The first teaser video for "Ko Ko Bop" was revealed during a concert of the SM Town Live World Tour VI. As of June 9, S.M. began to publish individual teasers of the members, where they were revealed fragments of the other songs. The album's title was revealed as "The War" on July 10 by the group's agency and was digitally released on July 18 and physically on the 19th. Pre-sales for the album began on July 10, and purchases caused Synnara's downfall and temporary blocking of site servers. The next day, Synnara revealed that there will be three versions —regular A, regular B, and private— for both the Korean version and Mandarin. The private version has exclusive content like photos taken by the members themselves, comments about the songs, and notes from the producers and the group about the album.