'Call of Duty: Warzone' is getting its first objective-based mode

For battle royales, it's a case of innovate or die. With several big-name competitors in the free-to-play genre, studios have to keep updating their games or risk losing players. Activision's latest offering for the Call of Duty: Warzone crowd is an objective-based mode called Payload. In a first for the game, the mission will be added to the rotating playlists as part of Season Four Reloaded.

Here's what you can expect from the new mode when it goes live with the update at 12AM ET on Thursday, July 15th. Payload splits players in two teams of 20 that are tasked with either escorting or attacking vehicles transporting satellite parts. Each team must complete their objective within the designated time limit. As usual, you can use custom loadouts or killstreaks (including a new sentry gun from Black Ops Cold War) to help your side clinch victory. You'll also be able to buy and build obstacles to stall the vehicles on the tracks.

The setup doesn't seem all that different from the types of protect or destroy missions available in Rockstar's GTA Online and Read Dead Online. Though, fighting off parachuting assailants or bombarding heavily armed trucks through multiple checkpoints does sound more frenzied. For its part, Activision is pitching Payload as a crucial battle that "can shift the balance of the war between Perseus and NATO."

As for file sizes, the Warzone update will range from 8.9GB to 9.2GB on PlayStation and Xbox and PC, respectively.