Call of Duty: Warzone launches today

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare now has its own Battle Royale mode, and it's out today. 

Call of Duty: Warzone is arriving both as a free update to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and as a standalone, free-to-play title. The update will hit at 3pm GMT with the standalone version launching at 7pm GMT. Expect some hefty download sizes with the solo version coming in at 80-100GB and the update about 15-22GB. 

What should you expect from this hefty download? A Battle Royale style experience with plenty of Call of Duty flourishes. The main event will feature 150 players with a bid to be last soldier standing. If you die - or should we say, when you die - you'll enter the Gulag, an arena where you're able to get a second chance in the main game, providing you beat another player in a one-on-one fight. 

Elsewhere, there's also Plunder mode that has squads working together to earn cash through killing enemy players, completing specific contract objectives, and looting whatever they can find. 

The two modes are currently both located on one map - Verdansk. It's considered to be a huge location, with over 300 points of interest. In a blog post, Infinity Ward announced that it would also have multiple named zones with distinct landmarks for identification. These include the Gorengard Lumber Yard and Gora Dam. Presumably, all in a bid to help players learn their way around the area. The map also includes a mixture of city like landscapes and more rural areas, so you can play to your strengths as you attempt to survive as long as possible.

There's also unified progression with Modern Warfare so it includes all the game's battle pass unlocks, customisation items, and weapons, for those who have already fully invested themselves into the game. 

This isn't the most surprising addition to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare given the industry's love of Battle Royale games, and the many rumours that have surrounded the franchise since its release in November, but it could be worth a look. There's cross-play support too, so if you fancy exerting your mouse and keyboard based superiority over console gamers, that's an option. 

No news has been issued yet on forthcoming maps to follow Verdansk, but it seems highly likely that new areas are in the works behind the scenes. If you don't mind using up 100GB of space, it's got to be worth checking out at least for a little while.