In the eyes of many competitive battle royale gamers, Call of Duty Warzone needs a ranked mode. Iron Trials modes have given us a look at what a competitive ruleset for Warzone might look like, but the game is still without a dedicated ranked mode that can pit players against each other each season – and it looks like we won’t be getting one any time soon.
Raven Software’s senior creative director, Ted Timmins, was invited onto the livestreams Warzone content creators the Baka Bros, fielding questions about the current state of the battle royale. During his one-hour grilling by the streamers, the topic of a dedicated Warzone ranked mode soon surfaced. While Timmins admits that a ranked mode is something he “wants to play”, he says that the chances of seeing one added to the game soon are slim.
“We don’t have any immediate plans for ranked in Warzone in the coming seasons,” he says, “but it remains really high up our priority list as we look to the future.”
While Raven Software has put across this sentiment in the past, to hear that its stance hasn’t changed since its last update will come as a disappointment to some fans.
However, the fact that Timmins wants to see a ranked mode in Warzone, and that it is still considered a “high priority”, could suggest that we see ranked play come to its planned sequel, Warzone 2.
On a couple of occasions throughout the livestream, Timmins reiterates that the current version of Warzone does have technical limitations – such as file sizes – when it comes to how much content can be crammed into it, which is also the reason why we saw Verdansk fully replaced with Caldera, rather than keeping both maps in the game or rotating between them. It is likely that these limitations are also preventing Raven from implementing ranked play into Warzone.
While this might be a blow for competitive players, Timmins does at least say that Raven is keen to bring Iron Trials back (presumably in reference to future seasons, as Rebirth Iron Trials playlists are on the way later this month) and is happy with way it has been received by the Warzone community.
While you shouldn’t hold your breath for a ranked mode in Warzone any time soon, you can probably be quietly confident that some form of ranked play will crop up either towards the very end of Warzone’s lifespan, or in Warzone 2 when it releases. In the meantime, keep honing your skills with the best Warzone guns.