Hurry and get those battle passes finished up, folks, as the first season of post-launch content for Modern Warfare 3 is quickly drawing to a close. There’s a fresh new slate of content on the horizon for Season 2, including a brand-new battle pass, new operator bundles, and the return of a fan-favorite map for Warzone. Let’s take a moment to break down the content we can look forward to over the next 60 days.
Call of Duty: Season 2 — Release date
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and Warzone will both receive the update to kick off Season 2 on Wednesday, February 7 at 9 AM PT/12 PM ET. While Season 2 contains an absolute onslaught of new content, including the most maps released for multiplayer in a season in recent memory, we don’t have the full set of patch notes just yet. Those can be expected closer to launch.
Call of Duty: Season 2 — MW3 multiplayer maps
The Call of Duty teams are pulling out all the stops for multiplayer this season, releasing more new maps and map variants than we’ve been accustomed to seeing for Seasonal patches these last few years. Players can look forward to four new 6v6 Core maps: three brand-new battlegrounds and one remaster of a fan-favorite from Sledgehammer Games’ Call of Duty: Vanguard.
New map: Das Haus
I’m starting to think Activision and Company are listening in on my friends and me when we are putting in our time on the Shipment 24/7 playlist. There have been no less than a dozen times when we’ve each uttered the phrase, “Shipment’s great, but what if they could just give us back Das Haus.”
That may sound crazy, given how widely unpopular Call of Duty: Vanguard was, but dominating that tiny map with RPGs and grenade launchers was one of the best things that the game had to offer. Now we get to relive that rush of racing for 100+ kill matches by launching grenades and drill charges down that hallway all over again, and I, for one, can not wait.
There are some changes, however. The cover of the night is gone, and things are much brighter and more visible than the previous iteration of this small map. The building is now situated atop a skyscraper under construction near Highrise. The destructible covers from Vanguard are now gone, giving better lines of sight for picking off foes (Or being the one that gets picked off. I’m not here to judge your E/D ratio.) Rooms have new compass names, and there are fresh new blue and orange spawn points that are easier to differentiate. Plus, everything has a sweet new “penthouse” look.
Unfortunately, we do have to wait until the mid-season refresh halfway through Season 2. Expect Das Haus to join the playlist rotation in early March.
New map: Departures
Departures takes players back to Zakhaev International Airport in a brand-new 6v6 Core map that is absolutely massive, especially in comparison to Terminal. Watch for snipers who are sure to utilize the long sight lines and benefit from the verticality of this combat arena, but don’t be fooled into thinking that the nooks and crannies are safe here. The size and diversity of this map allow for plenty of opportunities for players to find themselves in close and mid-range combat scenarios.
Recognizable POIs on Departures include a restaurant, a cosmetics store, and Burger Town.
Small maps are incredibly popular in Call of Duty multiplayer, but their dominance has not completely edged out the space for these large “sniper haven” maps. Seasonal maps more often cater to the medium and small map fan bases, so it’s great to see a completely new map that gives everybody some breathing room. Departures will join the playlist rotation at launch.
New map: Stash House
Speaking of small maps, look at this thing. It’s tiny. It’s going to be a bomb-fest. Not only that, but it’s like they looked at Nuketown, the quintessential small map, and said, “Let’s cut it in half.” Stash House appears to be an attempt at pushing just how small a small map can be. The map has the same size footprint as Shipment and is centered entirely around one little bitty suburban house set in the Bay Area that was recently raided by the Feds.
Pallets of cash provide cover in the garage, and once inside, you’ll find a quaint little home complete with glass windows, an open-plan living room, a den, and a kitchen surrounding a central atrium. Take a break from the action to have drinks at the outside bar, soak away your wounds in the hot tub, or visit the tiny home in the backyard.
Stash House will keep us busy until we get to go back to Das Haus, as it will be available at the launch of Season 2 on February 7.
New map: Vista
But wait, they’re not done! Sitting atop a Brazilian mountaintop resort with gift shops, restaurants, and trams is a brand-new midsize map named Vista. Vista embraces the three-lane map design and has a footprint similar to Shoot House, with tight centralized zones that encourage close-quarters combat flanked by long sight lines. We’ve even got a bit of verticality with this one. There’s a raised walkway in the center, an upper bar, and a sunken-in area to the north with some jungle foliage, so you have a safe place to hide while calling in those kill streaks.
Given the release of Vista alongside some new small maps, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Sledgehammer Games channel a Shoot the Ship or Shoot House style playlist for rotation to break up the domination of Rustment 24/7. Expect a Das Vista 24/7 playlist shortly after this one launches at the start of Season 2.
