Call of Duty: Warzone is going back to its roots for Season 3. Activision and the team of developers behind the massive free-to-play battle royale title have confirmed that the original Warzone map, Verdansk, is returning on April 3.
Verdansk is only part of the return to classic Call of Duty: Warzone, however, as both the game’s Big Map and overall gameplay is set to see dramatic changes with the start of Season 3.
Not everything is going to be a 1:1 recreation of how you remember it, though. So let’s take a look at what we can expect for Verdansk 2.0.
When can I play Verdansk in Call of Duty: Warzone?
Verdansk will replace Urzikstan as the official Big Map for Call of Duty: Warzone’s Battle Royale mode on April 3. Players can preload the Season 3 update for the Call of Duty HQ on April 2 on all platforms and enjoy a 24-hour Free Trial of all Black Ops 6 premium content while they wait for Verdansk to go live.
A brief history of Call of Duty: Warzone and its Big Maps
In March 2020, the world changed. Right as we all slowed to a global standstill due to the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Activision released Call of Duty: Warzone — the first free-to-play standalone title in the long-running first-person shooter franchise’s history.
Fortnite, Apex Legends, and Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds stood as established free-to-play contenders in a genre quickly becoming satiated. However, Warzone had the backing of its attachment to one of gaming’s best-known brands and impeccable timing to help propel it onto players’ hard drives.
Within 24 hours, more than 6 million players had logged into Warzone and experienced battle royale on Verdansk for the first time.
Warzone’s success ultimately changed the shape of Call of Duty forever, and the decision was made that all future premium Call of Duty titles—the annually released Modern Warfare and Black Ops series of games—would need to tie in to Warzone.
To keep the story line somewhat in check, Call of Duty Warzone’s Big Map for battle royale would see notable changes. First, with the release of Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, we saw the original Verdansk nuked and replaced with a version of itself from 1984 in the fall of 2020.
Verdansk 84 then gave way to the Pacific Island of Caldera when Sledgehammer Games’ Call of Duty: Vanguard was released in 2021. Caldera would remain the Big Map for Warzone until the original Battle Royale experience shuttered in favor of its successor, Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0.
Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 launched alongside Infinity Ward’s Modern Warfare 2 (2022) and offered upgraded graphics, a new launcher that tied the COD experience together, and the ill-fated DMZ mode. The Big Map on offer at this time was Al Mazrah, a sprawling desert city that lacked the sparkle of previous Warzone maps — and protective cover.
Al Mazrah left a bad taste in a lot of players’ mouths while it was the main Battle Royale map, and players rejoiced when it was replaced with the city of Urzikstan in 2023. While not quite Verdansk, Urzikstan did offer a lot of the same charming elements with dense city streets, towering high rises, and other points of interest that offered engaging combat opportunities.
But it wasn’t Verdansk, and by 2024, calls for the return to the original Warzone were growing louder than ever. The return of Verdansk was announced during the Black Ops 6 Call of Duty: NEXT event, but it wouldn’t be until Spring 2025 before we actually got to assemble the squad and hit our favorite drop zones one more time.
Welcome back to Verdansk
Verdansk is returning to Call of Duty: Warzone in a new and improved state. The map has been enhanced with better visuals and greater draw distances thanks to the upgraded Call of Duty engine, along with some quality of life improvements over its predecessor.
According to the Call of Duty blog, the 2025 version of Verdansk has been “painstakingly rebuilt from the ground up to give you the very best battle royale experience possible.”
The Call of Duty team claims that the latest iteration of Verdansk is 95% a rebuilt version of the original 2020 map, with the remaining five percent of the map receiving light adjustments such as added cover and other quality of life improvements. Not all features from the original Verdansk’s seasonal changes will be available when the map relaunches on April 3.
The Metro Station entrances, for example, will be present but closed at the start of Season 3, though future changes to Verdansk are planned for upcoming seasons.
Familiar but enhanced
Players can expect to see a lot of familiar points of interest in Verdansk when they drop in on April 3, but with some minor enhancements to details. Areas like the Karst River Quarry and the interior of Superstore are one to one recreations of the 2020 version of the Big Map, but will be slightly enhanced with improved lighting and minor detail changes.
