Former Treyarch systems designer Tyler Diaz explained why Black Ops 6 struggled to integrate smoothly with Warzone.
Warzone’s integration with BO6 failed to impress, as some players labeled the battle royale ‘worse than ever.’ Users pointed out graphics, gunplay, and new features as a ‘massive downgrade’ from what’s come before.
Glitches also contributed to a rocky launch. Raven Software admitted there are audio issues centered around footstep audio not registering correctly. In addition, CoD YouTuber JGOD discovered that several Perks don’t work as intended.
On the Pullze Check podcast, Diaz said, “MW3 last year was making changes throughout the year but Black Ops 6 has been in development for years. So even if they are on the same engine, it’s not just like everything that happened in MW3 is automatically copied to what is being worked on in BO6.”
Former Treyarch developer Tyler Diaz gives insight into the development of Black Ops 6 vs MW3 and the integration issues in Warzone pic.twitter.com/XBiIxySkSV
— Pullze Check (@PullzeCheck) December 1, 2024
Why developing Warzone is different from multiplayer
CoD development teams such as Treyarch, Sledgehammer, and Infinity Ward have an average of three years to create a new CoD title. On the other hand, Raven Software is the lead team for Warzone every year.
So, even though CoD titles use the same engine, Diaz explained why the process is complicated for the Warzone development team to implement newly introduced gameplay features.
“Yes, it’s on the same engine, but it’s not like everything happening last year is already in Black Ops 6, like BO6 was already in development on its own,” Diaz said.
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One potential solution would be to stop doing full Warzone integrations with every annual CoD release. As a result, developers would have a chance to build the battle royale and grow over time, instead of being forced to do a full reset every year under new leadership and design direction.
Diaz supports this idea and argues, “If it were up to me, I would separate the games, and they would completely be their own things.”
For example, Modern Warfare 2019 and Black Ops Cold War stayed separate from multiplayer, giving Raven Software ample time to iron out bugs and roll out gameplay changes naturally.
In comparison, BO6 made massive movement and gunplay changes, forcing the Warzone development team to try and implement those changes on an expedited timeline.
Diaz and other community members believe that if Warzone had a dedicated development cycle, it would eliminate many of the glitches and backtracking currently holding the battle royale back from reaching its full potential.
Raven Software has yet to reveal much about the battle royale’s future, but the Season 1 Reloaded update goes live on December 5.