Warzone Season 1 Update Goes Live, Here Are the Patch Notes

The Hit List (Launch Window)

Who’s next? Keep up your luxurious – but slightly corrupt – lifestyle during the Hit List Event. You’re offered up a take-no-prisoners mission: kill or be killed. The Hit List Limited Event gives players a board of contracts with one goal – take them all out. Cross off the entire list and earn some exclusive loot for hire.

An all-new Battle Pass System grants you the opportunity to earn 100+ rewards, including free base weapons, numerous Weapon Blueprints, Equipment Skins, Operator Skins, and much more. There are three ways to obtain some or all of this content:

• Earn 20+ free rewards, including cosmetic content and base weapons.
• Purchase the premium Battle Pass and earn up to 1,100 COD Points as you progress through the Battle Pass Pages.
• Or purchase BlackCell for the ultimate seasonal experience, including a variety of molten hot Operator Skins, Weapon Blueprints, COD points, and other rewards.

WARZONE

New Map

Area 99

Season 01 introduces Area 99, a new Warzone map designed by Treyarch and inspired by Nuketown’s high-paced gameplay. This map is set in the Nevada desert at the Echo Ridge Weapons Station — a hidden 1950s government site abandoned after a reactor leak. The map offers intense, tactical combat through desert roadways, open trenches, and pipework around a central Reactor “bullseye,” anticipated as the hottest drop zone. Another key point of interest is a massive crane suspending a Nuketown house in the Loading Bay, adding to the map’s unique and dynamic environment.

• Points of Interest
  • Reactor
  • Bunker
  • Test Site
  • Mannequin Assembly
  • Cooling Towers
  • Nuketown Shipping
  • Loading Bay
  • Warehouse
  • Manufacturing
  • Pods

Returning Maps

Urzikstan 

The “big map” returns to its early days featuring familiar landmarks from before the destruction of Popov Power Plant and the arrival of the Atlas Superstore.  

Enhanced with Black Ops 6 innovations, Urzikstan is the staging ground for a fierce Ranked Play Battle Royale later when Season 01’s Mid-Season launches. 

Rebirth Island

The infamous prison island returns during Season 01’s playlist with Resurgence Modes, enhanced by Omnimovement, Black Ops 6 weaponry, and Killstreaks for added tactical intensity.

Map Adjustments

Urzikstan, Rebirth Island

• Vehicles 
  • All new vehicles with improved handling, detailed further below. 
  • Brand new dirtbike for quick rotation. 

• Loot  
  • All new Black Ops 6 ground loot including weapons and equipment. 

• Visuals 
  • Lighting and visual improvements to the map with Black Ops 6 technology. 

• Sound  
  • Audio improvements to in-game sound effects including footsteps balance tuning. 

Rebirth Island

• Submarine 
  • The Submarine POI introduced earlier this year now appears 100% of the time. 

• Redeploy Drones 
  • Increased Redeploy Drone count and spawn rate for balancing later circles. 

• Biometric Scanner & Weapon Trade Station 
  • Rewards for the Biometric Scanner and Weapon Trade Station have been rebalanced and updated to Black Ops 6 loot. 

MODES

Returning Modes

Battle Royale

This mode offers the classic Warzone experience, centered around high-risk, high-reward gameplay. You and your squad have only but a few attempts to survive – and the match concludes with one ultimate winner.

•    Player Count: 120 (Solos, Duos, Trios, Quads) 

•    Map: Urzikstan

Resurgence

This mode offers a bit more forgiveness and a whole lot more action. As long as one squad member remains alive, others can redeploy after a countdown. However, once the resurgence window expires, free redeployment is no longer possible for the remainder of the game.  

•    Player Count: 44 (Solos, Duos, Quads), 45 (Trios) 

•    Map: Area 99, Rebirth Island

Plunder

This mode is a squad-based mode where accumulating Cash is the main objective. The squad that gathers the most Cash by the end of a timed period – extended into overtime once a squad reaches $2 million – claims victory. Cash can be earned by eliminating players and collecting their valuables, searching ground loot and Supply Boxes, and completing Contracts and in-game events. Operators can start with a custom Loadout and redeploy after each elimination throughout the entire match. 

•    Player Count: 120

•    Map: Urzikstan

Bootcamp

This mode is a Quads-only training mode, allowing players to experience Warzone with up to 20 players and 24 bots. XP progression is limited, and the mode does not contribute to Daily/Weekly Challenges or include public events or advanced contracts. 

•    Player Count: 44 

•    Map: Urzikstan

Mode Adjustments

• Resurgence 
  • Players will receive an additional 25% discount in the Buy Station on “Redeploy Squadmate” while the Resurgence timer is still active.

GENERAL

• Carry-Forward 
  • Weapons, blueprints, operators and skins, and vast majority of the cosmetics from Modern Warfare II and III will be available to players in the Black Ops 6 era of Warzone. 

