For months, there have been rumors in Call of Duty: Warzone that the release map Verdansk will be destroyed by a nuclear explosion. A small in-game teaser now shows what that would look like.
What’s going on? Call of Duty: Warzone is designed as a live-service game and continuously brings new content to keep things fresh and exciting for its players. However, players have been waiting in vain for the biggest change so far: a large, new map for the standard Battle Royale.
Since the start of Season 2, the hints have become more pronounced. The story also seems to be set: zombies are overrunning the city, and to regain control over the outbreak, Verdansk is to be “nuked”.
There is also a small in-game teaser that points towards the end of Verdansk. MeinMMO shows you the clip and gives background on the impending nuke event.
Warzone: Verdansk map spontaneously goes up in flames
What’s happening? In a small hut that was part of the story for the reveal of Cold War in Warzone, there is a map of Verdansk on the wall. This map is not a still life – for some players who take a glance at it, the map starts to “explode”. Several clips of this are already making the rounds on reddit, and we embed one of them here:
The player looks at the map during a round of Plunder. Suddenly, explosions occur in the small room, but the soldier is not harmed. After the fireworks, the hut also fills with gas. However, the player remains unimpressed – it’s all just for show.
How can I check this out myself? If you want to see it for yourself, you need to go to the small hut east of the TV station. Since the start of Season 2, you can enter the hut without a code – the doors on both sides can be easily opened. If you’re coming from the west towards the TV station, you can see the map upon entering.
When we tried to check it out today, there was no comparable explosion. We stood in the hut for several minutes and only saw a brief explosion that went off on the desk on the other side of the wall. But not the fireworks that other players experience. There may be unknown requirements to activate the “Easter egg”.
What will happen to Verdansk now?
Will Verdansk really go up in flames? The discovery of the map fireworks is just the latest development in a topic that has been circulating in the community since almost the release of Warzone: The map Verdansk is set to experience a nuclear explosion and change drastically or disappear completely.
As a replacement, a whole new map is set to be introduced, consisting of Fireteam maps from Black Ops Cold War. So far, these are just rumors and speculations, partially derived from supposed insider sources or leaks from Warzone’s data. There are currently no concrete, official details about a new map.
What happens next? At the moment, players are waiting for the zombie threat in Verdansk to get rolling. Since the start of Season 2, there have been NPC-zombies on the map, terrorizing only a small area of the map. The contamination is shifting but not growing. The threat protocol remains at 5% as it was at the beginning of the season.
Leaks have already shown a clear hint at the end of Verdansk and that the zombie threat is somehow connected to it. However, it may also just be a new game mode that puts zombies at the center of the map, instead of just being decorative gameplay elements.
Speculations are also leaning towards a live event similar to the reveal of Cold War in Warzone. A scripted game mode that lets players experience a small story and ceremonially ushers in the end of Verdansk.
As of now, however, it cannot be said with certainty what will happen. Every new story snippet that Call of Duty shows for Warzone and Cold War brings the stories of the two CoDs closer together, and the zombies play a recurring role. If you are looking for more background on the potential live event, you can find it here: CoD Warzone hints at major changes to the old map – Will Verdansk be destroyed?
