It's a fact that the game has gotten even worse since Microsoft took over. The servers and lack of stability have never been worse. Hit reg, audio, input, everything is absolutely abysmal.
Warzone should be its own thing. Activision themselves said that was their reasoning for scrapping Warzone 1 and forcing everyone onto Warzone 2. But the game has gone through dramatic changes for now the third straight iteration of Warzone 2. Everything about the game has fundamentally changed for three straight years.
Counter-Strike has been the same game for over 20 years. Apex, PUBG and Fortnite have been the same core games for longer than Warzone. If someone last played one of those games a couple years ago, they're going back to the same fundamental experiences. With Warzone, it's not even the same as six months ago.
MS agreed to buy Activision in January of 2022, which was near the height of Warzone's popularity. COD is an institution like Madden and 2K, so the games are always going to sell heavy but they have definitely lost millions of players since the acquisition. That's why they're using PR bullshyt like "highest retention rate" and "most hours played per person" instead of actual sales.
What's happened is kinda like Philly signing Paul George. But while Philly can't lead PG to the Fountain of Youth, Microsoft COULD upgrade their servers and bring back Warzone 1, which everyone loved. They COULD create a functioning anti-cheat. They COULD create meaningful content and additions to Warzone. There's so many bugs it's not even funny.
We used to get consistent updates to the map with new points of interest, changing POIs and cool events like Nakatomi Tower in Verdsansk with Die Hard. With the Black Ops 6 integration, they REMOVED the POIs they added over the year to Urzikstan and reset it back to how it was day one, when it was already a trash map. Completely unacceptable and inexcusable; just reeks of incompetence.
Since Warzone released in 2020, we've had the following maps: Verdansk, Rebirth Island, Caldera, Fortune's Keep, Al Mazrah, Ashika Island, Urzikstan and Area 99. The only fukking things available today are Urzikstan, Rebirth and Area 99.
Apex has 11 or 12 maps; PUBG has five or six; Warzone has three.
It's clear they despise their player base and have no respect for their audience.