Summary
Publisher Activision and developer Raven Software have released the fullCall of Duty: WarzoneSeason 3 patch notes ahead of the update’s release later this week. Shortly after Season 3 launches forCall of Duty: Black Ops 6on April 2,Call of Duty: Warzonewill also receive the highly anticipated content update on April 3, filled with plenty of classic features, quality-of-life improvements, weapons, and most importantly, the return of Verdansk.
Due to the sheer size of the game’s next season, Activision has also confirmed the unfortunate news thatCall of Duty: Warzonewill be offline for 24 hoursin preparation for the return of Verdansk. The good news, however, is thatCall of Dutyfans will be able to jump intoBlack Ops 6Season 3 from April 2, as Activision will be making the game free-to-play for the duration ofWarzone's downtime. This will give players the chance to jump in and check out all of the new multiplayer maps, modes, and more with the new season, while also allowing fans to level up the returningModern Warfareweapons in preparation forWarzoneSeason 3 on April 3.
Alongside the release ofCall of Duty: Black Ops 6’s Season 3 patch notes, Activision and Raven Software have also deployed the full change log forWarzoneSeason 3. The official patch notes, which can be found further down this article, detail the many changes coming to the free-to-play Battle Royale title on Thursday. While there are plenty of new quality-of-life improvements, such as a detailed death recap widget that allows fans to understand further how they were eliminated, the bulk of the update is focused on returning features and elements from the originalCall of Duty: Warzonefrom 2020.
In preparation for the launch of Season 3, Activision has also addressed one of the community’s main concerns: cheating. In a lengthy blog post, Activision provided a much-neededupdate onWarzone’s Ricochet anti-cheat system. The studio noted that its main focus remains on commitment to taking down cheat makers and “ensuring a great player experience.” Activision went on to reveal that it had taken down over twenty different cheat makers and dozens of cheat resellers since the launch ofCall of Duty: Black Ops 6in October 2024. As for Season 3, Ricochet is receiving an additional layer of protection and a brand-new system to assist with aim bot detections and more.
Season 3 is set to introduce plenty of new changes while also bringing back some iconic features for die-hard fans, but undoubtedly, the most significant part of Season 3 is the return of Verdansk. The map has been rebuilt from the ground up byCall of Dutysupport studio Beenox, and while it will remain faithful to the original version first seen in 2020, fans can expect to find plenty of improvements. Activision has already detailed all ofthe changes being made to Verdansk, which include more detail, improved lighting, better textures, a new high-resolution sky, and so much more.
Call of Duty: Warzone Season 3 Patch Notes
RICOCHET ANTI-CHEAT
This season, the focus remains on our commitment to taking down cheat makers, banning bad actors, and ensuring a great player experience. Our roadmap for anti-cheat extends beyond this season, but in the latest Progress Report we’ll focus on recent results and security-focused updates coming in Season 03.
Check out the Season 03 RICOCHETAnti-Cheat Update here.
BATTLE PASS
Memories are a powerful tool, and even the departed can change the course of history. The road back to Verdansk involves unlocking some core memories, as well as some unforgettable weaponry and new Operators. A flashback to agent Jason Hudson, bringing echoes of his frontline savvy, Hudson is unlockable by progressing within the Battle Pass. Joining him is Mace, the metal-faced mercenary, who will bring the war anywhere, anytime, for anyone, unlocked instantly upon Battle Pass purchase.
The Season 03 Battle Pass includes over 110 pieces of unlockable content (excluding BlackCell) including free, earnable armaments; two new Base Weapons, the Monolithic Suppressor Attachment, and more. Check out the BlackCell, Battle Pass and Store Bundles blog prior to Season 03 launch for a closer look at what’s coming.
CONSOLE CROSS-PLAY
In Season 03, we’re giving console players more granular options by separating the MP Ranked Play and Call of Duty: Warzone Ranked Play settings and adding a new Multiplayer-only setting for Quickplay, Featured, and Party Games matches.
Each of these three settings (Multiplayer Ranked Play, Call of Duty: Warzone Ranked Play, and Multiplayer Unranked) will include the following options:
Additional details on how these settings interact with party members who are on different platforms.
Return to Verdansk
Welcome back to Verdansk!
Celebrate Verdansk’s return by logging into Call of Duty: Warzone from April 3rd to 15th to earn up to 20 rewards including six instant unlocks and the Kali Sticks Melee Weapon.
Open safes in various locations to secure rewards, such as the exclusive “Trail Blazer” Operator Skin for Caine. You may even get especially lucky during your search!
