No, you do not need to purchase Modern Warfare II to play Warzone 2.0

Warzone 2.0 has been out for a few days and it’s a hell of a good time once you get past the hardest part of the game: navigating a user interface that looks like it was coded in the fires of digital hell. Besides being clunky, obtuse, glitchy, and not even remotely helpful in finding what you’re looking for, war zone 2 does a fantastic job of making you think you need to buy Modern Warfare II for playing battle royale, especially when looking to party with friends. Whereas IBD is a good time (more for the multiplayer that the country), I am here to inform you that, no, you don’t need to buy Modern Warfare II to play Warzone 2.0.

Modern Warfare II and Warzone 2.0 (and DMZ mode) are all accessible from the same launcher. While that’s not a bad thing in itself, it does lead to some remarkably exhausting confusion. It gets even more confusing if you haven’t paid IBD and you’re partying with people who’ve done it, and it’s even more confusing if you’re doing it on PC and trying to play cross-platform. Rest assured, you don’t have to part with $70 to play the battle royale mode with friends. Here’s how to fully connect with your friends for free in Warzone 2.0.

How to join friends in Warzone 2.0 without buying Modern Warfare II

If you’re playing with friends on the same console (Xbox and Xbox, PlayStation and PlayStation), you should be able to team up like you do in any other game, that said, no matter what platform you’re on , if you haven’t paid IBDyou need to access the Battle Royale menu to avoid getting the prompt that says “Buy Modern Warfare II to get access to everything.” To reiterate, you do not need to buy IBD to play battle royale. Don’t panic (or buy the game) if you see this error:

If you try to accept a squad invite while still in the menu that the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 launcher sends you, you will likely see two warnings: one telling you that the game may not be completely installed, followed by a prompt to purchase Modern Warfare II. Ignore all that bullshit. Before accepting an invitation, scroll down from the main menu and go to the battle royale map (or DMZ if you want to play it, which is also free). Accept a friend’s invite in the Battle Royale menu. If you don’t, the game will pester you to buy Modern Warfare II.

How to join friends via crossplay and on PC

Take a good, deep breath. It’s going to be fine. Warzone 2.0 does not make it easy to understand how to join a friend who is on another platform, especially if you have not purchased Modern Warfare II.

First, you will need to find your Activision ID. If you are in the menus for either Modern Warfare II Where Warzone 2.0, then you have one. Head to the social tab in the game’s main menu, located in the upper right corner.

Here you will see the people currently in your group, as well as your selected carrier. Select “View My Profile” from this menu and you will see your Activision ID on the right side of the screen. It’s a similar format to something like Discord, if you’re familiar with that: a username, a # sign, and a set of numbers.

This is the name you will use to become friends. Once you know the Activision ID of the person you want to befriend and team up with, return to the initial social menu and click on the Friends tab. Click “Add Friends” and enter the Activision ID there. If everything is correct, your friend will receive a friend invite (check the bell icon on the top right for the notification if you miss it.)

With the addition of a sidelined friend, it’s time to team up. As mentioned above, if you haven’t bought Modern Warfare IIyou need to enter the Battle Royale menu to accept a party invitation from someone. Scroll down and select DMZ or Battle Royale (depending on which mode you want to play) and load it into that specific menu instance. You’ll know you’ve come to the right place if you see “Battle Royale” in the top left corner of the main menu. Send and accept friend invites with players who don’t have Modern Warfare II from here and only here.

If you’ve already sent an invite and a player couldn’t join because they weren’t in the right menu, there are a few other options in the menu to send a new invite, but often this is locked (sometimes it seems like you can’t send more than one invitation to the same person). If you have this problem, just exit Call of Dutyrestart the game, go to the battle royale menu, then send or request an invite.

Feeling tired? Yeah me too. It’s 2022 and the menus are officially harder than the games they launch. But don’t let Warzone 2.0 trick you into buying Modern Warfare II if you do not want. Now team up and go cause trouble on purpose.