Call of Duty: Warzone Season 1 goes live at 5am GMT on Friday 6 November, bringing two new maps, 33 Modern Warfare 4 weapons and a fresh set of gadgets. Tactical Sprint also returns as a standard movement ability — a change that could matter more to everyday matches than any new piece of equipment.
For Nintendo Switch 2 owners, this is Warzone’s debut. For anyone still playing on PlayStation 4 or Xbox One, it’s the end of the line: Season 1 shuts those versions down. Activision has set out the maps, modes and changes in its official Season 1 briefing. There is more riding on this update than the usual Battle Pass reset.
Hajin turns the DMZ setting into a Battle Royale map
Players who have explored Hajin in Modern Warfare 4’s DMZ will recognise parts of the terrain. Season 1 takes that Korean setting into Battle Royale, with 13 major points of interest across North and South Korea. High-rise streets, factories, farmland, rivers and wooded hills share the same map. Landing on the outskirts should demand a very different opening fight from dropping into Hajin City.
Hajin City offers tower blocks and defended streets; Imjin Farmland leaves squads exposed to longer sightlines. Across the border, Chang-san Air Base, Deadtown and the 14th Political Prison mix buildings with open ground. Snipers may favour those approaches, particularly when the shrinking circle forces several teams onto the same routes.
Battle Royale reworks DMZ’s gas and circle behaviour, loot, vehicles and interactive objects. The radioactive cloud at Hanuel Nuclear Reactor is gone. Weather can shift from clear skies to fog, rain and wind, while two Gulag layouts offer different cover for the fight to redeploy.
Hajin’s scenery made an impression in our Xbox Series X campaign and DMZ first impressions. A crowded Battle Royale lobby is a different test. Routes that work in extraction play may become dangerously exposed once the circle pushes several squads into the same area.
Activision has also released the official Hajin Conflict launch trailer, showing the setting ahead of Friday’s update.
Zodiac brings faster, more confined Resurgence fights
Zodiac gives Resurgence players a much tighter battleground. Its ten points of interest sit inside and around the fictional DRC Advanced Systems drone manufacturing complex in South Korea, mixing factories, research buildings, tunnels and rooftops. On a map this compact, knowing the quickest route between levels could be just as useful as a fast trigger finger.
Moving trains cross Trackline’s double railway, while Furnace is packed with industrial machinery. Admin and R&D offer indoor fights and high ground; underground passages let squads slip beneath exposed areas. Conveyor belts, moving solar panels and explosive fuel barrels add hazards that could turn an ordinary chase into an ambush.
Players had a taste of Zodiac during the Modern Warfare 4 beta. Our hands-on account of Warzone’s slower movement found a promising battleground held back by a less fluid feel. Season 1 will be the first proper chance to judge it alongside the revised movement settings.
Verdansk and Rebirth Island are also returning during Season 1, but Activision lists them as in-season additions. Hajin and Zodiac are the new maps taking centre stage at launch.
Tactical Sprint returns without a Perk
After the beta, Warzone’s movement needed an answer. Activision’s response is to give every Operator Tactical Sprint without using a Perk slot, although its duration will be slightly shorter. It is a small-sounding rule change with the potential to transform how quickly a squad can recover from a fight.
The beta’s slower approach was awkward on Zodiac. In Resurgence, getting to cover, rotating out of a bad position or reaching a downed teammate has to feel responsive. Making Tactical Sprint part of the default Warzone movement kit should help, even if it does not answer every concern about pacing.
Players will also be able to drag a downed teammate while reviving them. Footstep audio and map visibility are getting attention, alongside further weapon balancing. Those changes target the little frustrations that can decide a close fight. Whether they genuinely improve the experience will be easier to judge on busy live servers.
Zipline Launcher and Grabber Drone could change squad tactics
Two new Field Upgrades stand out. The Zipline Launcher creates a route towards rooftops and across gaps. It stays in place until retrieved or destroyed, and the whole lobby can potentially use it — including the squad you were trying to escape. A clever shortcut may become somebody else’s flank.
