Call of Duty: Warzone is free on PC and PS4 – but not Xbox One
The console warzone rages on
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Call of Duty: Warzoneis launching on March 10, but it seems that the free-to-play game isn’t quite as free as we first thought, with a paywall onXbox Onethat means you’ll require anXbox Live Goldsubscription in order to play the game online.
It’s a rather different situation on PC andPS4, where Warzone will be – as expected – free to download and play.
It’s a curious move fromMicrosoft, given the impetus it gives players to access the game on other platforms – and it flies in the face of the usual narrative aroundSony’s lack of cooperation when it comes to cross-platform, free-to-play games like Warzone,Fortnite, orApex Legends.
It took Sony a really long timeto enable cross-play for Fortnite on PS4, largely because of the company’s desire to keep players in its own platform – with former boss of Sony Entertainment Online Joe Smedley admitting this wasmore to do with financial profit than technical difficulty.
What do Xbox players have to pay?
An Xbox Live Gold subscription will set you back around£34-£38 in the UK,$46-$50 in the US, or$60-$65 in Australiafor 12 months of use.
While it does give you access to online capability for a host of otherXbox One games, it does leave a sour taste when gamers on PC and PS4 aren’t having to put up with a paywall.
Will this stunt the growth of Warzone? Probably not – and we should be glad that the game is, at the very least, cross-platform. But Xbox One players have been given the short straw, and those without a paid subscription will likely be looking to play elsewhere, either on PC or with a differentCall of Dutyfix altogether, such asCOD: Mobile.
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Henry is a freelance technology journalist, and former News & Features Editor for TechRadar, where he specialized in home entertainment gadgets such as TVs, projectors, soundbars, and smart speakers. Other bylines include Edge, T3, iMore, GamesRadar, NBC News, Healthline, and The Times.
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