Be sure to log in to instantly unlock the Kilo 141 and two Operator Skins. Original Verdansk veterans also get bonus items: the “Blue Legacy” Contrails, “Coming Home” Parachute, and “Like We Never Left” Gun Screen.
PLAYLIST
For information about upcoming Playlists, please check out the dedicated Call of Duty:Warzone Trello Board.
RANKED PLAY
Now that Season 02 has officially wrapped up, Ranked Play will be temporarily offline during the first half of Season 03. This downtime will give players a much awaited opportunity to rediscover and relearn Verdansk before diving back into the competition.
We plan to bring Ranked Play back online with the Season 03 Reloaded update. Upon its return, all player ranks will undergo a full reset to Bronze, offering everyone equal footing and the excitement to climb back up through the ranks. When Season 04 arrives, we’ll resume the standard soft reset, pulling players back by only a few ranks.
Thank you for your patience during this transition period - now go drop into Verdansk and have fun!
Classic
We tipped our hat at this by running it in Season 02 Reloaded, however it was all to serve a greater purpose. We’re officially coming home with a mix of 150 of your friends and enemies.
We’re restoring some of the early game intensity that keeps you on your toes immediately leaving the infil plane, and enables more of a response during a freefall.
We’ve some good memories of games ending in the woods above Quarry, or in the deep forests on the East or West of Verdansk, and this change to circle logic brings back those possible end games. Be warned! This does mean that the circle can move very quickly if you are caught deep outside when the gas starts to move. Respect the circle, and you’ll stay alive.
Unsuppressed Red Dots are core to the Call of Duty: Warzone experience, and while developing Verdansk we took great care in evaluating the strength of red dots on each map - which previously was a static value regardless of play-space. While reviewing these values, we felt that given the vastly smaller map size of Rebirth Island, the Red Dots should be better aligned to the small-map experience. These adjustments are based on both player feedback and our design goals, ensuring that visibility of unsuppressed gunfire matches the intended combat dynamics for each map.
The return of floating loot is the foundation of many improvements we’re making to loot interaction this season. Floating loot by itself will improve your ability to pick up, or simply notice important items when at a distance.
Adjustments
The return to Verdansk comes with some refinements to Battle Royale’s loot philosophy that brings us back to its roots: life is valuable, adaptability is key, great loot must be earned, and contracts are central to earning cash.
In order to create more intentionality around looting, the various sources of loot have been adjusted to be more reminiscent of the classic Verdansk days, with some improvements.
Looting in recent years has become a little too static- a blue (rare) tier weapon often providing the most valuable attachments and devaluing an epic or legendary find. This change aims to bring some different outcomes in the more commonly found weapons, and makes legendary weapons (or loadouts) highly sought after.
Your life matters. In returning back to the classic feeling of Verdansk, we are going back to a simpler set of Second Chance Mechanics that are faithful to the original Battle Royale experience.
After months of playtesting we noted that regain in the mid-to-late game was almost impossible, so the design intent of this is to better allow players to redeploy with a little more cash to give them a slight leg-up when it comes to getting back into the flow of the game.
Loot cards now have contextual prompts. For example if the player has an empty weapon slot, a weapon loot card prompt will display “Equip”, but if the player has two weapons equipped, the prompt will display “Swap”.
Our aim is to recapture the classic Battle Royale feel reminiscent of playing on Verdansk five years ago. Adjustments to the Buy Station reflect this vision, featuring a reduced selection of purchasable items and updated prices aligned with the game’s new economic balance. We intend for players to experience an economy more akin to Call of Duty: Warzone in 2020, where strategic cash management becomes essential to gameplay decisions.
New
We recognize the urgency of quickly redeploying teammates under pressure, especially when attempting hero plays amidst heavy combat. After careful consideration, we determined that prioritizing teammates with the highest cash aligns most closely with the most prominent behavior that we’ve observed.
MOVEMENT
The introduction of Black Ops 6’s omni-movement system revolutionized gameplay and has become the foundation of player movement in Call of Duty: Warzone. While the system launched with multiplayer-inspired values, we’ve recognized the need for adjustments to better align movement dynamics with the unique demands of Call of Duty: Warzone’s limited-life modes.
Season 03 focuses on fine-tuning the Black Ops 6 player movement by ensuring a balance between fluidity and responsiveness. The adjustments to the movement mechanics are as follows:
These values bring Call of Duty: Warzone’s movement speeds closer to the spirit of the original experience while still preserving the fluidity of Black Ops 6. We encourage players to go hands-on with these fine-tuned changes, as they can be hard to express in a patch note. The proof is in the pudding!
