Call of Duty: Warzone is undoubtedly one of the most popular games in the COD line-up, yet no Warzone PS5 upgrade currently exists. Released in March 2020, it has rapidly amassed millions of players in its battle royale set-up. While the game launched before the Playstation 5 or the Xbox Series X, fans hoped that these consoles would be capable of optimising the experience for the next-gen consoles.
While this is the case for the Xbox, which runs Warzone at 120 FPS with a maximum resolution of 2160p, the PS5 is a different story. In comparison, it only runs the game at 60 FPS, and a maximum resolution of 1620p. Apparently, this is because optimising games for the Xbox is a lot easier than it is for the PS5, which requires much more work to create a full native port, rather than a "minor patch".
At the moment, there is no official 'next-gen' version of Call of Duty: Warzone. This means that PS5 owners are currently stuck playing the PS4 version of Warzone, without the likes of 120 FPS gaming that is available on the PS5 version of Black Ops: Cold War, for example. So, when can we expect the upgrade?
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Warzone PS5 update release date
In March 2021, Activision released a texture pack for Call Of Duty: Warzone. Coming in at a chunky 8.4GB - albeit small for a Call of Duty update - this was recommended for PS4 Pro and PS5 users with "high-resolution displays" (think 4K). However, there was no mention of support for 120 FPS.
Fast-forward to June 2021, and Warzone's Season 3 has come to an end. This follows its drastic shift from modern-day Verdansk back towards the 1980s and into the Black Ops Cold War realm. The Season 4 update was first revealed during the Summer Game Fest, showing Satellites crashing down onto Verdansk - Season 4's newest POIs.
Courtesy of Raven's latest patch notes, we now know that the Season 4 update - launching on June 17 - has added 120Hz support for Warzone on the PS5. This means that Warzone is now available to play at 120 FPS, using an HDMI 2.1 cable.
To enable the 120Hz mode on your 120Hz TV or Monitor, first open the PS5 Settings and go to Screen and Video. Under the Video Output section, ensure that the 'Enable 120Hz Output' option is set to 'Automatic', and HDR is turned off. If you're still having trouble with 120Hz after this, we'd also recommend reducing your resolution to 1080p over 4K.
On June 26, Warzone received a new pack to improve its visuals, albeit also available on PS4 Pro and Xbox One X alongside next-gen consoles. This High Resolution Texture Pack allows for players to run Warzone on PS5 in 4K or 1440p resolutions.
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When will the Warzone upgrade for PS5 release?
While enabling 120Hz is a surefire way to make Warzone feel 'next-gen', there are still a few features that Cold War players may hope to see added to Warzone in the near future. These include support for the DualSense's Haptic Feedback and Adaptive Triggers, for example.
There is still plenty of time to go in 2021, but Infinity Ward has given us little to go on regarding the release of a hefty PS5/next-gen Warzone update. Rumours surrounding Call of Duty 2021, allegedly called Vanguard, suggest the game is not in the best state at the moment. If true, it could be that the focus at Activision right now is on getting its next game ready for release, rather than on a PS5 upgrade for Warzone.
Indeed, reports from VGCsuggest that when Vanguard launches, Warzone will simultaneously switch to its World War II setting, as opposed to the stunted Warzone update for Black Ops Cold War. This could be the date which the PS5 upgrade team is targeting.
Courtesy of Charlie Intel, we do know that a next-gen Warzone update is in the works from Raven Software. According to Raven's Creative Director Amos Hodge, Raven has a "dedicated technology team" tasked with updating Warzone for the PS5 and Xbox Series X, although did not give any details on the release date.
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