Activision has released a statement announcing it is halting new content updates for Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile. The game will be removed from app stores on May 19, just a little over a year after its launch.
Call of Duty Warzone Mobile launched in March 2024 with significant hype. However, according to the statement, the game has failed to capture a large enough mobile-first audience. Effective immediately:
- No new seasonal content or gameplay updates,
- all in-app purchases disabled,
- and May 18 will be the last day the game will be available on mobile app stores.
Despite a considerable console audience, Warzone Mobile, a battle royale title set in the Call of Duty universe, faced stiff competition from another game in the same series: Call of Duty Mobile. The latter title was released in 2019 and already had a strong playerbase. Crucially, Call of Duty Mobile already had its own built-in battle royale mode, which Warzone Mobile competed directly with.
In February, Warzone Mobile generated an estimated $490k compared to Call of Duty Mobile’s $26.87m.
Early excitement for Warzone Mobile was dampened by a number of factors. First, a lack of shared progression between mobile and console versions meant Warzone’s console userbase had no incentive to play the title on their phones. The addition of mobile-exclusive cosmetics did little to sway them and wasn’t enough to pull players over from Call of Duty Mobile. On top of this, reports of rapid battery drain and screen damage led to widespread backlash from gaming content creators and tech reviewers.
The release encourages current Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile players to switch over to Call of Duty: Mobile. Unused COD Points can still be used in Warzone Mobile and players who download the game before its removal will still be able to play the game.