New map variant: Airborne
Modern Warfare 3 season 1 introduced the Vortex event, which spawned some interesting variants of classic Modern Warfare maps like Satan’s Quarry and Sporeyard. The Call of Duty team will continue with the Vortex variants in the midseason refresh for Season 2. Terminal will get a new variant known as Airborne that is covered in goopy alien pustules, with a plague of locusts darkening the sky. The plane’s fuselage is consumed with ooze, and even Burger Town is creepy and crawling with a cockroach infestation.
New map variant: Skidgrow
Skidrow is getting the Vortex treatment in the midseason refresh of Season 2, as well. Now dubbed Skidgrow, the map will be covered in various plant life that has taken over. Thick kudzu-like ivy drapes over the walls of the tenement, with mold and moss lurking just about everywhere. Vehicles are engulfed in rust and greenery alike.
New War mode map: Operation Tin Man
Fans of Modern Warfare 3’s War mode have so far only had one mission to keep them entertained since the game’s initial launch back in November 2023. Thankfully, that changes with Season 2 as a brand-new, large-scale operation thrusts players into downtown Urzikstan. Nostalgia will creep in for us old-school Call of Duty players as Operation Tin Man takes us through a multi-level construction site based on the map Overwatch from the original Modern Warfare 3 (2011).
One team will be designated to protect the structure while the other plants bombs and attempts to demolition their way further into the skyscraper. Should the invaders be successful, they’ll move on to the next phase, where they must break into a laboratory and escort a Modified Armored Wheelson to hack data servers. Should the defending team fail to hold the attackers at bay, the action moves to an urban park as the attacking team attempts to establish an exfil point at a Portable Decontamination Station and extract via helo.
Operation Tin Man will be available at launch for Season 2.
Call of Duty: Season 2 — MW3 multiplayer modes
New mode: Team Gun Game
Gun Game has a long history with Call of Duty since it originally showed up as a wager match in Black Ops. However, the mode has always been limited to a free-for-all playlist type of every man for themselves. There were even periods where the playlist would appear in a Call of Duty title, but it could only be played by those who were solo queuing. No parties allowed. While Modern Warfare 3 does allow parties to queue for special free-for-all modes like Gun Game and All or Nothing, it has retained the “every-player-for-themselves” ruleset until now.
Team Gun Game utilizes Team Deathmatch rules of engagement with a few twists. Teams of six players will all receive the same weapon loadout—no custom loadouts allowed—and will need to work together as a team to eliminate players from the other squad. In traditional Gun Game, the weapon loadout changes with each successful player elimination. For Team Gun Game, the teams will need to score ten eliminations collectively with a loadout before automatically changing to the next one.
Like with free-for-all Gun Game, there are risks and benefits to going in for melees and Finishers. Pulling off a close-quarters attack and completing a finisher will remove one elimination from the enemy team’s score, setting them back and requiring them to earn extra eliminations to reach the goal for the next loadout. There are eight predetermined weapons to cycle through as a team. The ones who cycle through them all and reach a score of 75 points win. Team Gun Game will be available at launch.
New mode: Snipers only
Quickscopers, it’s your time to shine. Season 2 will feature a new mosh pit playlist comprised of Team Deathmatch and Domination on a myriad of maps, with just one caveat: All weapons besides Sniper Rifles are restricted. No noob tubes, no grenades, no tacticals. It’s just you, the sight line, and the power of your magnification scope. Don’t forget to hold your breath. The Snipers Only mosh pit playlist will be available at launch for Season 2.
New mode: Juggermosh
Everybody loves the Juggernaut, but the kill streak is notoriously difficult to attain for many players. The new mode from Sledgehammer Games blends a third-person perspective experience with the infamous kill streak. That’s right, it’s Juggernauts for everyone on this mosh pit playlist of Kill Confirmed, Domination, and Hardpoint.
You may be wondering how anybody gets the upper hand when everybody is a heavily armored monster with a minigun. The answer is a uniquely powerful melee weapon capable of knocking out a juggernaut with a one-hit kill. This ridiculous melee stick of power spawns in a centralized zone of the map that will require a team of juggernauts to work together to secure. Pick up armor from your fallen foes to keep yourself protected, and aim for the head to eliminate enemies.
There’s no need to be concerned with cluster mines, sentry guns, or other ground-based kill streaks in this mode. Helos, VTOLs, and other air support are still a threat, however. Fall damage is also of no concern, as dropping off of higher platforms will result in a stunning ‘ground-pound’ effect.
