Call of Duty’s Season 3 has been one of the best seasons of content since the integration of Black Ops Cold War. A lackluster Season 2 is in the rearview, and players are currently racking up kills as Rambo and John McClane in the ’80s Action Heroes event. However, as we look to what could come in Season 4 and beyond, we can see there are still some interesting things potentially on the horizon for Warzone.
Map Changes
Even though Season 3 just nuked the modern Verdansk map, introducing the new Cold War-era Verdansk ’84, we’ve already seen some nice map changes with the mid-season Reloaded update. There’s the arrival of Nakatomi Plaza from Die Hard, which has its own unique missions and lootable vault. There are also smaller additions of Rambo’s survival camps and the CIA Outpost, but it’s uncertain if any of these locations will stick around post-Season 3, as Rambo and McClane’s bundles are set to disappear June 18.
Regardless, Activision already gave a subtle tease for future map changes to Warzone in Call of Duty’s blog that arrived with the launch of Verdansk ’84, specifically around the Salt Mines.
The Salt Mines location sits in Verdansk ’84’s northeastern corner of the map, and Activision gave the location this description: This sprawling space has two large (and currently sealed) entrances, numerous old mine conduits, and a large, craggy hillside to explore about the containment ponds and factories.
The wording “currently sealed” suggests that at some point those old mining tunnels are likely to open up. Maybe this adds something like a brand new point of interest for Warzone, and it’s possible that there’s a bunker or some sort of underground facility waiting to be explored.
And speaking of mines, there’s also a teaser mentioned for the tunnels at the Old Mine, which is located in the northwest portion of Verdansk. If you visit Call of Duty’s Warzone official strategy guide, the Tac Map gives a description for the Old Mine a14 location, but the details on how to access the mine’s interior are partially redacted. This looks similar to when the Tac Map listed redacted info for the bunkers used in Warzone’s previous bunker Easter egg. This could mean that something opens up the mines for new underground playable areas, or maybe this is going to lead into a new Easter egg hunt.
It’s all speculation, but maybe this brings back the return of Buried, the underground western town from Black Ops 2’s Zombies mode. Buried was also added in as a map location on Black Ops 4’s Blackout map. We’ll just have to wait and see.
There could also be lighting changes coming to Verdansk ’84 in the near future, as a visual effects artist from Raven Software has said the studio could adjust the unpopular sun lens flare effect in Call of Duty: Warzone. This would be a great visual improvement for Verdansk, as certain areas of Warzone experience blinding rays of sunlight that can instantly impact your game. Warzone’s smaller map Rebirth Island already received a lighting update that was mostly positively received by the community.
Fast Travel
As previously reported by Charlie Intel, Activision sent out a survey on April 28 asking players which parts of the new Verdansk ’84 map that they most enjoyed. The options on the survey mentioned typical features like lighting changes and updated points of interest, but it also referenced a “Red Doors” fast travel system that actually hasn’t been introduced into Warzone.
A subway fast travel system was introduced to Warzone with Modern Warfare’s Season 6, but the trip back to 1984 removed the subway transit from the game. Something like the Red Door could work as a means to fast travel in the Black Ops Cold War-themed Warzone map, as the Red Door serves as a trippy part of the campaign’s storyline. Certain buildings around Verdansk could have these special red doors that could teleport you to a different section of the map.
This could be a feature that got scrapped during planning stages for Verdansk ’84, but the travel system could still be on the table for a future season, as the Red Door was also teased in the Verdansk ’84 cutscene.
Call of Duty 2021 Reveal Event
Earlier this month, Activision confirmed during its earnings call that the next Call of Duty game will be led by Call of Duty: WWII developer Sledgehammer Games. No other details or release date were announced, but leaks suggest it’s going to be a World War II setting called Call of Duty: Vanguard.
It’s possible we’ll see a Warzone event to officially announce the title, similar to the Know Your History reveal event for Black Ops Cold War, especially since Activision’s Call of Duty CEO, Robert Kostich, suggested that a potential Warzone reveal event could happen again.
Next-Gen Update
Developer Raven Software confirmed a PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S update is in development for Call of Duty: Warzone. We don’t know when this update is coming, but it’s set to include support for the console’s SSD to allow for faster load times, along with 120Hz support. This would also likely allow support for the PlayStation 5’s DualSense controller’s adaptive triggers and haptics.
Hopefully we’ll get some official announcements or teasers for Warzone’s Season 4 soon, which according to the end of Season 3’s battle pass, should be sometime in June. Also, expect Black Ops Cold War’s new baseball bat melee weapon to arrive in Warzone for Season 4.
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