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Call Of Duty: Black Ops Cold War And Warzone--Synchronized XP, Battle Pass, New Prestige System, And More

Activision shares a long list of important details about how Modern Warfare, Warzone, and Black Ops Cold War will work together.

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With the communities for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Warzone still going very strong, Activision is changing things up for how these games will continue to be supported when Black Ops Cold War launches on November 13, and the changes sound exciting.

This includes XP and leveling shared across the three games, a new Prestige system, expanded cross-play, and more. Below is a rundown of the key points, but be sure to read Activision's incredibly detailed blog post to get all the details.

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Now Playing: Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War - Official PC Features Trailer

Synchronized Levelling

Starting with player progression, for the first time in Call of Duty's history across mainline titles, there will be "synchronized" progression across Modern Warfare, Warzone, and Black Ops Cold War. This begins on November 13 with a new system that leads up to the launch of Season One on December 10, which is when Black Ops content will come to Warzone. Here is how Activision describes the process:

"Players will begin by completing Military Ranks, a traditional leveling journey to unlock functional gameplay items. Once completed, Black Ops Cold War players will enter an updated and improved Season Leveling that begins at game launch with the Pre-Season, and which becomes synchronized with all three games at the beginning of Season One on December 10th."

When Season One begins in December, all XP and levelling will be shared across Modern Warfare, Warzone, and Black Ops Cold War.

With the change, your ranks (1-55) will be known as Military Ranks, and they will be "synchronized" across all three games. You can play normally in any game, and you'll rank up in each. The Black Ops Cold War Zombies mode also shares this new progression system.

When Season One starts, player levels will be reset to 0 for Modern Warfare and Warzone, so that everyone starts with the same rank when Black Ops Cold War launches with Season One. Only XP is reset, however, so you aren't losing any items you've purchased or unlocked.

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New Prestige System

The Office Progression levels are going to be known as Season Levels, and they are synced with all three games. "Seasonal Progression has been updated with aspects of the traditional Prestige system, allowing players to unlock and use rewards, including some incredibly cool legacy player identity items from the world of Black Ops," Activision said.

All of your XP and leveling from Black Ops Cold War, Warzone, and Modern Warfare will contribute to your Season Leveling and Prestige level.

Activision said the "preferred" way to reach Prestige is to play Black Ops Cold War because there will be specific XP events and "other advantages" in that game and presumably not the others.

Weapon Progression

For weapons, every gun from Modern Warfare and new ones from Black Ops Cold War will be available in Warzone. "The current plan is for Warzone to also include all Primary and Secondary weapons available throughout the lifespan of Black Ops Cold War, including launch and Season weapons, as well as every single Weapon Blueprint," Activision said. "Naturally, this includes the assortment of free weapons you received during every Season of Modern Warfare, just for playing the game."

Activision said it has no plans to remove any guns from Warzone. However, weapons from Modern Warfare cannot be used in Black Ops Cold War and Black Ops Cold War weapons can't be used in Modern Warfare. In the Warzone menu, you will see the Black Ops and Modern Warfare logos on each gun to show which game it originally debuted in.

In terms of progression for weapons, this applies across Black Ops Cold War and Modern Warfare. "Choose an available weapon from Black Ops Cold War or Modern Warfare and use it in Warzone. All XP and leveling counts both in Warzone and the game from which the weapon originated. Work to unlock weapons and attachments for any weapon you like in either game by playing that game or Warzone," Activision said.

As for other items, Modern Warfare's perks, lethal equipment, tactical equipment, field upgrades, and some killstreaks will stay in Warzone. Also of note is that all weapon progression and unlocks will remain intact when Season One kicks off.

Operators

All Operators from Modern Warfare and Black Ops Cold War will come into Warzone, and this also includes any skins you might have purchased or unlocked through gameplay. There is one exception, however, as the indomitable Marine Corps Master Sergeant version of Frank Woods is only available in Modern Warfare and Warzone. You can get this skin by preordering Black Ops Cold War digitally.

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Battle Pass

As with previous seasons, there will be a new Battle Pass available when Black Ops Cold War launches. This Battle Pass will include content for Black Ops Cold War and Warzone, and progress is shared between Modern Warfare, Warzone, and Black Ops Cold War. Activision said it expects to deliver "a multitude of fresh and exciting Battle Pass" items, though they were not disclosed.

Activision said it has no current plans to remove any Warzone content, but this could happen in some situations. "To ensure the best possible player experience, there may be occasions where content is delayed, or becomes temporarily or permanently inaccessible," Activision said.

The Store

The Call of Duty in-game store is also coming to Black Ops Cold War, and content purchased in the new game can also be used in Warzone, for the most part. Players can spend COD Points to purchase various cosmetics, and while most can be used in Warzone, those that can't will be marked as such.

Cross-Play

Modern Warfare and Warzone already enabled cross-play, and this continues with Black Ops Cold War. There will also be a new feature called Cross-Title Invites, and this lets you invite friends who are playing one of the three titles to join yours; the leader will choose which game you'll play. There is also cross-gen cross-play, so people on Xbox One can play against those on PS5 or any other variant.

Head to Activision's ridiculously detailed blog post to get more details on all of this and the future of Call of Duty.

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