Will Verdansk’s map be destroyed in Warzone? Leaks hint at a major in-game event

With the first year of Call of Duty: Warzone being a huge success, many fans are curious when a new map arrives. Here’s everything we know so far about a new battle royale map, the potential release date, and how it will interact with Black Ops Cold War.

When Rebirth Island first came out in Warzone, it’s probably fair to say that some players were slightly disappointed. The map, which is based on the original Black Ops ‘Rebirth’ mission, was never intended to be a major new battle royale map, but it still left some players feeling slightly under-built. modified. A large map, the size of Verdansk (or slightly larger if recent rumors are to be believed), should arrive later.

Rumors have already been circulating about another new Warzone setting, although Rebirth Island will only launch with Season 1 in mid-December. This update also saw Black Ops Cold War integrated into Warzone, but this is far from the end of BOCW’s influence in Warzone.

Map of the Ural Mountains war zone

The most widespread rumor surrounding a future Warzone map is that it will take a major influence on Black Ops Cold War’s Fireteam: Dirty Bomb maps.

The current maps in Treyarch’s new mode are Alpine, Ruka, and Sanatorium, all located in the Ural Mountains in Russia. Ruka has the code name “wz_forest” in the game files, while Alpine’s is “wz_ski_slopes”. Likewise, fans have noticed that Sanatorium is down as “wz_sanatorium” in the game files.

As a 40-player game mode, the maps in FTDB are considerably larger than a standard 6v6 map. Speculation suggests that they would fit as different POIs in a larger battle royale map. According to current speculations, the Sanatorium is in the southwest, Alpine in the southeast, and Ruka in the heart of it.

This new card would therefore be an easy transition. Fireteam already uses several Warzone mechanics, like skydiving, down-but-not-out states, pings, armor, and looting.

Given the ties to Black Ops Cold War, we might well see even more of a cross between the battle royale and the 2020 CoD installment. More weapons will make the switch as Treyarch adds them, with scores and vehicles also possible.

Fireteam maps have vehicles such as T-72 tanks, dirt bikes, buggies, snowmobiles, and helicopters, some of which are already available in Warzone. Rumors also say that like Blackout battle royale in Black Ops 4, the water will be crossed by boats.

Finally, there are suggestions that some CoD historical maps could be listed as POIs. Summit and WMD, for example, are both located in the Ural Mountains. In fact, WMD takes place on Mount Yamantau, a mountain whose name was specifically verified in a recent paper on Rebirth Island Easter Eggs. Some fans have taken this as a clue to WMD’s future comeback.

Will zombies return to Warzone?

If the latest rumors are to be believed, we may see more hordes of undead take over Warzone when the new map finally debuts. Speculation began on February 11, when a new machine appeared at Warzone Rumble Hospital in Verdansk.

This particular machine first appeared in Black Ops Cold War’s Zombies mode and was used to earn rewards after completing challenges. When approached, the prompt reads ZAI / ACTIVATE_ZOMBIES, which could be a teaser or an indication that he’s not supposed to be there yet.

Some players also experienced screen distortion when entering an office on the new Rebirth Island map, which had already happened in August 2020 when teasing Warzone’s crossover with Black Ops Cold War, suggesting that something big is on the way.

Warzone new map release date, season 2

At the time of writing, these details remain strictly rumors, with the potential implementation of a map of the Urals mountains still far away. Leaks and rumors have hinted at a March 2021 release date, which would coincide with Warzone’s first anniversary.

Some fans were hoping to see a new map implemented at the start of Season 2, but that seems increasingly unlikely given the changes coming to Verdansk in this update. Our only new confirmed POI is the tanker Vodianoy approaching the port.

You can already see the new Vodinoy cargo ship off Verdansk in #Warzone!

(via @MrTheRevertz) pic.twitter.com/V3kWvyM14d

– DEXERTO Call of Duty (@DexertoIntel) February 18, 2021

It seems unlikely that Raven will implement any major changes to the map, only to make them obsolete soon after with a brand new map. There is, however, some potential for the ship and its “ unknown cargo ” to be a first narrative step towards a new map.

This matches the Activision season 2 ad using the tagline “The End Begins”. The end of Verdansk, perhaps?