Confirming rumors, Activision has officially announced that Call of Duty: Warzone will get a brand-new map later this year, presumably around the time that Call of Duty: Vanguard launches this November. This is not a modest redesign of the existing Verdansk that has been in place since the game launched in March 2020 but instead is an all-new environment.
Raven Software, which is leading development on Warzone, is spearheading development of the new map. This map uses the same technology as the rest of Vanguard, which means it runs on the upgraded version of the IW engine. The benefit here is that the game’s guns and mechanics should feel and operate the same when switching between Vanguard’s other modes and Warzone. This is a key difference between Warzone and Black Ops Cold War, which run on different engines and have different features and functionality.
All battle pass content earned in Black Ops Cold War, Modern Warfare, Vanguard, and Warzone will carry forward to the new Warzone map. Additionally, all Rank and battle pass progress from these four games will be applied together.
Gallery
Raven is creating a so-called Metaverse to connect the various games that have been released in recent years. When Warzone launched in March 2020, it featured weapons and items from 2019’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. In 2020, Black Ops Cold War items came to the game. And now it appears weapons and items from those games, as well as Vanguard, will operate together in this newest version of Warzone, though all the specifics of how this works remains unclear.
Another big takeaway from today’s announcement is that Warzone is getting a new anti-cheat system with the launch of the new map. This is a big deal because cheating has been an ongoing issue in Warzone, with some big-name streamers opting to jump ship to other games because things have gotten so bad. Activision has banned more than 500,000 accounts, but with a free-to-play game that has 100 million players, there is still more work to be done.
A NEW #WARZONE EXPERIENCE IS COMING!
Featuring a brand new map, gameplay and playlists, this Warzone experience will be supported with a new anti-cheat system on PC. pic.twitter.com/lt9E8qJlyZ
— Call of Duty (@CallofDuty) August 19, 2021
A new map and a new anti-cheat system have been two of the most sought-after changes that players have called for to help make Warzone more fun and enjoyable, so Activision is delivering the goods, it would seem. Whether or not the new map and anti-cheat systems live up to expectations, however, is something we’ll need to wait and see to find out.
For more on Vanguard, check out GameSpot’s new preview, “Call Of Duty: Vanguard Is Looking To Turn The Tide Of World War II.”
Source: Gamespot
