Is Verdansk Coming Back to Warzone? Season 1 Status

Yes, Verdansk is coming back to Warzone: Activision lists it as an in-season Battle Royale map that returns later in Season 1, but as of 10 November 2026 no return date has been announced. Season 1 launched on 6 November with Hajin as the only Battle Royale map, so anyone asking whether Warzone Verdansk is coming back is really asking when, and what will be different when it does.

For this post we read the official Call of Duty Season 1 blog and roadmap wording, Raven Software's Season 1 patch notes, plus coverage from Timesaver, Tourney Time, Pocket Tactics and VGC, all checked in November 2026.

What Activision Has Actually Confirmed

The official Season 1 intel post has a section titled "Returning Battle Royale Map: Verdansk (In-Season)". Its first line says Verdansk returns later in Season 1. That is the whole official timing statement. There is no date, no week, and no link to the mid-season update. The same post says Battle Royale and Battle Royale Casual will take place on Hajin and Verdansk, which confirms which playlists the map will feed once it is live.

It is worth separating "in-season" from "Season 1 Reloaded". Activision says a Reloaded blog will arrive closer to the mid-season update, but the Warzone post never ties Verdansk to that update. Timesaver made the same point in its 2 November breakdown: "In-Season" does not automatically mean the mid-season patch. Until Activision names a date, any specific day you see online is a guess.

The patch notes back this up from the other direction. Raven's 5 November launch notes and the 7 November hotfix, still the latest Warzone notes on the official patch-notes page when we checked on 10 November, cover Hajin and Zodiac in detail and do not schedule Verdansk at all.

What Changes When Verdansk Returns

Activision has shared a short list of landmarks. The returning Verdansk keeps its familiar skyline but adds or highlights four locations: the Signal Station, the Grazna-7 Launch Complex, the Overlook skyscraper and the high-tech Drone Labs. The blog also mentions frozen forests, industrial sprawl and dense city blocks, so expect the usual mix of open ground and tight streets.

There is a small dispute about how new those landmarks are. Timesaver notes that at least one player on the Warzone subreddit says they match the previous Warzone version of the map, so treat "new landmarks" as Activision's framing rather than a promise of fresh buildings.

What will definitely be new is everything around the map. Whatever version of Verdansk comes back will run on Season 1 systems, which means the Modern Warfare 4 weapon pool, Tactical Sprint for every Operator, the new perk list with Elite Perks, Fly Buy mobile Buy Stations and Ground Ops. The blog also says most of the new interactable objects, such as dumpsters and concrete cylinders, are scattered across Hajin, Zodiac and Verdansk, so the returning map should have pushable cover and fuel barrels too.

• Movement: Tactical Sprint is now default, with about 0.5 meters per second of extra speed for up to four seconds at full stamina.
• Buy Stations: in Battle Royale, Self-Revive kits and Gas Masks are no longer sold at standard stations; you buy them from Fly Buy drones that arrive in Circle 3.
• Gas: Battle Royale circles are faster, and Raven says matches are nearly five and a half minutes shorter than last chapter.

Why Verdansk Is Missing From the Launch Lineup

Activision has not given a reason. The launch roadmap simply puts Hajin and Zodiac at launch and Verdansk and Rebirth Island in-season. A common theory on forums is that holding back the familiar maps pushes players to learn the new ones, but that is player speculation, not an official explanation, and we would not rely on it.

What we can say is how the playlist looked in week one. Timesaver's 6 November summary of Raven's week-one playlist graphic showed Battle Royale Solos and Quads on Hajin, Battle Royale Casual Quads on Hajin, and no Duos or Trios Battle Royale at launch. Resurgence ran on Zodiac, with Rebirth Island marked to be enabled shortly after launch. Our Rebirth Island status update covers what happened next on that front, because the two maps are on separate timelines.

If your goal is simply to play classic big-map Battle Royale right now, Hajin is the only option. Our Hajin map guide lists its thirteen points of interest and the weather odds, which helps if you are coming to it from years of Verdansk muscle memory.

