We know it sometimes feels like Call of Duty was hopping on the extraction shooter trend somewhat last-minute with its' Warzone 2 DMZ mode, like how it felt with Battlefield 2042's Hazard Zone, but that really isn't the case at all. Warzone 2 DMZ is largely getting the extraction shooter formula right at the moment and that, it seems, is due to years of development. In fact, Infinity Ward was already testing a working build of DMZ - which we now see in Warzone 2, which is one of the best battle royale games - before the studio started developing Verdansk - the battle royale's original map.
Speaking exclusively with media outlet Dexerto, multiplayer design director Geoff Smith revealed that Infinity Ward "actually had working protoypes [of DMZ] before [it] started making Verdansk". He also added that the studio "felt those trends that early, but [it] didn't have the bandwidth to execute on it at that time".
While Smith didn't share any specifics - or, at least, specifics weren't reported on - you do have to wonder why it took quite so long for a DMZ mode to release. If we were to speculate, we would have to imagine that it would take quite some time - and quite a lot of rigorous testing - to ensure the mode itself was balanced. We know Call of Duty developers, including Infinity Ward, have been dealing with PvE content for years - primarily in the form of single-player campaign missions - but DMZ is clearly a different beast entirely.
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