A lot of the map has also received detail passes, adding just a little more grime and texture. However, the map has undergone a thaw, meaning the Gora River is no longer frozen. This results in changes to how players hear approaching enemy footsteps as they move through ankle-deep water, as opposed to traversing over ice.
If you were planning to parachute into the rooftop of building 3 at Storage Town, you’ll want to make sure you protect yourself from the newly added ladder that can allow enemy operators a better opportunity at stopping your reign of terror.
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The Gora Dam returns in all of its (currently undestructed) glory, though it now features a new jetty over the ice. The dealership at the Airport now has a new pathway to the upper interior. Meanwhile, a series of cargo planes and runway jacks have been added to the Airport’s tarmac to provide better coverage so that players moving into the airport don’t become sitting ducks for the snipers above.
When Call of Duty: Warzone originally launched in 2020, our operators hadn’t quite mastered the art of swimming. Now that it is a more viable tactic, Verdansk 2.0 will open up the Kastovian Sea with a brand-new shoreline to explore. This provides new access points along the edge of the map toward the Prison, taking players across marshlands, trenches, and the mouth of the Karst River.
Verdansk Points of Interest
Verdansk will feature 19 major points of interest at the start of Season 3.
- Dam
- Military Base
- Quarry
- Airport
- Storage Town
- Superstore
- TV Station
- Boneyard
- Train Station
- Hospital
- Stadium
- Lumber
- Downtown
- Farmland
- Promenade
- Hills
- Park
- Port
- Prison
Not exactly how you remember it
Not every single element of the map is 1:1 recreation, as tree placement may be changed, parked vehicles that aren’t drivable will now more clearly be wreckage, and the ability to swim has changed how the map can be accessed in some areas.
“Goat Trails” are more prominent to allow better access to some of Verdansk’s steeper, rockier areas so that players can more easily navigate hillsides.
Doors are double-hinged, can be barged through, and can be shot or blown open and closed.
Ascenders will be added to various areas of the map for Battle Royale until later in Season 3. They have also undergone some changes, with a new L-shaped mechanic that allows for faster traversal.
Art passes, scenery enhancements, and lighting improvements have been added across the map, so if you’re planning to sit in a dark corner while wearing a Roze skin — no, you’re not.
Gameplay changes coming to Season 3
Warzone isn’t just going back to Verdansk, it is also going back to basics. The Call of Duty team has made adjustments to the gameplay loop based on player feedback, with a lot of Warzone 2.0 choices being rolled back to embrace more of what made its predecessor so charming.
One such change? Floating loot, baby! No more watching your loadout pop out of a box and fall through the floor or get stuck under a crate or getting shot unexpectedly while looking down to determine if you want to pick up that weapon. Loot will also float when it bursts from downed foes.
Verdansk will offer 150 players per match, with the original announcer returning alongside all of its original cinematics and the much-requested ability to shoot during infil again. However, it’s not all a reversal. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 introduced Omnimovement, and that will continue in Call of Duty: Warzone. Some changes to omnimovement, including spring speed scaling and slide friction, will be addressed to preserve the feel and flow of engagements.
Loadouts and loot
Before diving into Verdansk, take a moment to update your loadout. The full array of MW2, MW3, and BO6 weapons and equipment will be accessible to all players, including perks and wildcards.
The OG armor satchel will return, and all other armor satchels (including the ammo satchel) will be removed. Players can carry up to eight armor plates, up from five. Armor satchels can be found in supply crates or ground loot.
The reusable supply box can be found throughout Verdansk, as well as standard and higher rarity supply boxes in their original color schemes with the OG “hum” sound.
With the mid-season refresh, players can expect the return of High Value Loot Zones at your favorite POIs — complete with a higher risk of enemy engagements.