• AFK Detection 
  • We have updated the detection logic to determine if a player is AFK during an active match.

• Leaderboards 
  • To accommodate and track the new statistics coming with the Black Ops 6 integration, the Warzone Leaderboard stats will be reset at launch.

The Black Ops 6 Armory (BETA) is a repository that provides access to previously missed Loadout content from prior titles including Modern Warfare II and III. Players can look for and activate an item in the Armory to start earning XP toward unlocking it.

The Armory is unlocked at Player Level 24 and is added to the Level Unlock Menu. This menu serves as a platform to browse items that otherwise cannot be earned through normal weapon progression.

Please note that certain legacy attachments will be missing from the armory at the launch of Season 01. New players seeking to unlock these items can do so by playing the respective legacy title until they are implemented in Black Ops 6 in a future update. Players that have already unlocked this content in previous games are not impacted.

Season 01 introduces an extensive progression and Prestige system, with 55 levels of unlocks, 10 Prestige levels, and a final Prestige Mastery tier with 1,000 additional levels. Players unlock weapons, equipment, killstreaks, and perks through progression, with exclusive Calling Cards, animated “Dark Ops” cards, and 10 reticle unlocks per optic. Weapon camos include 9 Military Camos per weapon, 2 Special Camos sharable across modes, and 4 Mastery Camos, including animated designs like Gold Tiger and Abyss. Some rewards are exclusive to Black Ops 6 but can be earned retroactively.

Weapon Mastery Camos NEW 

The Weapon Camo grind has been overhauled in Black Ops 6 and is bigger than ever. You’ll be progressing through Camos on the quest to earn the first ever Call of Duty: Warzone Mastery Camo: Abyss (Season 01).

New Combat

• Body Shield 
  • Sneak up behind an unsuspecting enemy and double-tap the melee button to pull them close as your personal shield against incoming fire.  
  • Once they’ve served their purpose, gracefully deliver the coup de grâce. 
  • Body Shield is the spiritual successor to the previous Interrogation mechanic. 

• Dedicated Melee Weapon 
  • All player loadouts will have a dedicated melee weapon by default, in addition to their primary and secondary weapon slots.  
  • Players can swap to their dedicated melee weapon by holding down the melee button. 
  • Players holding a melee weapon will benefit from unlimited tac sprint. 

• Shootable Doors 
  • Doors can now be shot open allowing for new tactics and strategy. 

Combat Adjustments

• Primary Weapon 
  • The Loadout inventory is returning to the classic Warzone experience where players can only equip one Primary weapon. 
  • There is a Wildcard detailed further below that allows for two Primary weapons to be equipped. 

• Self-Revive Auto Pickup 
  • While downed, players will now be able to automatically loot Self-Revive kits that are within close proximity. 

• Live Ping Duration 
  • The duration of live pings has been reduced from 3 seconds to 2 in order to bring more balance to a combat engagement. 

• Armor Plate Replacement Speed 
  • The speed at which players can replace broken or missing armor plates has been increased by 8% to match the fluidity of Black Ops 6 Omnimovement. 

• Abandon Timer 
  • The time players must wait to give up has been reduced from 5 seconds to 4 seconds due to the previous Interrogation mechanic being replaced. 

• Deaths Door 
  • The health at which players will enter the death’s door state has been reduced from 50% to 35%. 
  • The health at which the death’s door state will end has been reduced from 70% to 55%. 
  • This change is due to us wanting to enable Players to better hear and see their surroundings when under threat by an enemy. 

New Movement

• Omnimovement 
  • The movement and combat innovations from Black Ops 6 are fully integrated into Warzone. This allows players to Sprint, Slide, and Dive in any direction, perform 180-degree Combat Dives, and execute advanced moves like the Combat Supine and Omni-Sprint for dynamic tactical play. 

• Combat Supine
  • Drop to a prone position, then rotate your Operator for a complete 360-degree view of your surroundings. Then fire to eliminate the enemy quickly as they appear, all the while staying in the supine position.

• Intelligent Movement 
  • Players can now customize elements of how they traverse landscape and navigate combat. 
  • Available in the Keyboard & Mouse or Controller Options under “Movement,” players will find the following features:
    • Sprint Assist: Choose whether to manually or automatically sprint, tactically sprint, how much of a delay before sprinting begins, and if the assist occurs while sprinting sideways or backwards. 
    • Mantle Assist: Customize how and when to automatically mantle over obstacles. 
    • Crouch Assist: This enables crouching and sliding when the intent is to move through a valid opening. 
    • Corner Slice: Allows the act of inclining weapons (and camera) when adjacent to or moving around a corner. This doesn’t affect aim. Default is “on.” 

