Call of Duty: Vanguard celebrates its release on November 5th, and here you will find all important information about the purchase, preload, all game modes and the Battle Royale Warzone.
In this info hub, we will present everything we know about the new CoD 2021. As new information comes in, we will update the article and provide you with the relevant links for more background. With a click, you can go straight to the information you are looking for:
- General information about the shooter and the setting
- Information on the release schedule and Season 0
- Campaign in World War II
- Multiplayer with 16 6vs6 maps
- Zombie mode with a new concept
- What will happen to Warzone?
- Everything about the purchase, editions, and costs
General Information – Setting, Platforms, Developers
Call of Duty is a major shooter franchise, and with CoD: Vanguard, the 18th main installment of the series is being released. CoD is defined by mobile PvP battles with fast movement, many different game modes, and a focus on soldier versus soldier combat.
In the normal modes, you often have to take out enemies, capture areas, or do both. Vehicles often play no role or a minor role. However, you have a large selection of equipment and war gear that you unlock or earn in matches.
Long-term motivation comes from countless unlockable achievements and cosmetics, as well as the personal drive to improve. CoD in multiplayer is also great for unwinding and forgetting everything else for a few matches.
In addition to the large PvP multiplayer, Vanguard also offers a solo campaign and a co-op mode with zombies. If you are still unsure about the purchase, you can find our quick check on Vanguard here:
What setting does the CoD of 2021 have? Vanguard goes back to the origins of the series and is set in World War II. The last CoD with this setting was CoD: WWII from 2017.
How was the setting received? Since World War II has already been the setting for multiple CoD games, reactions from fans were mixed. A survey on MeinMMO revealed that many of you consider the setting to be the biggest obstacle to buying the game.
Our MeinMMO author and CoD expert Maik Schneider, however, believes that CoD fans should not overlook the title just because of the setting. He believes it could be a very strong year.
Which studio is developing the game? The three big Activision studios that traditionally develop CoD are Treyarch, Infinity Ward, and Sledgehammer Games. The latter were actually supposed to be up in 2020, but the current CoD Black Ops Cold War was developed by Treyarch instead.
With Vanguard, Sledgehammer is back at the helm, having also developed the last World War CoD.
What else is there to know? In terms of technology, Vanguard is again oriented towards Modern Warfare from 2019. The new CoD uses a polished engine from CoD MW and thus the graphic engine from Warzone. Vanguard will be released for PC on the Battle.net launcher and on consoles PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.
For more quick info on the modes, we will include our video on Vanguard:
CoD Vanguard – Information on Preload, Download, Release Schedule
When is the release of Vanguard? CoD: Vanguard will be released on Friday, November 5th on all platforms.
At what time will Vanguard go online? For consoles, the launch is regionally adjusted, and for PC, it will start globally at the same time:
- Launch on PlayStation & Xbox: November 5th at 00:00
- Launch on PC: November 5th at 05:00
Does Vanguard have a preload? Yes, preorders can download Vanguard earlier, and the preload is already online. More information on the download and release schedule can be found here.
What does Vanguard offer at launch? The World War shooter offers 16 maps for the normal game modes, almost 40 weapons, and 8 modes that will be permanently available. You will find an overview of all maps, modes, and weapons here.
Call of Duty, however, is more than just the multiplayer. Vanguard comes with a campaign for solo players and includes a zombie mode for co-op action. The playtime of both modes is still not assessable. But the campaign is often very action-packed and a strong addition, while the zombie mode shines with high replay value.
What happens after release with Vanguard? The CoD of 2021 will likely be supplied with free content for 6 live seasons again. This means: For a year, you will receive new maps, modes, weapons, and zombie content every few weeks.
Even before the start of the first season on December 2nd, a new map will be added to the game. The chaos map “Shipment” provides many kills, deaths, and experience points. More on the release schedule until Season 1 can be found here. The roadmap will be included here:
What does Warzone have to do with it? The free Battle Royale will switch to the Vanguard engine with the launch of Season 1 and will be fully integrated into Vanguard. All details are not yet known, but what we know, you will find in the Warzone section of the article.
CoD Vanguard with a dramatic campaign in World War II
What will the game be about? With Vanguard, we return to World War II. There was a cheeky teaser where a Soviet sniper in World War uniform snipes a soldier during extraction in Warzone.
