Cryptic teasers from Infinity Ward reveal that an upcoming live event could drastically change the landscape of Warzone, including the demolition of the map’s worst landmark.
Since launch in early March, Call of Duty: Warzone’s map has seen minimal visual changes, but a series of teases about the game’s upcoming season has fans speculating about big changes.
There’s a lot of hope that something will be done about the game’s big sports arena. The Verdansk stadium has long been an annoyance because you can’t get to rooftop campers unless you nab a helicopter, and the lack of interior access makes the stadium a massive obstacle if you’re fleeing the map-constricting wave of gas.
People think there’s something up with the stadium, because Activision wants players thinking that. With Season 5 content set to arrive in early August, Infinity Ward and Activision have sent some very interesting Warzone clips to popular content creators. The videos are just vague snippets, but there’s still quite a bit of information to unpack here about the future of Warzone.
Last week, Popular Warzone streamer “TeePee” received and streamed a brief clip of the interior section of the stadium. The point of view pans from a surveillance camera until an explosion hits and the signal is lost. Again, we currently don’t have access to go inside the stadium, but the clip is definitely meant to show the arena’s interior. Some people thought the stadium’s dome would eventually retract, making a playable area of the stadium’s interior. An explosion could simply mean the end of the stadium being a hindrance. Of course, anything is possible when it comes to live events and map changes. Fortnite’s Tilted Towers location was destroyed and rebuilt in various renditions prior to the “Chapter 2” launch of the game’s new map. Perhaps the explosion just blows the roof off the stadium, or maybe it will be rebuilt and opened with new construction.
What’s gonna happen in season 5!? pic.twitter.com/FodsPkOymv
— Tyler Polchow (@TylerTeeP) July 21, 2020
Amid all the speculation around the stadium’s future, another teaser’s focus on vehicles has led to even wilder theories. The clip sent to “NickMercs” features grainy footage from inside a train, then a helicopter flies over, the ground shakes, and the train blares a horn. This could add some credibility to the leaker rumour mill, claiming an update added coding for a moving train that would eventually be circulating through Verdansk. Right now, we have a train station and tracks, but all the trains are stationary. A third teaser was sent to YouTuber JackFrags, revealing the aftermath of the explosion revealed in TeePee’s video, and you can hear a helicopter flying away.
Some speculate Season 5 will have moving trains filled with high-tier loot. Others believe the clips of trains and helicopters indicate that everyone is trying to get out of dodge with a total evacuation of Verdansk, leading us to a brand-new Warzone map.
It’s been rumoured that a Warzone event would provide the reveal of this fall’s Call of Duty release, which we’ve still not received any official announcements on. However, credible Call of Duty leaker “TheGamingRevolution” has recently shared screenshots of a Doritos promotional for Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War. This reveals a presumably official logo and potential October release.
As far as the speculation that everyone is fleeing Verdansk, some people point to the evacuation signs located outside of the stadium. There’s also the mention of an evacuation order in Warzone’s intel missions. But given Warzone just launched in March, it feels too early to completely nuke and abandon the map of Verdansk. Maybe I’m wrong, but it’s more likely that the explosion at the stadium will just be a contained blast, opening up the interior bits to make the location suck less. We could still get a Black Ops announcement integrated within Warzone’s event, and maybe Verdansk will expand to new areas, but I think a completely new and Black Ops-themed map doesn’t make sense until release.
So far, all the teasers have been sent to streamers via USB drives inside rook chess pieces. The rook pieces build on the Warzone narrative that carried over from the campaign’s ending. JackFrags read the letter included with his rook piece, which is written by a character named Marcus Ortega, a senior officer with Shadow Company.
Originating from Modern Warfare 2, the Shadow Company is an elite, private military contractor once under the command of the villainous General Shepherd. A rebooted timeline for Modern Warfare would allow the previously departed General Shepherd to return, but regardless of who is calling the shots now, someone is sending Shadow Company to clean up the chaos in Verdansk. Maybe they decide it’s an easier cleanup if everything just goes boom.
And then there’s those nukes found tucked away in some of the map’s mysterious bunkers, but I’m not quite sure this is related, yet.
Whatever is set to go kaboom, presumably on August 5 by the timestamp on the teasers, it’s unclear how big the explosion will be. I’m ready to see some demolition at the stadium. If we’re holding on to Verdansk, then let’s see some spicy map changes.
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