Raven Software, Beenox, and Activision today fully revealed what Call of Duty: Warzone players can expect from Season 3.
Call of Duty: Warzone Season 3 is a return to form for the troubled battle royale title. Not only will Season 3 see the return of Verdansk, Warzone’s original Big Map, but also a return to many of the original Warzone’s mechanics. The studios also teased some shared content that will appear in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Season 3. However, full details on what to expect for multiplayer and Zombies won’t arrive until tomorrow.
Fan-Favorite Map Verdansk Returns to Call of Duty: Warzone on April 3
Activision today revealed that Call of Duty: Warzone’s beloved Verdansk map returns to the game when Season 3 launches.
Back to Verdansk like its 2020
Verdansk’s return on July 15, 2025 will feel a lot like stepping back in time to 2020, minus the pandemic. The team at Beenox has rebuilt the map from the ground up with the singular goal of giving players the chance to relive the classic Verdansk map. The map is 95% the original launch map with some beneficial adjustments, improved visuals, and some quality-of-life upgrades that add additional cover to some of the more barren locations.
Some areas that opened up during Verdansk’s lifecycle will appear either at launch or as part of the mid-season update. The train, train station interior, and interior of the stadium will all return rather quickly. It remains unknown if any other major changes from Verdansk or Verdansk ‘84 will be incorporated into the map in the future.
You didn’t see anything
The return of Verdansk isn’t just about bringing back the original map, but also about tossing out nearly everything that was introduced in the catastrophic Warzone 2.0. This means that many gameplay features introduced into Warzone since 2022 are going away in favor of ‘back-to-basics’ elements found in the original, 2020 release of Warzone. However, one recent feature that isn’t going away is Omnimovement, though it is being significantly toned down. Omnimovement will be present, but it’s significantly slowed down compared to multiplayer.
Everything else is pretty much being reverted to 2020 standards. Expect 150 player drops, shooting during Freefall, original Crates, floating loot, the original armor satchel, vertical Buy Station menus with original inventory, original killstreaks, original contracts, original Gulag, and original style vehicles that operate as they originally did. However, the return to original gameplay mechanics also means the loss of a lot of quality-of-life features, including the horizontal ziplines and redeploy balloons.
The map is 95% the original launch map with some beneficial adjustments, improved visuals, and some quality-of-life upgrades that add additional cover to some of the more barren locations.
Activision did confirm that while Urzikstan is retiring, Rebirth Island isn’t. The map and Resurgence Mode will return within the launch window of Season 3. Area 99, the other Resurgence map currently in Warzone, will return at a later date.
Jump in, get rewarded
To celebrate the return of Verdansk, Activision will be running a special ‘Return to Verdansk" event. From April 3 to April 15, those who log in can participate in the event. Simply booting up Warzone unlocks six rewards, including the returning Kilo 141 assault rifle. The rest of the rewards are earnable by exploring Verdansk’s POIs and finding hidden safes. Finding them all unlocks the infamous Kali Sticks.
As for new weapons, which will be available in both Warzone and Black Ops 6, players can earn a smattering of classic Modern Warfare 2019/Warzone weapons. These include the Kilo 141 (unlocked as part of the event), CR-56 AMAX assault rifle (Battle Pass Page 6), and HDR sniper rifle (Battle Pass Page 3). We’ll have to wait for the full Season 3 reveal to see if any additional weapons will join the roster.
Call of Duty: Warzone is available now free-to-play on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
