Activision Just Killed Call Of Duty’s DMZ Mode, But You Can Still Sort Of Play It For Now

Call Of Duty’s experimental extraction mode, known as the DMZ, launched alongside Modern Warfare II in 2022. It was an attempt to cash in on the popular new(ish) shooter genre. Games like Escape From Tarkov had made this style of PvPvE loot-shooter the next big thing—sort of—with lots of new entries in the genre popping up, including a new game in development from stream Doctor Disrespect.

The new mode took place on the Al Mazrah map, though it expanded to Warzone’s other maps over time. It was . . . okay. While only ever in beta, it still gained a large following, though perhaps not large enough. The new Modern Warfare Zombies mode in Modern Warfare III is basically a hybrid DMZ and Zombies mode that takes place on the new Urzikstan map. It appears to be the next stage of the DMZ’s evolution.

The DMZ itself is, for all intents and purposes, dead. Activision stuck the knife in yesterday, tucked away in a long blog post about the upcoming Season 1 content coming to MWIII, Warzone and Zombies. The passage reads:

We would like to thank the entire community for their support and continued feedback on the DMZ Beta. Infinity Ward and all the development teams who contributed to the creation of DMZ are incredibly proud and delighted to see the enthusiasm and participation that you’ve shown since its release, and to see so many players pouring into the MWZ mode in Modern Warfare III, which has many DMZ-inspired gameplay aspects within it.

Whenever something starts out with “we would like to thank the entire community” you know it’s bad news. The last sentence assures us that yes, MWZ is basically the new kid on the block. And then:

Beginning with next week’s launch of Season 1, DMZ Beta players can continue the mode via the Call of Duty: Warzone section of COD HQ. The DMZ Beta will remain fully playable across all current DMZ content, including Al Mazrah, Ashika Island, the Koschei Complex, Building 21, Vondel, as well as all DMZ missions. The mode will not be available or interact directly within Modern Warfare III or Call of Duty: Warzone which means that progression and any new Modern Warfare III or Warzone content, including Battle Pass or store bundles, will not sync or carry back into this DMZ mode. Also, DMZ progress will not apply to new Battle Passes beginning with Season 1.

In other words, the mode will remain alive but only on life-support. You won’t be able to play DMZ on the new Urzikstan map or any other new Warzone map. It won’t count toward progression, either. Previously, the DMZ was one of the best ways to gain XP. Now, players will need to hop into Zombies for similar XP and other gains.

We recognize that not having cross progression with Modern Warfare III and Warzone may be frustrating for some players, but we felt now was the time to take all the learnings from the Beta that we could apply toward future development efforts as we evolve this style of play. We also know that many players still enjoy the mode and wanted to ensure that everybody can keep playing, which is why we are keeping a variety of content available.

This is basically saying that the DMZ was a learning lesson and that it was mostly a failure but hopefully a failure that will help them make better modes in the future. The DMZ is dead.

Going forward, development teams will continue to evolve these dynamic open world experiences into the future. We look forward to sharing updates when ready.

Don’t hold your breath.

I feel bad for DMZ players who held out hope that it would make a comeback and don’t enjoy the Zombies mode in MWIII. Personally, I never really cared for the DMZ that much. It was fine. An amusing diversion. Nothing special. Not my cup of tea. I do think it’s weird that there isn’t a PvP element in Zombies, though.

Ultimately, I’m just not surprised. There’s no way DMZ was ever going to be as popular as Zombies, and it’s honestly amazing that they even merged the two modes into MWZ in the first place rather than just releasing round-based Zombies mode. I suppose players will simply have to try out some of the other extraction games out there. Some options include:

Read all about Season 1 of Modern Warfare III and the new Warzone here.