After months of waiting, a few false starts, and various other hiccups along the way, Private Matches have finally returned to Warzone 2. Here’s all you need to know about the custom lobby option in the Call of Duty Battle Royale.
While it took quite some time in the original CoD Battle Royale before Private Matches were enabled, once they were, the option became extremely popular. Casual players could run experiments without risking their public stats, pros could run competitions online, and tournament operators could run the biggest events without worrying about factors out of their control.
It was unanimously a great inclusion but with the arrival of Warzone 2 last November, the feature went missing. Much like Resurgence-style modes, smaller maps, and even playlists like Plunder, the BR sequel was initially absent of many staple components that thousands enjoyed on a daily basis.
However, after months of delays, Private Matches have finally returned to Warzone 2. Here’s a full rundown on all you need to know.
Private Matches are now available in Warzone 2
184 days since Warzone 2 launched, Private Matches were officially rolled out (properly this time) on May 18.
Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest updates on Esports, Gaming and more.
Initially, it was unclear when custom lobbies would become available in the BR sequel. Early dev comments simply pointed to a release “in the new year (2023).” Although no specific date or even month was outlined, the devs did go on to add “early next year (2023)” as the rough timeframe.
🛠 A minor update has gone live to reenable Private Matches in #Warzone2!
— Raven Software (@RavenSoftware) May 18, 2023
Private Matches briefly became available in February, though not without considerable issues. From lagspikes to game-breaking bugs, there wasn’t plenty of room for improvement. Things were so dire, in fact, Activision’s official World Series of Warzone event for 2023 was even postponed due to the ongoing problems.
As a result, Private Matches were removed from Warzone 2 shortly after, only to return in a surprise May 18 update. For now, there’s no quite telling if every issue has been resolved, so we’ll have to wait and see just how stable they are this time around.
