A new Season 1 will start soon in Warzone and it will bring the integration with Black Ops 6. In other words, a large amount of content will drop at the same time in the free-to-play game to kick-start a new yearly cycle.
Before the integration takes place, we have a summary of all the relevant additions, changes, and new features coming to the game so you can read about it.
Release date
Season 1 of Warzone and Black Ops 6 is scheduled to go live on Thursday, November 14, almost three weeks after Treyarch's new game launched. The season comes out on an unusual day of the week given that new Call of Duty seasons usually release on a Wednesday.
The new content should arrive at 9:00 am PT (5:00 pm GMT) through a new update. Players from all platforms will be able to preload the update at least a day before release on PC and a few hours before on consoles.
New map: Area 99
The season brings a completely new map called Area 99, which was revealed at COD Next 2024. This will be a Resurgence map, with a size similar to Rebirth Island.
Treyarch Studios was the main developer behind the map and takes place in a secret town in the middle of the desert used for research, the same town where the map Nuketown is located. That is why the different points of interest will feature houses, mannequins, and other elements common in the original Black Ops map.
For more details about this new map, including a list of the different POIs, you can visit this article.
Map pool
The map pool in Warzone will change at the start of the season since not all maps are ready for the new Omnimovement mechanics and all the changes that come with it.
To be precise, only Urzikstan and Area 99 will be available to play when Season 1 launches. This will be the version of Urzikstan from earlier seasons of MW3, where the Popov power plant is intact and without the Atlas Superstore POI.
This is simply because the development to integrate the new movement started when that version of the map was available.
Rebirth Island will be added to the rotation sometime during the first half of the season, although a release date hasn't been revealed as of yet.
Gameplay changes
Season 1 will also change Warzone's current gameplay to make it on par with Black Ops 6 mechanics. Here is a concise list of changes so you can get an idea of what's getting removed, changed, or adjusted:
- Omnimovement will be integrated.
- Body Shield mechanic will also be integrated into the gameplay.
- All Black Ops 6 weapons will be available. Selected equipment will also be added.
- Players will now have a third ordnance, which will be a melee weapon.
- The Classic Prestige system will also be integrated into Warzone's leveling system. After you advance to a new prestige, all the content will be relocked and you'll receive a permanent unlock Token to have one item unlocked forever.
- Emotes and Sprays will be added as new cosmetic types.
- Backpacks will be removed and the inventory will only have slots for the following elements: cash, gas mask, armor plates, Killstreaks, Field Upgrades, weapons (primary, secondary, and melee), and ammo spaces.
- Satchels are back and two types will be available at the start of the season: Armor Satchels and Ammunition Satchels.
- New cinematics for infill, exfil, and the Winner's Circle will also be added.
Other details
Here are other minor details that you may have missed about the upcoming season:
- Ranked Play will be added back after the Season 1 Reloaded update (mid-season) and will take place on Urzikstan.
- The following two perks will only be lootable, which means they can't be equipped in loadouts:
- Irradiated: While under the effects of the gas circle or equipment you will move faster, take reduced gas damage, and can insert armor plates
- Shrouded: Drop a Smoke Grenade when entering the downed state.
- The specialist perk package will be added back to the loot pool.
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