Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile is currently still available for pre-registration on Google Play and the App Store, and according to Activision, over 45 million players have already pre-registered for the game.

The company has further confirmed that Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile will feature the Verdansk map, which has been specially built for the mobile release of the game and its 120-player battle royale mode. Activision has stated that teams across its Shanghai Studio, Beenox, Digital Legends and Solid State Studios are continuing work on the game while taking player feed back into account.

Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile is slated to be an all-encompassing Call of Duty experience for smartphones, and according to previous reports, will phase out Call of Duty Mobile once it launches in all countries worldwide.

As spotted by CharlieINTEL on Twitter, Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile’s page on the App Store was recently updated, with the release date being moved from May 15 to November 1.

In a statement to GameSpot, Activision has suggested that the new release date mentioned on the page is a placeholder, but the company didn’t confirm a launch date or window for the battle royale shooter, mentioning only that it will launch sometime later this year.

“Until confirmed, most online stores simply list placeholder or estimated launch dates,” an Activision representative said. “We couldn’t be more excited about bringing Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile to gamers around the world and while we are still in our Limited Release phase, development is on track and we expect to release globally later this year.”

Earlier this year, Microsoft – which is currently working to have its proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard approved by regulatory authorities around the world – said that Call of Duty Mobile was expected to be phased out and eventually replaced by Warzone Mobile. However, Activision said in a follow-up statement not long afterward that it intended to support Call of Duty Mobile “for the long haul.”

Meanwhile, where console experiences are concerned, it’s been claimed that this year’s Call of Duty instalment – which is reportedly set to be a Modern Warfare 2 follow-up developed by Sledgehammer Games – will be revealed in August.

Warzone Mobile’s release date on the App Store has changed from Expected May 15, 2023 to now Expected Nov 1, 2023.

Activision still hasn’t announced a worldwide release date. pic.twitter.com/g2qNs9IFPh

— CharlieIntel (@charlieINTEL) May 9, 2023

Officially confirmed in March via a recruitment ad, Call of Duty: Warzone on mobile was touted as a “large-scale, multiplayer experience is being built natively for mobile with cutting-edge technology.” Developers include Digital Legends, Beenox, Demonware, Solid State Studios, Activision Shanghai, and Activision Central Tech. In May, it was revealed to be in closed alpha under the name Project Aurora, with various gameplay clips leaking from the same in June.

No official release window has been announced, so stay tuned next week for more information. Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 is also in development and scheduled to release this year (with leaks pointing to November 16th). Running on the unified Call of Duty engine alongside Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, it will offer a new play space and RICOCHET Anti-Cheat. Stay tuned for more details on the same at the Next showcase.

Clips of gameplay from the mobile title have been popping up on Twitter courtesy of various accounts. The gameplay footage shown is supposedly from a recent alpha, which would explain the rough state the game currently seems to be in- it’s apparently still in the relatively early stages of development. Either way, the clips show some combat, weapons, a couple of the environments, the map, and more. Check them out below (or get them at Reddit in case those tweets get taken down, which is likely to happen soon).

Interestingly, the game seems to be very similar to the current Call of Duty: Warzone experience. A full-fledged sequel to Warzone is currently in development for PC and consoles, and according to leaks, will sport various new features and mechanics, including Strongholds, interrogations, similarities to Black Ops 4’s Blackout mode, a completely new map (with a second one allegedly in development), and more. It doesn’t seem like the mobile battle royale title will align with that stuff.

In related news, it also looks like a standalone Call of Duty: Zombies game is in the works at Treyarch. Read more on that through here.

https://twitter.com/mr_rebs_/status/1533720598060445696

https://twitter.com/mr_rebs_/status/1533387201907724288

In its Q&A, it noted that the closed alpha has a “limited number” of participants, though it could open up and add more throughout this phase (and even beyond). No release date is being shared at this time and all content in the alpha is “subject to change.” “Right now, we’re simply assessing the game’s large-scale Battle Royale gameplay mechanics on mobile devices.”

The team also confirmed that the content in the closed alpha isn’t everything that will be in the final game. “It’s just a slice of what we have in store. We will let you know about all the exciting things coming your way with Project Aurora in due time.” Progression during the alpha is also subject to reset at any time.

Activision had previously confirmed that Call of Duty: Warzone would be coming to mobile devices so this is likely the same game. Developers involved in the project include Beenox, Activision Shanghai, Activision Central Tech, Demonware, Solid State Studios, and Digital Legends (which was acquired last year). Stay tuned for official updates in the meantime.

Activision has put out a recruitment ad that confirms that it is working on “an all-new, AAA mobile experience that will bring the thrilling, fluid and the large-scale action of Call of Duty: Warzone to players on the go.”

“This large-scale, multiplayer experience is being built natively for mobile with cutting-edge technology designed to entertain gamers around the world for many years to come,” the recruitment ad reads.

A number of internal Activision studios are working together on the game’s development, which includes the likes of Beenox, Demonware, Activision Shanghai, Activision Central Tech, Solid State Studios, and the aforementioned Digital Legends. The company is looking to recruit people in a number of positions across these studios.

Meanwhile, it was also confirmed last month that Infinity Ward is working on sequels to both, Call of Duty: Warzone and 2019’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, with both projects slated for release later this year.

Reports have also claimed that Activision has internally decided to delay 2023’s Treyarch-developed Call of Duty title into 2024, ending the series’ nearly-two decade-long streak of annual releases- read more on that through here.

Digital Legends, alongside Beenox and Activision Shanghai have been closely working with an internal team called Solid State. The game would of course, be targeting mobile platforms – although no other details on development are known as of yet.

“This is an incredible team of development pros at Digital Legends, and we couldn’t be more excited to welcome them to the Activision team,” said Rob Kostich, President, Activision. “This is a great step forward as we continue to build additional world-class development resources focused on creating exciting and innovative content for our players.”

“Digital Legends’s tenure developing highly-polished mobile titles is unparalleled,” said Chris Plummer, Head of Mobile, Activision. “More importantly though, our teams already have been collaborating very closely for much of this year. We are building a world-class mobile development roster of talent and teams, and we look forward to what’s to come.”

Call of Duty Mobile has been a major success for the publishing giant in regions such as Asia, with the number of downloads surpassing 500 million this year. Of course, it makes sense that Activision would capitalize on the potential, and by putting down more resources than ever – it seems to be doing exactly that.