• Unlimited Tac Sprint  
  • Players will have access to unlimited tac sprint via the Sprinter Perk or by holding their dedicated melee weapon. 

• Mantle Protection 
  • Players will now climb onto thin or high ledges rather than over them to prevent untimely deaths.

Movement Adjustments

• Tac Sprint Duration 
  • We heard feedback around default tac sprint duration, so it has been increased from 2 seconds to 4 seconds. 

• Landing Tuning 
  • The duration of the shock effect when falling from a near-death height has been reduced to 2.1 seconds from 3 seconds. 
  • The minimum fall damage required before the shock effect from landing is now 55%, up from 50% allowing for slightly higher jumps with less punishment. 
  • This change is made to better enable the movement opportunities that the Black Ops 6 integration allows. 

• Vertical Ascenders & Horizontal Zipline Improvements Quality of Life
  • Interacting with the Ascenders and Ziplines lines has been improved, making it easier to attach to the line from an angle or while free falling to increase fluidity. 

• Redeploy Drones 
  • Redeploy Drones are fixed in place for the duration of a match. 
  • Once a Redeploy Drone has been consumed by the gas, it will leave the map rather than relocating to give a more consistent experience.

• Streamlined Inventory 
  • At the start of Season 01, we’re streamlining the inventory system by removing the “Backpack” and returning to a classic inventory layout, organized by sections for cash, gas mask, armor plates, killstreaks, field upgrades, weapons, ammo and perks.  

Perks in Warzone are now streamlined, allowing players to choose three Perks (one from each color-coded slot) in the Loadouts Menu. Most Pick-3 Perks unlock as you level up but re-lock upon Prestiging. Black Ops 6 player levels carry over to Warzone, unlocking corresponding Perks. 

General

• Lootable Perks 
  • Lootable Perks return! Each season, players will encounter a number of perks via Ground Loot and Supply Boxes. These perk effects stack on top of the original Pick-3 Perks players have selected in their loadout. 
  • When a player is eliminated, their Pick-3 Perks will drop on the ground as a “Custom Perk Pack” to be recovered or stolen by another player, while any looted perks will disappear. 
  • The Lootable Perks players can find include a mix of perks from the 18 possible Pick-3 Perks, in addition to two perks that are unique to ground loot;
  • Players will recognize their Pick-3 Perks when they are equipped in the bottom right of the HUD, while lootable perks can be viewed in the Inventory. 

• Specialist Perk Package 
  • Found as a rare loot drop or Care Package reward, Specialist grants every Perk including all 18 Pick-3 Perks, as well as both Ground Loot exclusive Perks – Irradiated and Shrouded.  
  • If you’re eliminated, the Specialist Perk package will disappear. 
  • Can be acquired in Buy Stations in limited quantities for $30,000. 

• Pre-Match Perks Quality of Life 
  • Perks can now be edited in the pre-match lobby. 

WILDCARDS

First introduced in Black Ops Cold War, Wildcards come to Warzone with 4 options that act as special, single-use perks for each loadout. These loadout modifiers allow players to equip more gear, weapons, or attachments, adding unique customization and variety to gameplay.

SATCHELS

Satchels are new loot items that expand storage for inventory slots, allowing players to carry more of an item type and improve efficiency. Each Satchel type can be equipped simultaneously and are dropped upon elimination. 

EQUIPMENT

Warzone continues to provide an extensive selection of lethal and tactical equipment, allowing players a range of options to suit their combat style. With the release of Black Ops 6, players can explore new additions to the equipment lineup, some of which we suspect may become fan favorites. We’ve also made several visual and balance adjustments to classic equipment, ensuring a diverse arsenal to choose from.

Equipment Adjustments

With the Black Ops 6 integration, we have adjusted a number of the Lethal and Tactical equipment to offer a new and fresh arsenal of choices.

• Maximum Deployed Equipment 
  • The maximum number of lethal and tactical equipment that can be planted at the same time has been increased to 3 up from 2. 
  • We aligned Warzone with the changes to Multiplayer. This enables some of the new traps to be better utilized and function better with other adjustments like the Munitions Vest and Bomb Squad. 

• Frag 
  • Outer damage decreased to 65 from 110. 
  • Middle damage increased to 170 from 155. 
  • Inner damage decreased to 260 from 275.
  • Frag Cooking IndicatorQuality of Life 
    • Players will now notice a UI indicator to better determine the time remaining until a frag detonates.

• Semtex 
  • Explosion radius decreased to 5m from 6.5m. 
  • Outer damage decreased to 45 from 110. 
  • Inner damage decreased to 180 from 200. 

• Throwing Knife 
  • Damage decreased to 180 from 200. 

• Drill Charge 
  • Outer damage decreased to 39 from 110. 

• Molotov 
  • Burn stage damage was reduced to 10,15,25 from 15, 25, 30. 

• Smoke 
  • VFX updated to be at parity with Black Ops 6. 

• Experimental Gas 
  • Will now deal 10 damage per tick. 

• Snapshot Grenade 
  • Radius increased to 15m from 10m. 
  • Will now put a mark over a successfully “snapped” target which lasts for 5 seconds. 

KILLSTREAKS

Killstreaks in Warzone, much like Multiplayer’s Scorestreaks, are game-changing tools that players can find via ground loot, Supply Boxes, or as rewards from contracts and events. Many of these Killstreaks are lethal, unleashing devastating airstrikes and explosions that can decimate enemy squads from above. Others are tactical, offering valuable intel on enemy positions or on ideal positioning for upcoming fights. With Black Ops 6, a few new Killstreaks have been introduced designed to give players a real advantage in the heat of battle. 

Killstreak Adjustments

• Bunker Buster 
  • Similar to the Predator Missile from Modern Warfare, the Trophy will now cause the Bunker Buster to detonate mid-air stopping it from penetrating the building. The explosion damage is reduced and the gas will unload at the location it was destroyed. Like all projectiles the trophy must have line of sight.

FIELD UPGRADES

Field Upgrade Adjustments

• Heartbeat Sensor 
  • The warning display now highlights in red when enemies are within 15 meters, up from 7. 
  • The time between pings has been reduced to 1.5 seconds, down from 2.5 seconds. 

• Munitions Box 
  • The munitions crate now grants 3 clips of every ammo type, rather than only refilling your primary and secondary weapon ammo types. 
  • With this change players are enabled to make pivots in their weapon choices. A focus on breadth rather than depth of ammo. 

• Portable Radar 
  • The duration of the portable radar pulse has been increased from 25 seconds to 30. 

• Personal Redeploy Drone 
  • Deploys 50% faster.  
  • No longer prohibits firing while in use. 
  • Standardized height across the different maps. 

• Trophy System 
  • Counter charges increased from 3 to 5. 

Introduction

We’ve expanded the Warzone arsenal to include weapons from the launch of Black Ops 6 in October 2024, giving players even more options to customize their loadouts. Dive into Warzone with these powerful additions, now available alongside fan favorites from previous titles.  

At launch, Black Ops 6 weapons in Warzone will share similar values to their Multiplayer counterparts such as ADS speed, sprint to fire, and recoil. However, damage profiles for a number of weapons have been modified to establish a baseline for Warzone. We encourage new and returning players to study their favorite weapon’s details in the Gunsmith. 

With the integration of Black Ops 6, we also now have new tuning options for weapons that weren’t previously available, allowing us to adjust aspects like handling (ADS speed and sprint to fire), magazine sizes, recoil, and more. For instance, while the AS VAL has a default magazine size of 20 in Multiplayer, we’ve set it to 30 for Warzone. 

Our goal is to make weapon adjustments faster to keep the available selection dynamic and engaging, without making any weapons feel obsolete. With these new tuning options, we aim to refine each weapon’s identity and role specific to their use in Warzone, such as emphasizing Assault Rifles as strong long-range options. 

Additionally, all bolt-action snipers and pump-action shotguns (while aiming down sights) from Modern Warfare II, Modern Warfare III, and Black Ops 6 will have a one-shot headshot potential within their respective max damage ranges. Additionally, in order to incentivize intentional aim, all shotguns will fire 5 pellets while ADSing versus 4 when fired from the hip. 

We want players to feel that weapons from Modern Warfare II and Modern Warfare III continue to remain solid, viable choices in Warzone. Our goal is to create a unified combat system that makes each gun enjoyable to use, regardless of its origin. We’ll continue to improve legacy weapons and attachments throughout the coming year to further support this vision. 

Black Ops 6 Weapons

Black Ops 6 weapons have a unique Warzone damage profile, which includes specific base damage, range, and location-based modifiers. 

We’ve adjusted several Black Ops 6 attachments to function differently in Warzone: 

• CHF Barrel 
  • For Assault Rifles, LMGs, DMRs, SMGs, and Pistols: This now grants an increased neck multiplier rather than a head multiplier. 
  • For Sniper Rifles and Shotguns: This now provides increased leg modifiers instead of arm modifiers. 

• Flip Magazine 
  • The magazine capacity penalty from Multiplayer has been removed. In Warzone, flip mags match the base weapon’s ammo capacity. 

• Rapid Fire 
  • This attachment now applies a base damage penalty in Warzone, along with greater penalties to bullet velocity and range. 

Modern Warfare II & III Weapons

A visual recoil reduction pass has been applied to Modern Warfare II weapons, enhancing their feel and control while shooting. 

Barrel and stock attachments from Modern Warfare II have also had their penalties reduced. Additionally, a significant balancing pass has been completed for underbarrel and muzzle attachments from both Modern Warfare II and III. All cons have been removed from these attachments, meaning they now only provide stat boosts, with each subcategory of underbarrels and muzzles functioning identically except for cosmetic differences. AMP attachments in these slots, however, retain their unique functionality and balancing. 

• Muzzle Enhancements 
  • Suppressors: Boost velocity and damage range. 
  • Comps: Improve recoil control. 
  • Flash Hiders: Increase damage range and firing aim stability. 
  • Breacher: Enhance melee damage and recoil control. 

• Underbarrel Enhancements 
  • Angled Grip: Increases hipfire and tacstance accuracy and aim walking steadiness. 
  • Handstop: Improves sprint-to-fire and ADS speed. 
  • Vert Grip: Enhances recoil control and firing aim stability. 

Furthermore, Modern Warfare II and III weapons now have corner-slicing functionality, adding an extra tactical edge.

Global Weapon Builds

Seamlessly access a custom weapon build you’ve created across Black Ops 6 Multiplayer, Zombies, and Warzone. This time-saving feature lets you adjust any Build or Blueprint in one game, with changes automatically applied wherever that weapon is equipped. To create a build, select a base weapon or Blueprint, add attachments and cosmetics in the Gunsmith, and return to the Custom Loadout screen to save it. The build, with all selected customizations, will then appear in other modes under the same weapon type.

New Weapons

These weapons are new to Season 01 and were not part of the original launch of Black Ops 6 Multiplayer in October 2024. 

• Krig C Assault Rifle 
  • Full-auto assault rifle. High damage and average handling. Recoil pattern starts very controllable before ramping up. 
  • Unlockable via Battle Pass Page 3 HVT Tier Reward OR Page 14 Battle Pass Blueprint 

• SAUG Submachine Gun 
  • Fully automatic submachine gun. Excellent mobility and good handling. Great rate of fire. High recoil. 
  • Unlockable via Battle Pass Page 3 HVT Tier Reward OR Page 11 Battle Pass Blueprint 

• Sirin 9mm Special Weapon (In-Season)
  • Fully automatic specialty weapon. Offers SMG characteristics as a secondary weapon. Slow rate of fire. 
  • Unlockable via Event Reward 

• Power Drill Melee Weapon (In-Season)
  • Two-hit kill. Very short range. Very fast attack speed. 
  • Unlockable via Event Reward 

New Attachments

These attachments are new to Season 01 and were not part of the original launch of Black Ops 6 in October 2024. 

• 12 Gauge Dragon’s Breath 
  • Add some heat to your Shotgun blasts with incendiary rounds comprised of magnesium sparks that stick to and burn enemies over time. Equipping the 12 Gauge Dragon’s Breath Fire Mod prevents using Barrel Attachments, but the tradeoff is well worth it when seeking a fiery finish. 
  • Compatible with Shotguns 
  • Acquired via Battle Pass Page 7 Reward 

• Buffer Weight Stock (In-Season)
  • The heavier Buffer Weight Stock provides significantly smoother action through the additional resistance met by the bolt carrier group. The improvement results in more manageable recoil through sustained fire, ideal for staying on target though at the expense of ADS Speed and Aim Walk Movement Speed. 
  • Compatible with XM4 Assault Rifle, XMG LMG, DM-10 Marksman Rifle 
  • Acquired via Event Reward 

• Burst Fire Conversion (In-Season)
  • Convert the XM4 Assault Rifle’s primary firing mode into a three-round burst to help conserve ammo and stay on target. There’s an impressive lack of recoil too, so it’s still possible to pump out consistent damage when facing heavy threats. 
  • Compatible with XM4 Assault Rifle 
  • Acquired via Event Reward 

• Burst Fire Conversion (In-Season)
  • Convert the Kompakt 92 SMG’s primary firing mode into an exceptionally rapid three-round burst. Equipping the Burst Fire Conversion Fire Mod locks the Underbarrel and Barrel Attachment slots. When you need to fire quickly in close quarters, hold down the trigger to automatically cycle through burst shots. 
  • Compatible with Kompakt 92 SMG 
  • Acquired via Event Reward 

Weapon Adjustments

The following weapon adjustments are strictly limited to Modern Warfare II and III weapons. It’s a lot.

Future patch notes for Black Ops 6 weapons will follow the table format introduced with the launch of Black Ops 6.

LOOT

• Ground & Supply Box Loot 
  • Added Black Ops 6 items including:
    • Weapons 
    • Field Equipment: War Cry, Scrambler 
    • Killstreaks: Napalm Strike, Sentry Gun, SAM Turret, Care Package 
    • Lethals: Throwing Axe, Blast Trap, Impact Grenade, Spring Mine 
    • Tacticals: Neurogas Mine, Prox Alarm, Spy Camera 
    • Perks: Grenadier, Combat Tracker, Dexterity, Cold-Blooded, Irradiated, Shrouded 
    • Satchels: Armor Satchel, Munitions Satchel 
  • Removal of the following:
    • Killstreaks: Cluster Mine, Mosquito Drone, Guardian, Bomb Drone
    • Lethals: Proxy Mine, Claymore, Thermite, Breacher Drone 
    • Tacticals: Tracker Grenade, Scatter Mine 
    • Redeploy tokens 

• Loot Distribution 
  • The loot distribution system will now create further space for larger items as they are dropped to the ground to avoid overlapping loot. 
  • The loot distribution system will now purposely avoid dropping items near objects in close proximity such as Buy Stations. 

• Medical CabinetsQuality of Life 
  • Loot that drops out of medical cabinets now drops within closer proximity of its origin. 

• Buy Stations
  • Buy Station inventory and prices have had slight adjustments with the Black Ops 6 integration. 

• Weapon Outlines Quality of Life
  • Weapons now have rarity outlines to help players better evaluate the options at their disposal throughout a match.

Available Contracts

Below is a summary of each contract type to help both new and returning players quickly grasp how each one functions with the integration of Black Ops 6. These summaries cover key objectives, mechanics, and rewards, making it easier for players to jump in and engage with contracts confidently.

Bounty 

When you pick up a Bounty contract, a nearby player will be selected as your target. A circle will appear on your tac map, periodically updating to show the target’s location. The target will be somewhere within this circle each time it updates, and the circle gradually shrinks as you move closer. The target can also see an indicator on their HUD showing how close the closest player from your hunting team is; this is displayed as a three-level “threat indicator.” Completing the contract by killing the target rewards cash, XP, and a singular ping from the bounty target’s body. If another team kills the target, your contract ends with a “poached” outcome, offering a lesser reward. Allowing the timer to run out or losing your team will fail the contract. 

Big Game Bounty 

This contract works similarly to the base Bounty but with a few twists. It only spawns after Circle 2 closes and prioritizes teams with the highest cumulative kills, provided they’re not already bounty targets. If you complete this contract by eliminating the target, you’ll earn an immediate advanced UAV ping along with extra cash and XP, offering greater rewards than a standard Bounty. 

Scavenger

Upon picking up a Scavenger contract, three scavenger caches will spawn near the pickup spot. You’ll be directed to each cache one at a time, with the next cache revealed only after you open the previous one. Opening a cache adds 45 seconds to the contract timer. These caches contain slightly better loot than usual, and each will drop a lootable perk. Opening the third and final cache completes the contract, rewarding your team with cash, XP, and an armor satchel from the last cache. Failing to open all caches before time runs out, or having your team wiped, will fail the contract. 

Intel

When you accept an Intel contract, a nearby upload station will be marked for your team to upload sensitive intel. Reaching the station and interacting with it initiates an “upload” phase where one team member must remain near the station until the upload is complete. If multiple players are in this radius, the upload speed can increase by up to 200%. Completing the upload rewards cash, XP, and a peek at the next circle’s location. Failure occurs if the timer expires or if your team is wiped. 

Most Wanted 

By picking up the Most Wanted contract, you or the team member who picked it up becomes visible on the map for all players. Opponents who kill the Most Wanted target receive cash and XP, while the Most Wanted team can reduce their contract time by obtaining kills and opening loot caches (10-second reduction per cache, 25-second reduction per kill). If the Most Wanted target survives the full contract duration, the contract is completed, and the team earns cash, XP, and revives any dead squad members. Whether the contract ends in success or failure, a “VIP reward crate” appears near the VIP’s location, containing ammo, plates, a killstreak, a weapon, a Gulag token, and cash. 

Signals Intelligence

This contract directs your team to hack nearby contracts for rewards. The nearest contract will be marked for hacking, although you can hack any contract. The number of contracts required depends on team size: solos and duos hack one, while trios and quads hack two. Hacking all required contracts completes the mission, rewarding your team with XP and ten periodic cash payments. Letting time run out or losing your team results in failure. 

Spy Drone

This contract spawns multiple drones in a circle formation near your team. The number of drones varies with team size—solos face five, duos six, trios seven, and quads eight. Destroy all drones to complete the contract and earn cash, XP, a UAV, and redeploy drone beacon from the last drone. Failure results if time expires or your team is wiped out. 

Elite Contracts

These are tougher versions of existing contracts, offering higher rewards. Elite Contracts reduce the contract time by 45% and reward an additional 1,500 cash on completion. Completing an Elite Contract also drops a reward crate with items, including an ammo pile, armor plate, ultra-rare weapon, and one of several rare items such as a UAV, redeploy drone beacon, deployable kiosk, or, with low probability, a Specialist or Foresight. Note that Most Wanted contracts cannot become Elite, although other contracts might turn Elite as the match progresses. 

Contract Adjustments

• Bounty 
  • Completing the contract now includes finishing downed targets you didn’t down yourself. 
  • Bounty contracts should no longer start without a valid target. 
  • “Poached” end state now counts as a contract failure for challenge tracking. 

• Most Wanted 
  • Removed the redeploy token from the Most Wanted reward crate in solos. 

• Scavenger 
  • The primary reward in Battle Royale and Resurgence is now an armor plate carrier. 

Battle Royale & Resurgence 

• Firesale 
  • All items in the buy station are discounted at 50% for a limited time. 

• Restock  
  • All Supply Boxes close and are refilled with items. 

• Jailbreak  
  • All operators in gulag and eliminated operators are redeployed at the end of a timer. 

• Fly Buy  
  • A series of drones drop a number of deployable buy stations across the warzone. 

• Recon Flyover  
  • Avoid the detection of overhead drones to prevent your location from being broadcast. 

• Squad Loadout Drop  
  • Loadout drops that are only accessible by their assigned team.

Battle Royale 

• Contested Loadout Drop  
  • Limited number of loadout drops that are accessible by any team. 

• Cash Drop  
  • A number of crates are dropped across the field that, when captured, drop a bounty of cash. 

• Contractor  
  • All contracts pay out more when completed within a timer. 

• Rogue Signal  
  • All teams compete on a random task — the top teams get access to a reward with exclusive loot. 

Resurgence 

• Bounty Royale 
  • All teams are automatically assigned a Bounty contract. 

• High Stakes 
  • A number of crates are dropped across the warzone that, when captured, double the XP earn in the current match for the team while also drop high tier loot.

Plunder 

• Blood Money 
  • For the duration of the event, operators that are eliminated drop significantly more money.

• Attack Choppers 
  • Once the match enters overtime, attack choppers enter the warzone. Take them down for a large payout.

Gulag 

• Locked & Loaded 
  • Start the match with full armor and upgraded guns. 

• Go Again 
  • Get another chance at gulag if you lose your fight. 

• Cash Drop 
  • The ground loot is replaced with all cash. 

• Climb & Punishment 
  • Ladder’s drop in the center of the Gulag. Choose to leave together or perhaps betrayal? 

OPERATORS

New Operators

Warzone is now home to all of the operators that were introduced with the launch of Black Ops 6 in addition to a few newcomers introduced in Season 01.

• Goliath
  • Solidify your fiery combat mastery as the molten man of fire himself, Goliath! All biographical information for this Operator has been redacted. 
  • Acquirable via BlackCell Bundle 

• Sevati “Sev” Dumas
  • A main player in the Rogue Team after the conclusion of the Campaign, Sev is ready to make a deal with the untrustworthy French Syndicate and is gearing up to take down the rival Luttazzi family to prove it.  
  • Acquirable via BlackCell Bundle 

• The Replacer
  • There’s no substitute for greatness. The Replacer has concluded his whirlwind Black Ops 6 takeover tour and has freed up some time to appear in-game, available as a Store Bundle shortly after Launch.  
  • Acquirable via Store Bundle 

• Competitor CDL Home and Away Operators  
  • Two new Operators arrive just in time for the 2025 Call of Duty League® season. 
  • Acquirable via CDL Store Bundle 

All new vehicle physics tech leveraged from the Treyarch engine and Infinity Ward engine.  Our goal is to bring more fun to driving with enhanced maneuverability and natural physics that is easy to use but can also be mastered. Towards this goal, we have removed flat tires, vehicle repairing and fuel.

In addition to the aforementioned changes, we’ve included a number of additional improvements listed below:

• Updated models
• Improved Natural Physics 
• Improved Camera 
• Procedural Character Leaning 
• Improved VFX – Vehicle lights, exhaust 
• Dynamic vehicle death and explosion reactions 
• New helicopter simulation and audio 
• Support for Aim-Based controls 

• Damage Summary Quality of Life 
  • The Firing Range now provides the total amount of damage done with the currently equipped gun. 

• Default Armor PlatesQuality of Life 
  • The firing range will default to 3 armor plates per target dummy. 

• Default HealthQuality of Life 
  • The firing range will default to 150 health per target dummy. 

• Default Perks Quality of Life 
  • The firing range will now default to Warzone perk settings. 

• Reset Speed 
  • The target dummies will now “respawn” or reset to their active position faster than before. 
  • Removed the delay that prevented target dummies from receiving damage as soon as they reset.  

• Hit LocationsQuality of Life 
  • Target dummies will now have the same hit location modifiers as actual players to more accurately reflect damage dealt to opponents in a match. 

• Movable Target DummyQuality of Life 
  • A new target dummy is now available that can be moved to various damage ranges based on the currently equipped weapon. 
  • The moveable dummy cycles between damage ranges as soon as it’s eliminated. 

• Target Collision 
  • Target dummy collision has been improved so that bullets register more precisely. 

• Line-of-SightQuality of Life 
  • Removed vertical walls that previously broke aim assist when testing weapon strafing. 

Adding to the personalization of your Operators are the return of Emotes  and Sprays (iconography you primarily daub on walls, either to tag them or to tactically flag a location for your teammates). Emotes are accessible anywhere you have control over your character. 

• Winner’s Circle
  • The winning squad in a match receives their own Winners’ Circle showcase, with some of their statistical competence on display for all to see. This is also a location where you can celebrate your prowess more individually by employing a favorite Emote, too!

• End-of-Game Flow 
  • The exfil sequence duration has been reduced with a larger focus on the winning squad. 
  • Players can now swap between their own squad and the winning squad showing off accolades & player stats.  
  • There is a new progression overview screen, focused on player choice experience. 

The upcoming Season 01 update for Call of Duty: Warzone introduces a revamped, fully integrated user interface. The primary game tiles on the Home tab will feature Black Ops 6 and Warzone, allowing for instant access to gameplay. The Store and Battle Pass tabs will direct players to their respective sections in either Black Ops 6 or Warzone, depending on what is installed. Warzone will also get its own unique UI with enhancements similar to Black Ops 6. 

• Customize Menu 
  • The customize menu now includes a legacy tab to equip your unlocked MWII and MWIII Calling Cards, Emblems, and Loading Screens. 

• Legacy Content Filtering 
  • Similarly, brand new quick filtering for Black Ops 6 and other legacy titles helps filter content organized by game in the gunsmith, operator select, and barracks. 

• Tac Map Icon Layout 
  • Cleaner Interface: We’ve streamlined the interface by hiding the icon prompts on the right side of the screen. 
  • Reorganized Contracts: Contracts have been moved to the left side of the map for easier access and a more intuitive layout. 

• Minimap TypeQuality of Life 
  • Added the ability to change minimap type and compass type without impacting your Multiplayer settings. 

• Munitions Satchel Ammo CountQuality of Life 
  • Added an icon next to your ammo count when a munitions satchel is equipped to indicate if your weapon has room to carry more ammo. 

• Classic Squad Widget 
  • We brought back many elements from Warzone’s original release including equipment icons, the shape of armor plate icons and more. 

• Loot Cards 
  • Loot cards have been updated with overall layout treatment for improved visuals. 

• Squad Wipe Kill Feed 
  • The messaging that appears in the kill feed when a squad is wiped has been updated as follows:
    • Battle Royale: the message will now display “Sent to Gulag” if the defeated team has one or more members going to the Gulag.  
    • Plunder: the message has now been reworded to “Squad Repositioning”. 

• Kill Feed Calling Cards 
  • Eliminating an enemy player now displays their calling card in the bottom center of the UI. 

• Aim Assist Settings 
  • Numerous aim assist settings have been changed including but not limited to the addition of:
    • Minimum aim assist distance 
    • Max turn clamp speed 

• Loot Ping Distance 
  • Loot can no longer be pinged from more than 40 meters away for improved legibility during combat. 

• Live Ping Visibility Quality of Life 
  • Live Pings and Danger Pings have received position and scaling adjustments to prevent blocking or covering enemies upper bodies. 

• In-Game Splash Frequency Quality of Life 
  • We have reduced the overall clutter of in-game splashes by reducing frequency and associated noise. 

• Weapon Attachment HUDQuality of Life 
  • The weapon attachments show on the HUD with a blue color for better visibility and clarity on which part of the weapon has an attachment attached. 

• Playlist Navigation 
  • The menu for playlists have been improved – it now includes a vertical list with sub menus for each squad size and a map preview window for a complimentary view of maps offered for each game mode. 

• Buy Station Redeploy Ping Quality of Life
  • An eliminated Player who pings a Buy Station for a Redeploy, will show a unique Redeploy icon on the Buy Station to better inform their Squad of the buy-back request.

• Enhanced Headphone Mode 
  • We’re excited to introduce our best-in-class audio experience to Warzone with the introduction of HRTF (Head-Related Transfer Function) via Universal Profile in Enhanced Headphone Mode, which is available to all players for free. 

• Armor Plate Break Audio 
  • New audio has been added to indicate that armor plates have been destroyed. 

• Proximity Chat 
  • Proximity chat radius has been reduced from 55 meters to 45. 

• Stacking Hit Markers & Sound Effects Quality of Life  
  • Enables displaying both a wall bang, hitting a player in water and pairing of new audio per marker. 

• Bounty Contract Sound CuesQuality of Life 
  • Added sound cues for when the bounty threat level increases or decreases.