Is Warzone free in Modern Warfare 3?

Jacob Hale
Modern Warfare 3 Price cover art with Warzone logo

With the launch of Modern Warfare 3 in November, there are a number of huge changes coming to the Call of Duty franchise. This includes Warzone battle royale, which could look significantly different when it launches — but will it still be free?

Warzone gave Call of Duty a whole new lease of life when it launched in March 2020, bringing even more eyes and players to what is already the best-selling video game of each year.

The game itself has undergone some serious changes since then, with new maps, different movement systems, countless gun metas, and more.

But, the entire time it’s been out, it’s remained free-to play, despite the mainline games still coming in at a premium cost.

The question is, will that change for Modern Warfare 3?

Will Warzone MW3 be free?

Yes, Warzone is free in Modern Warfare 3. It will carry on using the same launcher as Warzone 2, meaning any current players will simply have to update Call of Duty when the game arrives and they should be set to play.

It’s not impossible that Activision could decide to lock the game behind a paywall in the future, but that seems unlikely for now, and shouldn’t be a concern at all when the new Warzone experience does finally arrive, expected to be in December.

The cost of buying Modern Warfare 3 for multiplayer, campaign, and Zombies, however, is a different story.

If you want to get the mainline game, there are two editions of MW3 for you to buy: the Standard Edition and the Vault Edition.

The Standard Edition clocks in at $70 for the base game while, for an extra $30, the Vault Edition will also earn you a number of Operator packs, weapon blueprints, Battle Pass tier skips, and more.

If you only want to play Warzone, however, it won’t cost you a penny.