The Grabber Drone can recover loot, shift environmental objects and carry a downed teammate towards safety for a revive. Its limited battery will make timing important. Moveable fuel barrels offer improvised explosive traps, while dumpsters and other objects can create temporary cover or block a road.
Weapon Augments offer temporary boosts to weapon characteristics, while Ground Ops give squads reasons to chase safes, surveillance towers and cargo between fights. That could make long rotations less empty. The danger is packing so many side activities into a match that the basic pleasure of finding and outplaying another squad gets lost.
Rally Point, Massive Resurgence and Loaded Resurgence
Battle Royale and Resurgence remain the main modes, including Casual variants. Rally Point is the most unusual launch addition: a 20-player mode on Zodiac with no closing circle, unlimited redeployment and drop-in, drop-out play. Contracts, AI enemies and objectives provide somewhere to learn the map without every mistake ending the session.
Massive Resurgence brings redeployment-focused play to Hajin with up to 120 players. Loaded Resurgence, on Zodiac and Rebirth Island, lets players begin with their chosen Loadout instead of scrabbling for it after landing. Extreme Resurgence and Rockets and Snipers are due later in the season.
What carries forward from previous Call of Duty games?
Modern Warfare 4’s 33 launch weapons join Warzone with new progression, Weapon Prestige, Apex Attachments and Mastery Camos. Player levels reset for the new progression cycle, while the Battle Pass, challenges and additional Season 1 weapons give players more to unlock. There will also be 15 standard Loadout Perks and three Elite Perks found during matches: Athleticism, Phantom and Fieldcraft. Only one Elite Perk can be equipped at once.
Older content is not being swept away. Eligible Operators, skins, weapons and blueprints from Modern Warfare II, Modern Warfare III, Black Ops 6 and Black Ops 7 carry forward. The compromise is the Legacy weapons system: older guns remain available but cannot use the full Modern Warfare 4 Gunsmith or its latest customisation options.
Legacy base weapons will use preset five-attachment builds; existing blueprints keep their attachment setups but initially need unlocking through the Armory with Player XP. For the details of what stays and what changes, see our Warzone Carry Forward guide. It is a meaningful distinction for anyone with years of unlocks invested in the game.
Switch 2 arrives as PS4 and Xbox One support ends
The new season also marks Warzone’s first outing on Nintendo Switch 2. The free-to-play game will offer the new maps and supported playlists, although performance and controls on Nintendo’s hardware will need a proper test once players can get their hands on it.
Activision’s platform guidance confirms that Warzone stops working on PS4 and Xbox One when Season 1 begins; other Call of Duty games previously released for those consoles are not affected. Warzone progression and content bought with COD Points can follow players to supported hardware through the same linked Activision account. Unspent COD Points and many purchases made with real money have same-console-family restrictions, so check those before switching platforms.
Warzone remains free to play. You do not need to buy Modern Warfare 4 to access Battle Royale, even though the paid game’s Campaign, Multiplayer and DMZ remain separate experiences.
When does Warzone Season 1 launch in the UK?
Activision gives the release time as midnight Eastern Time on Friday 6 November 2026. That is 5am GMT on Friday morning in the UK. Hajin, Zodiac and the main Modern Warfare 4 integration are expected at launch, with returning maps and other playlists following during the season. Further patch notes should clarify the final balancing and technical changes.
Tech Torque Verdict
Hajin and Zodiac look like worthwhile additions because they serve different moods: long rotations and careful positioning on one, rapid Resurgence fights on the other. The Zipline Launcher and Grabber Drone sound entertaining, but they will need to earn their place in a game where unnecessary gadgets can quickly turn into clutter.
Restoring Tactical Sprint as a default Warzone ability is the strongest decision on paper. Our earlier beta time on Zodiac showed how easily movement can get in the way of what should be a quick, frantic mode. Activision has listened to that concern before launch, and that’s encouraging.
The Switch 2 launch opens the door to a new group of players, but losing PS4 and Xbox One support leaves some longtime squads behind. For those dropping into Hajin on Friday, the most useful verdict will come from playing: whether the new movement feels right, the maps hold up and the extra gadgets make each fight better rather than busier.
