NICKMERCS claims Warzone 2 Ranked Play came “too late” to save the game

NICKMERCS praised Warzone 2 Ranked Play’s system but explained how the mode could have altered the franchise’s trajectory if it came earlier.

Warzone 2 Ranked Play generally received positive reviews from community members when the game mode launched in Season 3 Reloaded. However, a strong first impression didn’t equate to a boost of active players.

Over the month of May, Warzone 2’s peak player count only reached a tick over 104,000 players. When the battle royale sequel first launched, it peaked at over 488,000. These numbers only apply to Steam and not every other platform, but the figures still present a small glimpse at a large problem.

NICKMERCS believes Warzone 2 would have enjoyed more momentum and success if the battle royale added Ranked Play earlier.

Why Warzone needed Ranked Play earlier

In October 2021, NICKMERCS claimed Warzone “can’t survive” without a ranked mode. He cited other content creators jumping ship to play Apex Legends because the game had a ranked mode. Ironically, The Leader of the MFAM Army would eventually abandon Warzone for Apex Legends, as well.

A chat member on stream joked that Nick wouldn’t have even become a professional Apex player if Ranked Play existed during WZ1.

Nick still spends most of his time on Apex, but he returned to Warzone 2 for the launch of Ranked Play and has enjoyed it. After working all the way up to Crimson, NICKMERCS explained why the mode has a strong format.

“It’s a good ranked system, I really like it. I hope they don’t make it easier because I like the challenge.”

Warzone 2’s addicting Ranked Play system made Nick think about what it would have been like if the same game mode launched during WZ1.

“Imagine we had a Ranked Mode in Warzone 1; I keep thinking about it.” This s**t in Verdansk would have hit differently. It’s hitting different as is, and I am on the new one.”

Nick argued Warzone would have been even more popular during its peak, and there would have been no way for someone to convince him to play another game.

Seeing how much fun NICKMERCS is having with Warzone 2 Ranked Play really makes you think how much the franchise’s fortunes could have changed if Activision released the mode sooner.