These adjustments address the dominant power of strafe engagements while maintaining fluidity for mechanics such as sprinting, strafe reloading, and general navigation. Responsiveness across movement systems has been improved to ensure smoother gameplay while striking a better balance for Call of Duty: Warzone’s fast-paced encounters. This will bring back the feeling of a classic Warzone experience that we all know and love.
With the return of the “Supply Run” Contract, we want to verify that its return fits within the gameplay loop and the economy. This adjustment to be available from the second circle onwards allows for the Contract to be more centered around travel and vehicles, which in playtesting we have found to be a more fun and engaging Contract experience.
Stacking up on completed Contracts in the early game is a great way to improve your chances if you need a mid-to-late game regain, as the multiplier will carry throughout the entire game to give greater financial rewards later on.
The following is an outline of the full arsenal of Lethal & Tactical equipment - including how to acquire them across a match in Battle Royale on Verdansk:
Armor is your first line of defense and gauges how freely you’ll take engagements. Recently armor supplies have been so plentiful that enemies are able to reinforce armor several times in the middle of a fight and the notion of “downtime” or the need to resupply has been lost. This massively affects the pace of the game and also changes how you’ll rotate to the next safe zone.
To maintain balanced gameplay, armor has become less abundant, ensuring players experience meaningful downtime and strategic decisions between engagements. This returns the gameplay feel to a more classic experience, emphasizing the value of armor resupply.
The following is an outline of the full arsenal of Field Upgrades in a match of Battle Royale on Verdansk:
Disabled:
We can’t return home properly without welcoming back the Heartbeat sensor. While not infinite like its great predecessor, we understand that a minute of battery time is simply not enough to utilize effectively.
We have removed the Precision Airstrike’s approximate path indicator on the mini-map in order to return back to how it worked in 2020, where part of its purpose was to surprise your enemies. We will monitor feedback, data and sentiment on this as we look to the weeks ahead.
WEAPONS
Reflecting on our 5th Anniversary, it’s important to acknowledge our journey and current state, including in regards to combat. This milestone presents an opportunity to celebrate our successes and critically assess our shortcomings. The game has continuously evolved through the addition of new features, systemic enhancements, economic adjustments, and philosophical shifts in balancing. These improvements help us better understand what is effective and where further refinements are needed.
Call of Duty: Warzone was designed to deliver the essence of a Call of Duty Battle Royale, combining exceptional, precise gunplay within a strategic and intense “limited life” scenario. While this core principle remains intact, certain distractions have at times impacted the intended pacing and intensity of gameplay.
Building upon recent adjustments, such as the reduction of Armor reserves to improve economic pacing, we are introducing substantial buffs to weapon damage. Initially, these enhancements will focus on the Black Ops 6 catalogue, subsequently extending to legacy weapons.
Our goal with these changes is to increase the lethality of every encounter, reinvigorate overlooked weapon classes, and encourage players to adopt a more thoughtful and deliberate strategy in preparation for engagements.
General Adjustments
This season, we have updated the Default Loadouts with a new selection of weapons and equipment. Our goal is to provide viable options that cater to both new and returning players. To ensure these loadouts remain competitive, we are committed to making frequent adjustments.
WEAPON ADJUSTMENTS
Please visit theCall of Duty websitefor details on the Warzone Season 3 weapon adjustments.
With the return of Verdansk we are looking to capture the original essence of vehicles in Warzone. In collaboration with our friends at Treyarch, we have tuned movement, health, damage resistance, and equipment interactions to feel much closer to the original vision.
We know that nobody wants paper thin vehicles and we also know that vehicles are more fun when they can efficiently get you from point A to B. Traversal shouldn’t feel restricted to roads alone. That said, there will be appropriate counters to vehicles reminiscent of the past.
We’re excited to introduce this update as part of our ongoing efforts to improve clarity and onboarding. Seeing a weapon’s full attachment setup at a glance helps players better understand builds and especially the weapon they picked up from the ground. We’re investigating other ways to use the Inspect interface to assist with onboarding and better explaining the player’s loadout. We’ll keep listening to feedback to ensure this improvement feels helpful without adding clutter.
We’re excited to introduce this update as part of ongoing efforts to improve clarity and address concerns around unfair deaths. This is just the beginning — we’ll continue expanding the Death Recap Widget with future patches. Our goal is to create a helpful tool that allows players to better understand what led to their death, recognize enemy advantages, and ultimately improve their gameplay. While we’re committed to adding meaningful insights, we’ll ensure the widget remains clean and informative without overwhelming players.
We’re eager to hear your feedback as we refine this feature further.
We’re excited to provide more options to players to adjust the map to their preference. We will continue to monitor feedback about this improvement as players get to experiment with it.