Conflicting Reports and How to Read Them

Two kinds of conflicting information are circulating. The first is older. Tourney Time notes that in October, Infinity Ward reportedly said on The Ward Room that Verdansk and Rebirth Island would sit alongside the new maps from day one. The official Season 1 posts published on 2 November say otherwise, and outlets including Dexerto and Timesaver read them the same way.

The second is newer. A Pocket Tactics article about the Switch 2 launch, updated 9 November, lists Verdansk as one of four Battle Royale and Resurgence maps available from day one on Switch 2. That contradicts Activision's own Season 1 post, which describes Verdansk as returning later. Unless Activision updates its wording, we treat the official post as correct and the Switch 2 article as mistaken.

The safest check is the game itself. Open the Warzone playlist screen and look at the map preview for Battle Royale. Raven updated the playlist interface in Season 1 with improved map previews and map rotation information, so if Verdansk is in the rotation you will see it listed there before any article catches up.

It also helps to be clear about what nobody knows yet. As of 10 November, Activision has not said whether Verdansk will get its own permanent playlist or share a rotation with Hajin, which squad sizes it will support, or whether it arrives with the Season 1 Reloaded patch or on a separate day. Week one had no Duos or Trios Battle Royale at all, so even the playlist structure around the map's return is an open question. Any article that answers those points with confidence is guessing. When Activision publishes the Reloaded blog, expect those details to appear there or in Raven's patch notes on the day, and look for a dated official post before you plan a squad night around the map.

Verdansk Has Done This Before

This is not the first time the map has left and returned. Verdansk was the original Warzone map, and Activision brought it back on 3 April 2025 alongside Warzone Season 3 in the Black Ops 6 era, after announcing the return months earlier. That return was dated well in advance, which is part of why the open-ended "later in Season 1" wording now stands out.

The lesson from that cycle is that Activision tends to announce the exact day through its official channels shortly before a map goes live. The official Call of Duty blog, the Call of Duty Updates account on X and Raven's own account are where a Verdansk date will appear first. Patch notes then follow on the day.

The Rebirth Island switch on 7 November is a useful model. It was flagged in advance on the week-one playlist graphic as coming shortly after launch, then confirmed with a single short post from Call of Duty Updates when it went live. If Verdansk follows the same pattern, the first sign may be a playlist graphic or a roadmap update rather than a big announcement, so it pays to check those weekly playlist posts.

How to Get Ready Before It Lands

There is a lot you can do now that will carry straight into Verdansk. Player Level and Prestige are shared across Multiplayer, DMZ and Warzone, and the 33 Modern Warfare 4 launch weapons all have Weapon Prestige and Warzone Mastery Camos. Any leveling you do on Hajin today counts toward the guns you will carry on Verdansk later.

• Unlock your loadout guns: base weapons unlock by Player Level, from the Han 86, which is available immediately, to the Cronen Squall at level 55.
• Decide on legacy guns: older weapons from Modern Warfare II through Black Ops 7 are usable, but as fixed preset builds. Our legacy weapons explainer covers what you lose by running them.
• Learn the new systems: Fly Buy timing, Ground Ops and Elite Perks will matter on Verdansk just as they do on Hajin.
• Check your platform: Warzone no longer runs on PS4 or Xbox One. If you last played Verdansk on an older console, our guide to the PS4 and Xbox One shutdown explains how your progress moves to a supported system.

Arriving on Verdansk at a Higher Prestige

Because the Player Level track is shared, many returning players want to land on Verdansk with their Prestige already climbed. If you would rather not grind it yourself, the store's MW4 Prestige Boost takes your account from the Prestige you are on to the one you choose, up to Prestige 10, with levels 1 to 55 completed by hand for each Prestige on your own account. You pick Classic or Regular Prestige on the form, and the page lists PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC and Nintendo Switch 2.

The store's other Modern Warfare 4 services, such as max weapon levels and boosting, are collected on the MW4 hub.

Frequently Asked Questions