While Field Upgrades will return in Verdansk, they’re going to undergo a bit of a “retro refresh”. The available streaks and field upgrades include:
- Field Upgrades:
- Munitions Box
- Heartbeat Sensor
- Deployable Cover
- P.D.S. (Decontamination Station)
- Trophy System
- Loadout Drop Marker (Grenade and Crate)
- Armor Box
- Recon Drone.
- Killstreaks:
- UAV
- Advanced UAV
- Precision Airstrike
- Cluster Strike
- Bunker Buster
- Equipment:
- Flash Bang
- Smoke Grenade
- Concussion Grenade
- Decoy Grenade
- Snapshot Grenade
- Stim
- Frag Grenade
- Semtex Grenade
- C4
- Spring Mine
- Molotov
- Throwing Knife
- Thermite
Some field upgrades and scorestreaks, like the deployable decontamination station and bunker buster, will not be available at launch but will return during the midseason refresh.
Buy Station overhaul
The dreaded Buy Station menu is getting an overhaul and returning to its original state. Vertical menu styling with purchases scaled back except for in Plunder modes, which have been updated.
If you want to pick up a Specialist bonus, you’ll need to wait for the Season 3 Reloaded update or search for the hidden freebie somewhere on Verdansk.
One of the best new features that could possibly be coming to Buy Stations, however? The new “Redeploy all” button to quickly buy back your entire squad (so long as you have the cash.)
Contracts and events
Contracts and events can change up the gameplay of a Warzone match, turning the tide for players who know how to make the most of the switch up. Players can look forward to OG contracts returning with the Season 3 Reloaded update, including original Bounty, Most Wanted, and Scavenger contracts. Recon contracts, supply runs, and contract multipliers will be available at launch.
Players can also look forward to Big Game Bounties and Train recon contracts with the midseason refresh.
For public events, the following will be available at launch, with additional events coming later:
- Fire Sale
- Jail Break
- Restock
- Loadout Drop
- Capture the Flag (Gulag Variant)
Quality of Life adjustments
An array of quality of life adjustments can be expected at launch and the following Season 3 Reloaded update, which we can likely expect sometime in May. Among those adjustments are the following changes:
- Redeploy All squad buyback (launch)
- Weapon Inspect with attachment list (launch)
- Prioritize favorited loadouts (launch)
- New tac-map settings for centering and zoom under Map Assist
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A more detailed death recap widget is also coming to the hud with the launch Verdansk. The death recap has previously shown the attacking player’s name and how much damage was dealt.
The new widget will show additional information including the attacker’s name, weapon, damage and hits, and whether you were affected via a live ping, UAV, or unsuppressed weapons.
Speaking of pings, if you’ve ever had a teammate that could be a little heavy-handed on the marking system, you’ll appreciate the new settings to control how long a ping remains displayed on your screen.
The squad widget is also getting a face lift, and will now show your teammate’s carried field upgrade alongside icons for their armor plates, gas mask, and killstreak.
Call of Duty: Warzone Season 3 Maps and Modes
Goodbye Urzikstan and the newly released Resurgence map, Area 99 that has only been a part of Warzone for three short months. Urzikstan will be retired from Warzone while Area 99 will only be on hiatus for a limited time.
In the meantime, its back to the OG with Verdansk and Rebirth Island. Here are the modes you can expect:
- Battle Royale
- Verdansk, 150 players, 25 minute matches
- Battle Royale Casual
- 28 players and up to 120 bots
- Plunder (Quads)
- 100 players, 20 minute matches
- Warzone Bootcamp
- Training, 12 players, 32 bots, 15 minute matches
- Resurgence
- Rebirth Island, 44 players, 15 minute matches
- Battle Royale Ranked Play
- Verdansk, 150 players in teams of 3 (coming midseason)
Call of Duty: Warzone is a free-to-play battle royale mode bundled together with the Call of Duty HQ launcher. You do not need to own premium Call of Duty titles to download and play Warzone. The game is available on Xbox, PlayStation, and Windows PCs via Steam, the Microsoft Store, and Battle.Net.
Players with Xbox Game Pass can play Modern Warfare 3 (2023) and Black Ops 6 as part of their Xbox Game Pass subscription.
