Here's exactly when you can play Call of Duty: Warzone Black Ops Royale

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The hotly anticipated new battle royale mode is here, and here's when you can play it.

Call of Duty: Warzone screenshots for Black Ops Royale.
Black Ops Royale is bringing the spirit of the first Call of Duty battle royale experience back to life. (Image credit: Activision)
Recent updates

Update March 10: Amended the launch time information for Europe based on the U.S. having put the clocks forward. It brings the launch of Black Ops Royale forward by one hour than we previously stated.

Having been teased since the launch of Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, we now finally know more about the new Blackout-inspired battle royale mode we've been waiting on.

As it's in Warzone (and unlike the original Blackout) you don't need to own Black Ops 7 in order to play. It's free for all to enjoy, though it does things a little differently, and it's only for Black Ops 7 weapons and equipment.

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Exactly when you can play Black Ops Royale in Call of Duty: Warzone

Black Ops Royale is coming to Call of Duty: Warzone! - YouTube Black Ops Royale is coming to Call of Duty: Warzone! - YouTube
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— Black Ops Royale is coming to Call of Duty: Warzone!

While Black Ops Royale will launch with Season 02 Reloaded, it won't be live at the same time as the rest of the content drops.

Black Ops Royale goes live on Thursday, March 12, at 9pm PT, which is midnight Friday, March 13, on the East Coast, and a more sleep-defying 4am GMT and 5am in mainland Europe.

Black Ops Royale brings the spirit of Blackout to the modern Warzone audience and completely changes up the gameplay. Gone are the loadouts and buy stations; instead, you have to scavenge all of your gear in order to survive and, ultimately, win.

It's set on the new Avalon map that, until now, has only been part of the campaign and the Endgame modes.

This is an original Blackout-inspired Battle Royale with no Loadouts, no Gulag, and no Buy Stations. Wingsuit in, scavenge to survive, upgrade weapons through rarity, master Cradle Breaches, and outlast 24 rival squads on Avalon’s massive warzone.

Activision

The Wingsuit will be a vital tool for traversing the large Avalon map quickly. The original Call of Duty battle royale Perks system is back, albeit with a twist. None of the five slots are fixed, they can be swapped and consumed as needed to give yourself the ultimate edge.

This is one of the biggest changes to Warzone in recent memory, and whether it truly does recapture the glorious old days, time will tell. At least we don't have to wait too much longer.

I'm just wondering if there will be any easter eggs to unlock...

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Richard Devine
Richard Devine
Managing Editor

Richard Devine is the Managing Editor at Windows Central, where he combines a deep love for the open-source community with expert-level technical coverage. Whether he’s hunting for the next big project on GitHub, fine-tuning a WSL workflow, or breaking down the latest meta in Call of Duty, Forza, and The Division 2, Richard focuses on making complex tech accessible to every kind of user. If it’s happening in the world of Windows or PC gaming, he’s probably already knee-deep in the code (or the lobbies). Follow him on X and Mastodon.

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