Season 3 ofCall of Duty: Warzonemarks the long-awaited return of its original map, Verdansk, as the battleground that definedWarzone’slaunch and Activision’s first free-to-playCall of Dutytitle. Verdansk holds a special place in the community, offering a unique Battle Royale experience that attempted to rival that ofFortniteitself.
However, after nearly four years, both the game and its player base have evolved through new maps, mechanics, and features, raising questions about whetherVerdansk can still deliver the same iconic experience. To make its return successful,Warzonewill need to refine the map to fit modern gameplay mechanics while also introducing fresh elements to keep it dynamic and engaging. With that in mind, here are six essential featuresWarzoneneeds to get right to make Verdansk’s comeback a success.
6Reintroducing Easter Eggs with Free Rewards
Offer Side Quests That Players Can Complete to Earn Content
One standout feature of Verdansk in its original version was the free content scattered across the map, whichplayers could obtain by completing various Easter eggs during matches. This added both free rewards and objectives, helping players stay engaged and entertained throughout long matches, despite the vast size of the battle royale map. The rewards varied based on difficulty, with Nakatomi Plaza’s secret vault or theBunkers being some of the most enjoyableEaster eggs. Playerscould earn valuable items like large sums of money, scorestreaks, equipment, Perks, and even Weapon Blueprintsby completing these challenges and competing against others to reach them first.
Moreover, the time it took the community to uncover each secret added to the excitement, encouraging interaction among players as they worked together to earn rewards. While this feature wasn’t essential to gameplay, it provided extra content and meaningful rewards, allowing players to feelaccomplished by completing in-game tasks, while earning functional items to enhance their experience.
5Limit Respawn Methods
Minimize the Number of Ways Players Can Spawn
Verdansk is closely associated with theBattle Royale experience inCall of Duty: Warzone. As the game hasintroduced various respawn mechanisms over time, the original map could benefit fromminimizing these features to offer a more authentic experience. In the past, the tension of dying was higher, and the stakes were greater, which forced players to approach each match with more intensity and focus.
Originally,Warzonerelied on a few key respawn systems: the Gulag, self-revive, and buy stations if playing with friends. The Gulag was available to all players, where they had to win a 1v1 against another eliminated player to return to the game. However, the introduction of additional respawn mechanics, like Redeploy Flare Guns, Gulag Tokens, and Jailbreak events, has made it easier for players to return, somewhat diminishing the challenge that a battle royale mode should offer. While the game doesn’t need to completely remove these new systems, limiting their use could help restore the sense of urgency and difficulty that Verdansk originally provided, ensuring the mapdoesn’t feel like a massive Resurgence mode.
4Effortless Access to Base Content
Provide Players With Essential Content From the Start
Since the removal and return of Verdansk has caused significant fluctuations inWarzonecontent, players – whether new, veteran, or returning – willneed access to core content to dive into the game without feeling at a disadvantage. While this may be a tricky situation, especially consideringModern Warfare(2019) isn’t the game integrated withWarzonewhen Verdansk 2025 launches, someBlack Ops 6content should be easily accessiblefor those who want to experience the map as they did in the past.
Balancing the available content and how to unlock it inWarzonewill be challenging, especially for long-time players. To avoid making newcomers start from scratch, the game shouldprovide a broad selection of content– such as weapons, gear, perks, and other items –right from the start, ensuring players can enjoy Verdansk without needing to unlock everything again, and more importantly, being able to stay playing for a long and sustained period of time.
3Updated Functional Audio System
Ability to Hear Footsteps and Environmental Sounds Clearly
One of the major issues in the originalWarzone, with Verdansk as the main battle royale map, was thepoor performance of the game’s audio. Players oftenstruggle tohear and distinguish enemy footstepsfrom friendly or environmental soundsduring matches. Since the objective inWarzoneis to be the last player or team standing, any information about enemy positioning or movement is vital to survival. Unfortunately, this has often been unreliable, leaving players frustrated when, despite having a good match, an audio glitch causes an enemy to unexpectedly appear and eliminate them, forcing them to start over from scratch in a new game.
To prevent this issue with the return of Verdansk, the game needs an updated audio system that helps players distinguish enemy footsteps (with enhanced volume and detail) from friendly movements or ambient sounds, which can be distracting. It’s also crucial that the sound system functions properly, particularlywhen players are close to enemies, as this is where precision and clear auditory cues are essential to avoid sudden deaths.
2Server and Stability Improvements
Prevent the Game From Repeatedly Crashing or Failing
If a massive game likeWarzonecannotprovide a stable and sustainable experience, it willstruggle to offer players an enjoyable time– especially when reintroducing a map like Verdansk, which has become a symbol of fun and friendship for many. This is particularly important for games-as-a-service, which often face stability and server issues when many players try to log in simultaneously – somethingWarzonehas previously encountered and could face again.
Ensuring that servers are prepared and maintaining better stability to avoid bugs or server overload is critical, allowing players to enter the game and enjoy Verdanskwithout worrying about long wait timesor uncertainty over whether they’ll be able to access the content. While this issue is easy to identify, addressing it requires a significant effort from both the development teams and the publisher to ensure the Verdansk update is truly ready for release. Only with this careful preparation can the game meet the high expectations set by promotional campaigns and player memories.
1Significant Enhancements to Anti-Cheat System
Ensuring Hackers Don’t Ruin the Experience
The long-awaited return of Verdansk toCall of Duty: Warzoneis a major event, bringing back a map that players have been requesting for years. However, itstriumphant comeback could be overshadowed by the ongoing hacker infestation, which the game has struggled to control effectively. While many players will eagerly jump back into the battle royale to revisit familiar battlegrounds or explore them for the first time, their experience could be ruined ifWarzonedoesn’t implementsignificant improvements to its RICOCHET anti-cheat system.
Despite the game introducing various countermeasures – including mitigation tools, ban waves, a reporting system, and a Kernel-Level Driver, among others – these efforts will mean little if players don’t see anoticeable reduction in cheaters when they log in. Fortunately, Activision has already taken steps tocombat hacking by targeting cheat providersahead of Verdansk’s return. However, further in-game improvements are still necessary to ensure a fair and enjoyable experience for all players.
Verdansk is set to return to Call of Duty: Warzone on May 18, 2025.
