who pre-orders the new game.

Here's how to watch Black Ops Cold War gameplay reveal event.