The blockbuster battle royale title Call of Duty: Warzone has unveiled extensive patch notes detailing major updates coming with Season 1. The new season promises to shake up the game with a brand new map, an array of new weapons, gulag revisions, gas circle adjustments, and various gameplay improvements.
Dropping today, the Season 1 update marks the first major refresh for Warzone since the release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 in late October. Activision hopes the changes will increase the game’s longevity and retain its towering player base that has made it one of the most popular titles in recent years.
New Map Takes Combat to Urzikstan
Easily the most anticipated addition in the Warzone Season 1 patch notes is the new Urzikstan battleground. Clocking in at around 20% smaller than the current Al Mazrah map, Urzikstan ushers the action to a fictional Middle Eastern city loosely inspired by real-world locations.
The fresh map incorporates Call of Duty’s signature blend of close-quarters urban firefights and longer-range rural engagements. It also adds new traversal mechanics through features like ziplines allowing rapid movement between buildings and elevated positions.
Adding to the transportation options is Warzone’s first drivable train. The mobile point of interest isn’t just for sightseeing, as the locomotive contains a buy station, UAV tower, ammo depot and guaranteed high-tier loot. Engineers can take control of the train’s speed and brakes to strategically position the capture point.
New Gulag Design Levels the Playing Field
Warzone’s iconic 1 versus 1 gulag battles will shift to a new “Silo” map at the start of Season 1. The symmetrical prison courtyard layout places equal cover and obstacles between the opposing spawn locations. The design aims to remove any inherent advantage in the gulag fight and have victory come down to raw gun skill.
The gulag is also receiving new map variants that alter the battlefield, bonus cash events, and the ability to continue looting your fallen opponent before redeploying to the main map. Together the changes should help keep gulag engagements feeling fresh after thousands of matches.
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Modern Warfare 3 Weapons Bolster the Arsenal
The patch notes confirm Warzone will integrate a variety of new armaments from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, including assault rifles, battle rifles, submachine guns, shotguns, light machine guns and more. The full suite of weapons will provide more diversity to loadout options and shake up the time-to-kill benchmarks.
To further Weapon flexibility, the Overkill perk has been removed entirely. Players can now equip two primary weapons by default, freeing the perk slot for other abilities.
Goodbye Overpowered Guns, Hello Balance
While new weapons Entering the ecosystem is exciting, they can also Unbalance gameplay if left unchecked. To get ahead of power creep, adjustments have been made to damage profiles, range values, and locational multipliers on some weapons for a more level playing field. Snipers have also been updated to one-shot enemies with a headshot from any distance.
The changes suggest Activision is taking a more proactive approach toward weapon tuning going forward. Regular balance tweaks could become the new norm to prevent overpowered guns from dominating the meta for months on end.
Gas Circle Changes Speed Up Matches
Getting caught outside the lethal gas circle is one of the most helpless feelings in Warzone. The lingering death sentence often draws out games beyond the sweet spot. To pick up the pace, Season 1 is implementing faster gas circle constrictions to shave several minutes off match lengths.
Players can spend less time strategizing about circle positioning and more time engaging opponents. The accelerated collapse better aligns with the frenetic firefights at the core of Warzone’s gameplay loop.
While veterans will need to adapt to the timing changes, ultimately faster gas circles should translate to shorter games and a snappier grind through battle pass tiers.
Bountiful Additions to Keep Things Fresh
Beyond the flagship features detailed above, the pages of patch notes are filled with quality-of-life changes both big and small. Examples include easier water combat, parachute updates, spawn protection reductions, simmer tweaks and buying station price decreases.
Combined with planned events like the return of fan-favorite Resurgence limited-time modes, Warzone continues evolving at a staggering pace while preserving the magic formula that sparked its meteoric rise. Season 1 is laying the foundation for another year brimming with new content updates and innovations.
Get the complete rundown at callofduty.com and experience the Warzone revolution first-hand when Season 1 goes live today.
