Is Call of Duty: Warzone a viable esports title?

Since its release in March 2020, Call of Duty: Warzone’s esports scene has continued to grow thanks to regular events operated by third-party organisers and Activision-sanctioned competitions, often attracting the best players from North America and Europe. But is that enough to take Warzone esports to new heights?

To celebrate the battle royale title’s fifth anniversary, the popular Verdansk map made its long-awaited return alongside a dedicated Ranked playlist offering players a mode optimised with competition in mind.

With Warzone’s popularity continuing to climb and tournaments attracting strong viewing figures, Call of Duty’s battle royale seems viable for esports competition. But can it hold up against the established circuits within the genre?

Following Verdansk’s return, Warzone esports has experienced a wave of renewed interest from players, content creators and tournament organisers looking to capitalise on the increase in priority.

According to Esports Charts, Warzone Total Frenzy’s Farewell to Urzikstan saw peak viewing figures of 57,479. The battle royale’s first tournament on Verdansk as part of the Twitch Rivals tournament series saw a peak of 163,013, a significant increase following the return of the battleground that made its debut with Warzone’s launch in March 2020.

With Call of Duty publisher Activision hosting officially sanctioned tournaments in addition to third-party operators running their own events, there’s a healthy mix of competition on offer during most days of the week.

Alongside the Activision-sanctioned and third-party event, Warzone is one of several titles that feature as part of the Esports World Cup, an annual multi-title event taking place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. For its second year in this massive tournament, Warzone competitors will be competing on Rebirth Island map instead of the usual Verdansk and will use the Resurgence game mode.

Although the use of Resurgence and a smaller map breaks away from the format of most tournaments, the faster pace and enabling players to redeploy offers non-stop action throughout a match instead of matches that peak and trough.

With regular tournaments taking place, Warzone esports is continuing an upward trajectory. However, compared to other battle royale titles, it still lacks a year-round circuit that so many of its rivals have launched in recent years.

The likes of Apex Legends and Fortnite both feature an official esports circuit that runs throughout the year. A mixture of online competition combined with tentpole LAN tournaments that act as foundations of the season provides plenty of variety and several opportunities to compete on the big stage.

The World Series of Warzone has the potential to deliver such a product instead of a one-off annual event that caps off the competitive season. Online matches similar to the Fortnite Championship Series (FNCS) to determine seeding for Majors, akin to the Call of Duty League (CDL), could act as the perfect foundations for a fully-fledged competitive circuit.

The pillars of Warzone esports are the Esports World Cup and the World Series of Warzone, two one-off LAN competitions offering huge prize pools. Aside from that, Activision rarely hosts any offline Warzone tournaments. Considering the amount of interest in the competitive scene, it’s not enough to cater to players and spectators — or keep them consistently hooked.

For Warzone to grow its esports scene even further and take it to new heights, the next step is the creation of a dedicated competitive circuit designed to showcase the talents of the best players in the world. Without a consistent circuit, fans don’t have teams and players to attach themselves to, storylines to follow, or schedules to dedicate time to.

The lack of a dedicated esports circuit has hindered Warzone’s growth compared to other battle royale titles such as Apex Legends and Fortnite, which have extensive circuit schedules and international LAN events.

In terms of viewing figures, Warzone has a lower number of fans tuning into the action of Apex Legends events. The 2025 edition of the ALGS Open recorded a peak viewing figure of 249,547 according to Esports Charts, while Warzone’s Verdansk Returns on Twitch Rivals event hit a peak of just over 163,000. Although the difference is significant, Warzone’s figure doesn’t take into consideration the broadcasts of players wanting to show their own perspective.

In addition to the somewhat low viewership compared to other battle royales, there aren’t many notable esports organisations fielding rosters outside of the Esports World Cup. Some organisations have built up fan bases that generate vast amounts of support through tuning in online and attending esports events, but without their presence, viewing figures will struggle to grow.

Warzone’s viewership is a tricky metric for measuring its success. While most tournaments are broadcast on one channel acting as a dedicated hub, most competitors showcase their perspectives on their platforms, resulting in potentially skewed figures. Despite this, there’s an upward trend in fans tuning into tournaments.

Meanwhile, Epic has set the bar for the battle royale genre with Fortnite. The 2025 FNCS Pro-Am recorded 660,713 peak viewers, while the second online Majors recorded 349,045 and 362,370, respectively.

Fortnite’s significantly larger player base and appeal to the masses make its esports product more attractive to a wider audience. In contrast, Warzone’s mil-sim aesthetic aims the title to an older fan base. Fortnite’s mainstream appeal often results in collaboration with some of the biggest stars from the world of film, television and music. In recent months, Fortnite has joined forces with the likes of Star Wars, Godzilla, and Sabrina Carpenter, combined with attracting popular content creators to participate in its Pro-Am events.

Warzone has all the ingredients needed to capitalise on an untapped fan base, and a revamp of the World Series can do just that. Several notable sporting figures have shared their love of Warzone, so perhaps a Warzone Pro-Am taking inspiration from Fortnite could attract some of that untapped potential.

2025 is the ideal opportunity for Activision to push Warzone esports to the next level and to consolidate its position as one of the most popular battle royale titles in the world. With popularity continuing to tick upwards, the future is looking bright for one part of Call of Duty’s free-to-play offering.