A year of Hype turning into one year of Disappointment

COD Warzone Mobile is an action shooter battle-royale title from Activision. In November 2023, the game opened pre-registration for Android and then iOS. Later, in March 2024, it was released on both iOS and Android platforms. To everyone’s surprise, the game came to an unexpected end just after a year of its release. The game was announced to be delisted from App Stores on May 18, 2025. Though the active players will keep getting support, there will be no newcomers.

While high hopes were circulating among the fanbase and communities, we were equally excited to test the game. But our excitement was nipped in the bud only after a month or a little bit more. The game failed to create a fanbase, and loyalty remained a far-gone thing. And finally, Warzone Mobile met an unexpected end, also earning a place in our missed opportunity list.

The title generated a humongous hype only to disappoint the hyped

When the title was announced, it was a blast in the mobile gaming community. While many thought it would become a big release, few could not resist carrying the same slogan. It reached over 80 million pre-registrations on all platforms. Gamers could not wait any longer to see the mass hit on their handheld devices.

Despite such hype and appraisal before the launch, the game failed to meet the bare minimum expectations. Though the start was fine, with a collection of over a million dollars in just four days. But it took no time to meet heavy criticisms, flooding the communities.

Reports such as slow loadings, lack of events, etc., were floating around. Even if top-tier devices like S25 Ultra couldn’t handle the game better. Besides, the bug threads from moderators were overflowing with complaints. Thus, the game slowly turned its back on seeing broad daylight. Instead of trying to revive it, the developers finally gave up after accepting defeat.

Poor optimization and developer support remain the primary reasons for the unexpected end

Activision, before announcing the game’s delisting, quoted it as, “It, unfortunately, has not met our expectations with mobile-first players like it has with PC and console audiences.” It also said that it has considered various factors before making such a decision. However, we do not know what factors influenced the unexpected end of this promising title, but we sure can guess some.

While we’re still shouting its death to be “unexpected“, I wonder if that’s even true! Warzone Mobile came out with several interesting features, with cross-platform availability sitting on top. However, the game never took off since its launch and was plagued with problems.

Poor optimization, like excessive battery draining, heating issues, device compatibility, low FPS issues, and stuttering, made the game nearly impossible for players to get it tight. Even with high-end devices, players failed to cope with it. While iOS users could get something out of it, Android users were facing the opposite.

Players with the latest Android flagships, such as RedMagic 9+ Pro, couldn’t find the enemies because the game was too blurry. Reports of invisible textures and overheating were the most common types of issues that arose. The funny thing was that the game even opened multiple threads, each with a bug, and asked players to comment on their issues!

Game compatibility is lacking, with in-house competition reducing the player count

As mentioned before, the game suffered from bug issues. When a game is launched, it needs to be compatible with mid to low-end devices. Even if the title becomes huge, it needs to cover these fields to ensure more players can join, which would accelerate the earnings and make the game sustainable in the vast competitive market in the long run.

For example, PUBG Mobile and other leading titles like Mobile Legends, Honor of Kings, etc., are compatible with low-end devices. Based on the specification of a device, these games have several versions and allow players to choose. On the other hand, a game like Free Fire is dedicated to low-end devices.

So, even if there’s a lack of control, graphics, sound, or anything else that needs to be “qualified” as a mainstream or flagbearer of mobile gaming is avoidable. But Warzone Mobile isn’t anything like Free Fire; rather was considered to be a direct competitor to the others previously mentioned. So, it needed everything to be “perfect“.

This is not a “one key to press” or a problem where the “next update will fix it all” problem. Rather, the game needs to be under close inspection with developers interacting directly with the players all the time to make the game more accessible.

This brings us to the same point again: the game didn’t receive any such support. So, the remaining players were turning away from the game. Another big reason for meeting the dead-end is its in-house competitor, COD Mobile.

Though Activision was in charge of publishing the title, it was pretty much a competitor for Warzone Mobile, with almost everything covered up. COD Mobile is already in a good position and has taken a great grip in the FPS genre. While it offers everything that gamers were craving, Warzone Mobile was suffering from its self-destructive issues.

Looking at the overall revenue of both games, Warzone Mobile amassed a total of $17 million in lifetime revenue while COD Mobile crossed $3 billion before 2024. Now, our missed title is running with life support, and you know already it is going to meet a dead end.

Warzone Mobile is a missed opportunity, a big failure to remember for the upcoming titles

Killing games won’t solve the problems, but the best thing it could do is to pay enough attention to the problem of discontinuing a title that doesn’t appear in the first place. Dismissing a title is not the cure that game companies are looking for; instead, fixing the ongoing issues to bring enough engagement is the primary way to kickstart the revival process. And players aren’t even surprised to see the shutdown announcement, as it was obvious for this game.

Though the company is discontinuing forefront titles like this one, it also revealed plans with the same franchise by bringing other games that go by the same name. We reported that the company is exploring multiple mobile games, highly ambitious ones.

However, the game now becomes a missed opportunity for us, while core fans like me and many others out there, it is indeed a bolt from the blue. Growing up with the franchise and now watching the death of these humongous titles doesn’t match the scenes we imagined. The game died way faster than a newbie dies after jumping into his first match.

As the game is now unavailable, just to let you know that we were pretty in touch with it. We covered the Beginners Guide and Tips, and a List of all the Killstreaks in the game. Besides, we also covered the COD Warzone Mobile Best Settings Guide, COD Warzone Mobile Perks Guide, COD Warzone Mobile Weapon Tier List, and Tips to upgrade your guns quickly. However, all of these will keep reminding us of the care and attention we gave, and so will you.

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