Verdansk Boosts Warzone, Developers Confirm Its Stay

It’s fair to say that Verdansk has injected new life into *Call of Duty: Warzone*, and the timing couldn't be better. The online community had already written off Activision's battle royale as "cooked" after five years, but the nostalgia-laden return of Verdansk has turned the tide. Now, the internet is proclaiming Warzone "back." Yes, Activision did nuke Verdansk in the past, but that seems irrelevant now. Lapsed players, who remember Warzone fondly as their lockdown game, are flocking back to the map that started it all. Meanwhile, loyal players who've stuck with the game through its ups and downs over the past five years are saying Warzone is more enjoyable now than it has been since its explosive debut in 2020.

This return to a back-to-basics gameplay experience was a strategic choice by developers Raven and Beenox. Pete Actipis, the game director at Raven, and Etienne Pouliot, the creative director at Beenox, spearheaded the multi-studio effort to rejuvenate Warzone. In an extensive interview with IGN, the duo delved into their approach, the success of Verdansk’s Casual mode, whether they considered restricting operator skins to mil-sim to recreate the 2020 atmosphere, and addressed the pivotal question: Is Verdansk here to stay?

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