Why I Left Warzone for Apex Legends and Never Looked Back

I’m going to be honest with you: I wanted to love Call of Duty: Warzone. I really did. When Raven Software launched it back in March 2020, it felt like the battle royale I’d been waiting for. But fast-forward to 2026, and looking back at the last few years, I can’t help but feel like Warzone and I grew apart. Not because I stopped liking shooters — but because Warzone kept tripping over its own feet. 🎮

The Bug That Broke the Camel’s Back

Since launch, Warzone has suffered from a seemingly never-ending series of bugs. Some were game-breaking, some were ridiculous, and some were both. I’ve dealt with controllers disconnecting mid-fight, spawn issues that dropped me into certain death, and unkillable opponents who just refused to die. Don’t get me started on the holiday events.

For the holiday season, Raven Software tried to add some lighthearted fun with the Festive Fervor update. Cute idea, right? Wrong. As soon as Krampus — the enemy NPC — appeared on the map to hunt someone, players started crashing. And if that wasn’t bad enough, the folklore monster would sometimes turn invisible, block player movement, and kill people seemingly out of nowhere. I mean, come on. How do you make a Christmas event scarier than the actual horror games?

That was around the time I noticed more and more of my friends list switching to other shooters. Respawn’s Apex Legends and even 2016’s Battlefield 1 started popping up as ‘currently playing.’ It wasn’t just my circle, either. Twitch streamer Kalei Renay — who became the first female member of FaZe Clan in June — had enough. When another streamer named Ayden tweeted that he’d played Apex Legends for an hour and found it ‘very refreshing,’ Kalei replied that maybe everybody should just switch to Respawn’s free-to-play hero shooter. Her tweet got nearly 3,000 likes. And yeah, I was one of those likes. 😅

The Replies Told the Whole Story

The replies to FaZe Kalei’s tweet were a perfect snapshot of the community’s mood. Some people hoped that a mass exodus from Warzone would force Activision and Raven Software to finally fix the game’s plethora of issues. Others scoffed, saying Activision probably wouldn’t care if players left. And a third group simply replied, ‘Already made the move.’ Honestly? That third group was the most honest.

Here’s a quick breakdown of how I saw the vibe:

Reaction	What it sounded like
Hopeful	‘Maybe they’ll finally fix the game.’
Cynical	‘They don’t care. Warzone prints money.’
Already gone	‘Apex is my main now. Sorry, not sorry.’

I fell into the ‘already gone’ camp pretty fast. But let’s be fair: Apex Legends has had its own bugs, too. Respawn’s holiday-themed update introduced an exploit that let Loba glitch inside the Winter Express train. Players using it became unkillable while keeping the vehicle constantly contested, which prevented the opposing team from earning points. So no, Apex wasn’t perfect.

But Apex Still Felt Like Home

Here’s the thing, though: those bugs didn’t keep me from enjoying the game. And the numbers back that up. Respawn released its year-in-review stats for Apex Legends, and they were wild. In 2020, more than 22 billion Apex Legends players were killed, 5.5 billion were revived, and 1 billion were respawned. Players used 16 billion ultimates, and despite the Mozambique being known as the worst gun in the game, it still racked up 446 million kills. That’s not a typo — 446 million. The Mozambique. The meme gun. 🤯

Apex Legends was available on PC, PS4, and Xbox One back then. By 2026, it’s on basically everything, and the core loop still feels smoother than Warzone ever did for me. When I drop into a match now, I’m not wondering if my controller will disconnect or if an invisible monster will block a doorway. I’m just playing. And that’s all I ever wanted.

So, do I regret leaving Warzone? Not really. I still check in from time to time, because old habits die hard. But if you’re sitting there, frustrated by another crash, another glitch, another ‘how is this still happening’ moment, maybe Kalei was right. Maybe it’s time to switch. Or at least take a break and try something that respects your time.

After all, video games are supposed to be fun. Right? 🙂