Call of Duty: Warzone is a significant game in Activision's longstanding and successful FPS franchise, as it allowed the IP to make a strong reentry into the saturated world of battle royale titles. Despite the popularity that Warzone has enjoyed over the years, it has, seemingly, become quite difficult to maintain the experience alongside the franchise's annual releases.
Since its release, many tweaks and sweeping changes, such as new playlists and major maps, have been introduced to Call of Duty: Warzone in an attempt to keep fans engaged. However, it seems that the game's glory days may be firmly behind it. The lack of attention that Warzone has been generating recently has placed some very large question marks on the game's future, and Activision has made it clear that the upcoming re-introduction of Verdansk will act as one last throw of the dice for the title.
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Warzone is Looking to its Past with Verdansk to Secure its Future
Verdansk was the first major map for Call of Duty: Warzone, and it is the location that defined many fans' first experiences with the title during what is largely perceived to be its glory days. Be it a product of nostalgia, or a result of the excitement that surrounded Warzone when it launched, Verdansk has written itself into the Call of Duty history books as a beloved and deeply important map that played a big part in helping Warzone burst onto the battle royale scene.
Despite the praise that it received, Verdansk was, controversially, replaced as the main map for Warzone in late 2021, and the Caldera map took its place, a change that caused a rift among the game's community that has remained ever since. This map switch, along with various weapon, movement, and equipment changes, occurred alongside the annual major releases for Call of Duty, and it looked to evolve Warzone's identity and core feel. However, this evolution has, arguably, caused more harm than good.
Although other maps, like Urzikstan, Vondel, Al Mazrah, and more, have had their stint in the Warzone spotlight over the years, none have had quite the same impact as Verdansk, making the news of Verdansk's return to Warzone in Spring 2025 all the more predictable. Activision has experimented with a return of Verdansk before, with the launch of Cold War seeing the slightly-altered Verdansk '84 map added to Warzone, although the forthcoming return of the map promises to maintain all the original's glory.
Warzone Could Fall to the Wayside if Verdansk's Return is Not Successful
Reports from a prominent leaker suggest that the success of Verdansk's upcoming return to the title will ultimately decide whether Warzone continues to be supported. Citing issues like dwindling player-counts, stagnant updates, and widespread cheater problems, it seems that Activision may be unwilling to update Warzone alongside the annual CoD cycle in its current state, and the return of Verdansk may be the final chance to gauge the community's receptiveness to a large-scale CoD BR experience.
Despite Warzone's RICOCHET anti-cheat system reportedly having banned over 130,000 accounts for Ranked Play alone, many players are still pointing to widespread cheating problems as one of the major downsides of the title.
The success of Verdansk's upcoming return will supposedly be the deciding factor in whether Warzone will be supported alongside the launch of 2026's reported Modern Warfare 4, and it remains to be seen if the nostalgic appeal of the map will be enough to bring a real surge of success to the title. It has become increasingly difficult for Activision to maintain the popularity of Warzone, and it seems that the return to Verdansk will either be a fitting savior or a send-off for the battle royal title.
Call of Duty: Warzone
-
OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 80 /100 Critics Rec: 78%
- Released
- March 10, 2020
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Strong Language, Suggestive Themes, Use of Drugs, Violence
- Developer(s)
- Infinity Ward, Raven Software
- Publisher(s)
- Activision
- Engine
- IW 8.0 & IW 9.0 (Warzone 2.0)
- Multiplayer
- Online Multiplayer
- Cross-Platform Play
- PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One & Xbox Series X|S
WHERE TO PLAY
- Genre(s)
- First-Person Shooter, Battle Royale
