Call of Duty: Warzone has evolved greatly from when it first launched in March 2020. The game has received numerous updates that have added new modes, map changes, weapons, operators, and plenty of balancing tweaks. However, the biggest update that Call of Duty: Warzone has received thus far came with Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, and saw the entire map of Verdansk being completely overhauled.
This has led many fans and players to wonder how the game will be impacted by the release of 2021's Call of Duty title, which is reportedly called Call of Duty: Vanguard and will be set in World War 2. There is a lot of potential in a World War 2 setting for Vanguard to bring sweeping changes to Call of Duty: Warzone, although nothing has been announced by developers Sledgehammer Games or Raven Software. However, looking back at how Black Ops Cold War impacted the game, there are some logical ways that the game could likely change Warzone for all players during the coming year after release.
How Black Ops Cold War Changed Call of Duty: Warzone's Map
After the release of Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, Warzone began building up to an in-game event that saw zombies beginning to spread across the game's map of Verdansk. The zombies quickly grew in number and started consuming everything, causing the map to have a nuclear bomb dropped on it to purge the undead. The nuke event was the biggest that has happened in Warzone since its release, and the map has never been the same since. Verdansk was transformed into Verdansk '84 to better match the setting of Black Ops Cold War's campaign and multiplayer modes.
The new year brought an entirely new look to the map, with a lot more color, an older aesthetic, and brought changes to nearly every single location across the map. The shape of the land remained unchanged, but Verdansk '84 was effectively an entirely new map for Warzone players to explore. However, the change also started a new era of storytelling in Warzone that saw the Black Ops series' iconic numbers program invading the battle royale. The plot has been slowly developed over the five seasons that have come out since the release of Black Ops Cold War. Things like satellites falling from the sky, and strange interdimensional red doors appearing across Warzone's map that are teleporting players, wouldn't have been possible without Warzone's events.
How Vanguard Could Change Call of Duty: Warzone's Map
It seems very likely that the red doors will have something to do with the introduction of Call of Duty: Vanguard to Warzone. The numbers program has been continuing unheeded throughout the game's evolving storyline, and the red doors have continued to spread across the map and become even more unstable since they first appeared in Season 4.
Either part of the plot could eventually lead to Call of Duty: Vanguard's integration into Warzone, although the red doors seem to be the most obvious way to do so. Since the doors have teleported players into various places like rooms filled with high-quality loot or randomly free-falling above the map, the spreading influence of the red doors could very easily teleport the map back a few more decades to the time of Vanguard.
The time jump to World War 2 would presumably change the map dramatically. Warzone's visuals would have to be changed to properly reflect the time period, and it would surely also introduce a variety of new locations while changing the ones that remain enough for them to feel mostly new. These changes will be a lot for players to adjust to, and recent leaks have claimed that Vanguard's integration and seasonal content will start just a few weeks after its release. With publisher Activision saying that the game will launch this Fall, there is not much time left before Vanguard comes to bring sweeping changes to Warzone.
Other Ways Vanguard Could Change Call of Duty: Warzone
Of course, the integration of Vanguard with Warzone will bring many more changes than just a new map. Like Black Ops Cold War, Vanguard will introduce a slew of new weapons, scorestreaks, operators, and equipment to the battle royale. However, this could have many fans worried, as the integration of Black Ops Cold War did not go very smoothly, with many guns being unbalanced for weeks afterward.
With Vanguard's World War 2 setting, it also will be interesting to see just how the guns stack up against more modern competition. It could be that some older guns from Modern Warfare or even Black Ops Cold War will be removed from the game to make room for Vanguard's weaponry in the meta, but that remains to be seen. Doing so would make sense, however, as it would make ensuring the game stays balanced for Raven Software.
Players could also see some interesting new game modes coming to Warzone with Vanguard. One leak stated that Vanguard will feature mini-battle royales in its base game, but there are many World War 2-inspired variations on a battle royale that could be interesting. One possible mode could be a variation of Warzone's rumble mode that saw players splitting into two teams of 50 to battle it out. This variation could imitate the famous World War 2 battle of D-Day by having one team act defensively on the map while the other team attacks from the shore and has to advance to a number of objectives across the new Verdansk.
Not only would the mode be something dramatically different for Warzone, but it could also help the game adapt to the new competition it will be facing in the large-scale battles of Battlefield 2042. Of course, there's no way to know what changes will be coming to Warzone until they are officially announced, but hopefully Activision will have something to share with fans soon, since the game is presumably months away.
Call of Duty: Vanguard is currently in development.