Juggersmosh will not just be a playlist when it launches as part of the midseason refresh for Season 2 in early March. The limited-time mode is expected to correlate with a timed event, as well.
New mode: Hordepoint
Sledgehammer Games is once again reaching into its bag of past tricks to reimagine Modern Warfare 3. This time, it’s the game mode Hordepoint, which first showed up in Call of Duty: WWII (2017). This twist on Hardpoint mode sees players grappling not just with human enemy combatants but also with the swarms of the undead. Once a player breaches the boundary of the hard point, a rift opens up and begins spewing an angry mob of rotting flesh sacks at the players. Corpses do not care about team allegiances and will take out both teams indiscriminately.
Hordepoint will be available at launch on February 7.
New mode: Bounty
Bounty is another twist on the classic Team Deathmatch playlist that we can look forward to with the midseason refresh in March. Like TDM, players have unlimited lives and will battle it out with the enemy team for the duration of the match. However, the player at the top of the team’s leaderboard will be marked as a High-Value Target. HVT designation is alternated between the two teams, and the elimination of an HVT adds extra points to the score.
Limited-time playlist: Decay’s Realm
The Vortex event with the creepy, crawly map variants from Season 1 was seemingly a success. Not only will players receive two new map variants in Season 2, but we can also look forward to a new limited-time mosh pit playlist. Cycle between Team Deathmatch, Domination, Kill Confirmed, and Hardpoint during the midseason refresh Vortex event in early March with an increased map pool of the modified maps. Tetanus, Satan’s Quarry, Sporeyard, Skidgrow, and Airborne will all be on rotation.
Call of Duty: Season 2 — Warzone map and gameplay
When the powers that be behind Call of Duty made the decision to pull support behind Call of Duty: Warzone Caldera, COD’s free-to-play battle royale fans lost more than just the Caldera map. We also lost the maps from Resurgence mode, Rebirth Island, and Fortune’s Keep. In the case of Fortune’s Keep, the map was instantly popular but lasted only a few short months. While many thought we’d never see Fortune’s Keep again, the Call of Duty team did reveal during the 2023 COD Next showcase that the Resurgence map would be back in 2024. Well, it’s 2024, so welcome back, Fortune’s Keep!
Returning map: Fortune’s Keep
Don’t celebrate just yet, however. You may have time under your belt to dominate the enemy on Fortune’s Keep, but that may not necessarily translate to this new iteration. The Vanguard-era map has undergone a bit of a facelift, with new underground areas and a plethora of new Easter eggs to discover tucked away with your favorite Points of Interest. Here are the 11 POIs we can expect:
- Terraces
- Keep
- Gatehouse
- Konni Outpost
- Winery
- Pier
- Lighthouse
- Overlook
- Town
- Graveyard
- Ground Zero
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If you’re lucky enough to find yourself in a match of Resurgence with me, the odds are going my squad, and I will be hanging atop the lighthouse. Like many other parts of Fortune’s Keep, however, the structure has seen nominal damage. The Grotto has fared far worse, however, becoming little more than a crater now dubbed Ground Zero following the attacks by Konni Group.
The Winery, too, has sustained substantial damage, leading to giant cracks and flooding of the wine cellar. If you want to explore the treasures found down there, your squad is going to have to risk draining the waters. You can forget ditching the cellar for the high ground of the accompanying church bell tower, by the way, as it now lies in pieces.
New gameplay: Zombie nests and eradication contracts
Zombies seem to be gradually working their way into every aspect of Call of Duty at this point, and they’re not waiting for The Haunting to do it. A limited-time mode available at launch will introduce seismic events and the rise of the dead across Fortune’s Keep. New eradication contracts can be picked up, sending players on a tracking mission to find and investigate corpses before being led to a zombie nest. Can you destroy the cysts, alternating Zombie HVTs, and complete the contract to save Fortune’s Keep from being overrun by the undead horde?
If not, you may be able to get a bit of a boost from limited-time Zombies Power-Ups. Seven zombies mode power-ups will buff your Operator in addition to your existing perks and can be found across the map in caches or as a reward for eliminating other players. The list of Power-ups includes four familiar boosts alongside three new ones.
- Double Points: 60-second duration. Doubles Plunder from ground loot and kills, and score events in Resurgence (that contribute to teammate respawn timers).
- Full Armor: Instant buff. Fully fills your active Armor slots on pickup.
- Max Ammo: Instant buff. Fully fills ammo for all your carried weapons on pickup.
- Fire Sale: 90-second duration. Reduces the price of all shop items for a small duration of time.
