Call of Duty: Warzone launched in 2020 with the Verdansk battle royale map, and while it's made changes to it and introduced the small-scale Rebirth Island, it's otherwise stuck to Verdansk as its bread and butter. Many Call of Duty: Warzone fans likely can't imagine the battle royale game without Verdansk, but they better get used to the idea as Activision has confirmed that the iconic map's destruction will be happening soon.
Call of Duty: Warzone will be integrated with Call of Duty: Vanguard, which will eventually see Verdansk replaced with the new Pacific map Caldera. In the build-up to that, Call of Duty: Warzone will host the Operation: Flashback event starting November 18. This will be an encore limited-time mode that will celebrate Verdansk, and Activision is advertising it as the "last dance" for the battle royale map.
Call of Duty: Warzone will start adding in references to the Caldera map starting November 24, giving players the chance to gather intel on the new map before it goes live. Then November 30 and December 1 will kick off the beginning of the end for the Verdansk battle royale map. Then Call of Duty: Warzone will go dark until December 2, at which point Season 1 begins and players can jump into the new battle royale map.
Based on what's been shown so far, its clear that the Call of Duty: Warzone Pacific Caldera map is going to be a significant departure from Verdansk, with jungles, beaches, new vehicle types like planes, and much more. It will be interesting to see if this massive new map sees not only new players try Warzone for the first time but also brings lapsed players back into the fold.
While the Call of Duty: Warzone Pacific map looks promising, getting rid of Verdansk seems like a risky move. After all, the Call of Duty: Warzone Verdansk map has proven to be quite popular with fans, and it's a big part of the reason why over 100 million players have jumped into Warzone. But it's likely a necessary move for matchmaking reasons and to ensure that the Call of Duty: Warzone file size doesn't get even more ridiculous than it already is.
So far, Call of Duty fans have a lot to be excited about when it comes to the new Warzone content, but it remains to be seen if it all will live up to the hype or not. Fans will find out once Vanguard Season 1 kicks off on December 2.
Call of Duty: Warzone is out now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.