Opinion: A new rumor about Call of Duty is currently causing discussions. Will the Battle Royale map really be permanently destroyed in Season 2?
That would be quite a bang: According to new rumors, Call of Duty: Warzone will soon destroy its big Battle Royale map. And for good. At least that’s what the well-known insider and leaker Tom Henderson claims, he gets support from the leak portal ModernWarzone.
In the first step, I will summarize the most important information for you and then add my own opinion. As someone who has been following Warzone for tens of seasons, this is anything but trivial. What is being claimed by whom right now? And what would be the consequences of the rumors, if true?
Nuclear bomb is supposed to wipe out Verdansk – and then?
Where do the rumors come from? The main source for the current rumors is Tom Henderson, who is especially known for his leaks on Call of Duty and Battlefield. He is considered credible, but you should still view all info with appropriate skepticism - many, but not all, of his predictions actually came true.
On Twitter, Henderson shared the alleged final words to be spoken on Verdansk very soon:
“Extraction canceled. Incoming nuclear strike on Verdansk. You are on your own soldier.”
This is one of several new voiceover lines for Warzone that have been found recently (you can find all the text here at My-MMO). Until now, most fans assumed that this was a new zombie mode, where you have to defeat the undead – or a Nuke will take care of the plague along with the city of Verdansk. But according to Henderson, something much bigger is happening:
The current plan for Warzone is that Verdansk will never return.
— Tom Henderson (@_Tom_Henderson_) March 6, 2021
There's no separate playlist, map voting, or anything like that. Warzone is Warzone and Warzone is 1 map. Warzone will continue to change its map as the story progresses.
The ModernWarzone portal picked up on the tweet and published its own report on the alleged destruction of Verdansk. The nuclear bomb is supposed to destroy the previous map, which will then be replaced by the new Ural map – according to ModernWarzone, it will be at the end of Season 2, i.e. at the end of March 2021. All leaks about the new, large map can be found here:
All Info and Leaks for the New Ural-Map
What is the truth of the rumor?
It’s hard to judge how credible these new rumors are, nothing is officially confirmed. What is certain is that players have been calling for a new map for quite some time and that Season 2 has the official motto “The end begins”. This could very well be a hint at an expansion or a radical change.
All info about the release of Season 2
So far, there is only one large BR map for Warzone, Verdansk, and the new map Rebirth Island is much smaller. That’s not much, since competitors like PUBG offer much more variety. The alleged Ural map is eagerly awaited in the Warzone community, and the layout is even said to have been leaked.
But does Activision really dare to take such a drastic step and blow up Verdansk into nirvana after seven seasons of tweaking? You’ll probably find out more on March 11, 2021 at the earliest. That’s the day Warzone celebrates its first birthday – a perfect date for big announcements. But cancelling Verdansk would be the wrong way to go, in my opinion.
The wrong way
So Verdansk is to be destroyed soon. And not for a special event or to change the map – but permanently? Please don’t, Activision! Sending Verdansk to the eternal hunting grounds would be a dangerous mistake that Warzone should not allow itself to make.
The Battle Royale is not going through a rosy period right now, despite strong player numbers. The cart is stuck in the mud at some important construction sites, my colleague Phil has already summarized the five biggest difficulties of Warzone. In short: Many players are dissatisfied with the situation right now. And then there is a radical map change to be made? No choice on which map you’d rather jump off? Without advance notice? That could backfire big time – and be the last straw in a very full barrel for many. Scaring players away now would hurt Warzone tremendously.
Sure, the map is getting boring. Season changes like the stadium and the metro are nice, but I would also like to see a completely new setting. But does Verdansk really have to die for that? I want to choose for myself whether I want more street fighting or a mountain map! And there is really no lack of players to fill up additional lobbies. Already in the current season it’s annoying that I have to make decisions in Rebirth because of the permanent playlist rotations.
But I’m still skeptical about the leaks. Call of Duty isn’t exactly known for radical changes to proven recipes. A new mode or a rebuild of the Verdansk map sounds much more likely to me. I won’t believe in the final destruction until Activision drops the bombshell.