- Looting Spree: 60-second duration. Adds bonus items to caches, with a very high chance of a bonus Common item, and a small but significant chance of an additional Legendary item.
- Zarkour: 60-second duration. Increases movement speed by around 10%, with infinite Tactical Sprint and Reloading while Sprinting, and disables Fall Damage.
- Undead Sight: 45-second duration. Operators or AI enemies within the range of your vision are highlighted red, and friendly squad mates are blue. Tracker footsteps are active.
New gameplay: Extendable bridges
With the Konni Group having destroyed the Grotto and severely damaged other parts of Fortune’s Keep, they’ve had to construct three extendable bridges in order to gap some of the destruction. While not portable, players can interact with the bridges to extend or retract them using a small control console. These extractable bridges can be strategic strong points and can be activated with both melee damage and from a distance.
New public event: Rogue signal
A new competitive event will be shaking up Warzone. Rogue signals will not pop up periodically, putting players against other Operators and their teams for a 90-second objective-based mission. The winner will be rewarded with in-game cash, XP, and a unique Reward Cache. Objectives can vary and include instructions such as “Get the most kills,” “Deal the most damage to players,” and “Open the most caches.” Players have 90 seconds to complete the challenge, but only the top three teams will receive cash prizes and the location of the rewards cache. Only one team can open the cache; rewards are random, and they’re only valid for the current match.
CALL OF DUTY: SEASON 2 — Weapons, Battle pass, and Operators
Four new weapons. Seven aftermarket attachments. A new 100-tier battle pass. Undead elite BlackCell pass. A crossover with The Walking Dead. Season 2 is nowhere near done with the content yet; there’s still plenty to look forward to in the Call of Duty store.
New weapon: BP50
We love a good bullpup AR, and the BP50 comes complete with 5.56 ammo and a high rate of fire with exceptional accuracy. The rifle offers handling and maneuverability at stock, but a well-thought-out collection of attachments can further improve the BP50 to be suitable for all manners of combat. Unlock the BP50 from the Battle Pass in Sector B7 at launch.
New weapon: RAM-9
The assault rifle counterpart to the RAM-9 hits like a truck, but it’s a bit on the slow and cumbersome side when it comes to mobility. The SMG variant, however, offers exception recoil control and is packed with the most rounds per magazine of any SMG. A little powerhouse, the RAM-9 sacrifices accuracy for high damage and a high rate of fire. You can unlock the RAM-9 from the Battle Pass in Sector B6 at launch.
New weapon: SOA Subverter
It’s not often we get a new battle rifle in the armory, especially a hard-hitter with 7.62 ammo and a respectable rate of fire. Solid at long range, the Subverter offers a surprising amount of movement speed and sprint-to-fire times, making it viable even in quick-thinking scenarios where a sniper would be at more of a disadvantage. It is slow to ADS, but that’s nothing a few attachments couldn’t fix.
The SOA Subverter will be free to unlock via weekly challenges at some point during the season.
New weapon: Soulrender
Ooh, shiny. The Soulrender is a snazzy, razor-sharp ceremonial blade made of forged steel capable of quick, one-handed slices. It has the unique benefit of offering a guard stance, as well as a first for melee weapons in Call of Duty. Releasing the guard allows for an instant attack with high damage and even higher mobility.
Soulrender will be available in-season, though any additional info about this unusual melee weapon is still redacted.
New aftermarket parts
If you’re one of those players who feel there are not enough attachments to choose from when you’re putting together your weapon loadout, then Season 2 is for you. Seven new aftermarket parts will be available to unlock. Some will be available immediately at launch, while others will be unlockable later in the season. Aftermarket parts include:
- JAK Burnout (battle pass unlock): Compatible with Holger 26
- JAK Tyrant 762 Kit (weekly challenge unlock): Compatible with Longbow
- JAK Backsaw Kit (weekly challenge unlock): Compatible with Holger 556
- JAK Limb Ripper (weekly challenge unlock): Underbarrel attachment compatible with several weapons
- JAK Maglift Kit (weekly challenge unlock): Compatible with Haymaker
- JAK Outlaw-277 Kit (weekly challenge unlock): Compatible with BAS-B
- JAK Glassless Optic (weekly challenge unlock): Optic attachment compatible with several weapons.
Operator bundles
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The undead are haunting nearly all the Operator bundles for Season 2, including a crossover with The Walking Dead that adds Rick Grimes and Michonne as playable characters. Campaign fans can also look forward to Laswell finally joining the roster for Multiplayer, as well as John Doe, the skeleton. We’re not asking questions about that last one.