There will be locations all over the world and at different times during the war. The following locations have already been confirmed:
- Western Front – France
- Eastern Front – Russia
- Pacific Front
- Africa Front
- Germany and the Alps
Later, another trailer was shown that elaborated on the individual war locations. It was also made clear that it is NOT an alternate WW2 scenario like Wolfenstein, but corresponds to the historical template.
However, there are no soldiers in the game who completely match their models – which the New Zealanders are quite displeased with.
What are we even playing? In the teasers, there is always a patch with the logo and the inscription “Task Force Vanguard”. This refers to the very first special unit, in which soldiers of Allied nations perform special command operations.
At gamescom 2021, a longer gameplay passage from the campaign was shown. It featured the Russian soldier and later sniper Polina Petrova (played by Laura Bailey). You can find the video and the related article on the new heroine of CoD Vanguard here:
The goal of the campaign is to prevent the nasty Nazi officer Friesinger from realizing his plans for a “Fourth Reich”. To do this, we step into the roles of the soldiers who are part of the Vanguard special unit.
CoD Vanguard: Strong Release Content in Multiplayer
What multiplayer modes will there be? So far, we know that there will be the usual 6v6 modes and a 2vs2/3vs3 gunfight mode. The latter will be called “Champion Hill” and will offer 2vs2/3vs3 battles with a total of 8 teams competing against each other in a series, like in a kind of tournament. Additionally, there is the new mode “Patrol” for the 6vs6 maps.
- Free for All
- Team Deathmatch
- Kill Confirmed
- Domination
- Search & Destroy
- Control
- Patrol
- Champions Hill
In addition, there will be changing game modes with adjusted rules every week for more variety.
Moreover, game modes are planned that take the reactive environment into account. In Vanguard, you can cause considerable damage to the surroundings. A completely new mode is “Patrol” – here you must collect points in an area that moves continuously across the map.
How many maps are there? At launch, a proud 20 maps will be playable in Vanguard. That’s a lot, because Cold War had only 12 maps in comparison! If you only count the 6v6 maps, Vanguard has more than twice as many maps as its predecessor. 16 of them are 6v6 core maps, and the remaining 4 are planned for smaller modes.
What about Combat Pacings? This is one of the major innovations in Vanguard. You can now set how many players you want on the map for most matches:
- Tactical: Everything normal – 6v6
- Assault: Things get more intense here
- Blitz: Large number of players, up to 24v24 on large maps
What about the Gunsmith? The Gunsmith feature from Modern Warfare will also return, this time with more scope. There will be individual ballistics and different types and calibers of ammunition for your weapons. In addition, weapons now have 10 attachment slots, and each can be fitted with an attachment.
A comprehensive overview of the multiplayer mode, with all information on maps, modes, weapons, and gameplay, can be found here:
Everything about Warzone with Vanguard
Will the new CoD 2021 come to Warzone? Warzone continues to be the link between the annual CoD titles. The integration of the new CoD goes even further than with Cold War. Because Warzone will take over the graphic engine from Vanguard – it will be technically updated.
In addition, there will be a new large map and an anti-cheat system for PCs. However, the complete details are still not known. Information about Warzone with Vanguard can be found here:
- The 5 most important changes when Warzone “merges” with CoD Vanguard
- Everything about the new Pacific map in CoD Warzone – Release, images & size
- Call of Duty finally reveals the new anti-cheat system – This is “RICOCHET”
In terms of gameplay, many things are still unclear, but there are already some details regarding the merger. The Pacific update starts on December 2nd, and the new map is called Caldera:
And what about zombies in Vanguard?
Will there be zombies? Good news for fans of rotten undead. Because Vanguard will have a zombie co-op mode again. It will even come from the zombie experts at Treyarch and tell the backstory of the zombies in Cold War.
The new zombie mode deviates from the usual round-based concept. You rather build your command center through missions, which also serves as a combat area, and with each mission, the difficulty increases, but so do your opportunities to improve equipment.
More information on the zombie mode is gathered here for you:
All about purchasing Vanguard – Costs, Editions & Pre-order
Vanguard is available for pre-order and offers you 3 editions:
- Standard Edition: €59.99 (PC); €69.99 (PlayStation and Xbox)
- Cross-Gen Edition: €79.99 (only PlayStation and Xbox)
- Ultimate Edition: €99.99 (PC); €109.99 (PlayStation and Xbox)
Further information about pre-orders and the contents of the editions can be found here:
