It's fair to say that Verdansk has injected new life into Call of Duty: Warzone, and the timing couldn't be more perfect. The online community had previously labeled Activision's five-year-old battle royale as "cooked," but the nostalgia-driven return of Verdansk has turned the tide. Now, the internet is buzzing with declarations that Warzone is "back." Even though Activision had previously "nuked" Verdansk, it doesn't seem to matter. Lapsed players who fondly remember Warzone as their go-to game during lockdown are returning to the map that started it all. Meanwhile, those who have remained loyal to the game through its ups and downs over the past five years are now proclaiming that Warzone is more fun than it has been since its explosive debut in 2020.
This back-to-basics gameplay experience was a deliberate design decision by developers Raven and Beenox. In a comprehensive interview with IGN, Pete Actipis, the game director at Raven, and Etienne Pouliot, the creative director at Beenox, discussed their collaborative effort to revitalize Warzone. They shared insights on the process, highlighted the success of Verdansk’s Casual mode, and addressed whether they considered restricting operator skins to mil-sim to recapture the 2020 vibe. Crucially, they also tackled the burning question on everyone's mind: is Verdansk here to stay?
Read on to find out more.
