Warzone 2 BR player count significantly reduced in Season 5
ActivisionWarzone 2 Season 5 has changed the player count on Al Mazrah, as well as bringing some circle changes. Here’s the dev’s reasoning for the change.
Warzone 2 Season 5 doesn’t just bring fresh content to the game, with new weapons, vehicles, and Operators, but the update also brings various tweaks and balance changes.
Not only will players have to deal with weapon buffs and nerfs that will ultimately shift the meta, but the devs have also decided to drastically reduce the player count for Al Mazrah in Season 5 of the battle royale.
This came as a bit of a surprise, as Al Mazrah has featured 150 players since the game’s launch. However, in Season 5, the devs have reduced this, and they have also provided an explanation behind the change.
Devs explain Warzone 2 Season 5 Al Mazrah player count reduction
In the Warzone 2 Season 5 patch notes, the devs revealed that “all Squad Sizes on Al Mazrah Battle Royale have had their Player counts reduced to 100, down from 150.“
This is only for the casual playlist, as the Ranked Play player count will stay the same at 150. The devs explained that they reduced the player count in order to “prevent the match feeling too chaotic,” while also providing “improved matchmaking times, faster pre-game lobbies, and a better quality of match overall.”
The devs hope that the reduced player count paired with an increase in second-chance mechanics (Gulag Tokens, Redeploy Packs, Reinforcement Flares, reduced buy-back prices) and circle changes in Season 5 “will elevate the pace of a Battle Royale match with more gameplay uptime.”
Faster circle times in Warzone 2 Season 5
The devs also decided to bring some circle changes to Al Mazrah in Warzone 2 Season 5, which they claim will aid their aim to provide more gameplay uptime and increase matchmaking efficiency. Here are the full circle changes for Al Mazrah:
- Circle Timing
- The “Delay Time” before the first movement of the gas is now 90 seconds, down from 220 seconds.
- The “Close Time” of how long the gas takes to collapse to the next size is now 215 seconds, down from 270 seconds.
- This change does not apply to Ranked Play.
- Circle Size
- Decreased the size of the initial circle.
- This change does not apply to Ranked Play.
Ultimately, with these changes, the devs are aiming to increase the speed at which battle royale games are completed, allowing for faster matchmaking times and, therefore, more gameplay uptime.
We’ll have to wait and see how far this will impact the game and if the changes will achieve that goal.
If you’re more of a DMZ player, check out the full patch notes for the mode in Season 5, as well as how to get the Niki Minaj, Snoop Dogg, and 21 Savage Operators.