Warzone Season 1 is the big one. On Thursday night, Call of Duty: Warzone folds fully into Modern Warfare 4, drops two new maps on the Korean Peninsula, resets your level, launches on Nintendo Switch 2 and stops running on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Activision's own Season 1 blog went up on November 2, Infinity Ward shipped a separate MW4 update the same day that changes DMZ and Multiplayer, and the full Warzone patch notes are still due later this week. This guide pulls all of that together with times in Central.
I read the official Call of Duty: Warzone Season 1: Everything You Need to Know post line by line, the October 28 Season 1 announcement for the Battle Pass and weapons, and cross-checked the numbers against The Loadout's rundown, GameSpot's coverage of the November 2 patch notes and Digital Citizen's summary. Anything I could not find in a primary source is called out in its own section near the end, so you know what is solid and what is still a blank.
When Does Warzone Season 1 Start?
Activision says Warzone Season 1 goes live at 0000 (midnight) ET on November 6, which is 9 PM PT on November 5 and 11:00 PM CT on Thursday, November 5. It launches on all platforms at the same moment, so there is no staggered rollout between PC, PlayStation, Xbox and Switch 2 according to the blog.
A quick sanity check on the time zones, because a few sites got the weekday wrong: November 5, 2026 is a Thursday, tomorrow if you are reading this on Wednesday the 4th. If your squad is in Central, the drop is late Thursday night, not Friday morning. Friday the 6th is the calendar date Activision uses, because it counts from midnight Eastern.
Two things are not on that table because nobody has published them yet: the preload window and the download size. Infinity Ward said the Season 1 patch notes would arrive "later this week ahead of launch," and the Warzone blog says to look for those notes on the Call of Duty blog for more details. When I checked the Call of Duty patch notes page this morning, I could not find the Warzone Season 1 notes yet. If you are on a data cap or a slow connection, do not assume a size from older seasons, because this is a full MW4 integration and the install footprint could look very different from a normal Reloaded patch.
What Actually Changes: The MW4 Integration
Warzone has been living in a weird spot, running on the previous game's systems while the newest premium release launched next to it. Season 1 ends that. The blog calls it "full integration with Modern Warfare 4," and the list of what you get at launch is short and clear:
- Player Level reset. You level up again and can optionally Prestige, and that Prestige is shared across Multiplayer, DMZ and Warzone.
- All 33 Modern Warfare 4 launch weapons, plus the extra armaments arriving in Season 1, each with Weapon Prestige and Warzone-specific Mastery Camos.
- Apex Attachments, the special attachments that change how a weapon fires.
- Season 1 Operators.
- Daily Challenges and Calling Card Challenges.
- Battle Pass and BlackCell progress, so what you earn in one mode counts in the others.
What happens to your old weapons and cosmetics
Operators, Operator Skins and Weapon Blueprints, plus Calling Cards, Emblems, Operator Finishing Moves, Emotes, Sprays, Parachutes and Contrails from Modern Warfare II, Modern Warfare III, Black Ops 6 and Black Ops 7 carry into Warzone starting in Season 1. A new Operator Skin Toggle lets you decide which Operator Skins you see in Warzone, which should help if you want a consistent MW4 look in lobbies.
Weapons are where the carry forward gets stricter. Everything from Modern Warfare II through Black Ops 7 is still usable, but it lives in a Legacy tab in the Loadout menu. Legacy weapons cannot be edited in Gunsmith and do not support:
- Mastery Camos
- Reticle Challenges
- Weapon Customization
- Cosmetic Gunsmithing
- Build Sharing and Build Codes
If you have been grinding camos on Black Ops 7 weapons for Warzone, this is the practical takeaway. Those guns still work, but the long camo grind now lives on the MW4 weapons. GameSpot also notes that the transition removes Black Ops 7's omnimovement, which fits with the official focus on Modern Warfare movement rules.
Platforms: Switch 2 In, PS4 and Xbox One Out
The platform change is the headline for a lot of people, so here is exactly what the official blog says.
Warzone launches on Nintendo Switch 2. The blog's wording is that the start of Season 1 "marks the launch of Call of Duty: Warzone on Nintendo Switch 2" and that players can drop into Hajin, Zodiac and all the other maps and playlists as the free-to-play game arrives on the handheld system for the first time. Some summaries just say "Switch," including the Digital Citizen piece, but Activision's post only names Switch 2. I did not find the original Switch mentioned anywhere in the official material.
PlayStation 4 and Xbox One are done. The note in the blog is blunt: starting with Season 1, Warzone will no longer be playable on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One as the game and Modern Warfare 4 "move on from older generation hardware." Your progression carries over to a supported platform if you log in with the same linked Activision account.
What that means in practice:
- If you are on PS4 or Xbox One, you will not be able to launch Warzone after the update goes live.
- If you plan to move to PS5, Xbox Series X or S, PC or Switch 2, make sure your current account is linked to your Activision account before you switch, since that link is how progression follows you.
- If you share an account across platforms, check which platform profile is linked and whether the account you want is the one holding your unlocks.
Hajin: The New Battle Royale Map
Hajin is the first Warzone map set on the Korean Peninsula, and it is directly tied to the Modern Warfare 4 campaign story. If you played DMZ since MW4 launched, you have already walked parts of it. The Battle Royale version is not a copy though. The blog says there are notable differences from the DMZ version in:
- how the encroaching Edge Circle and gas move through a match
- the absence of the radioactive cloud at the Hanuel Nuclear Reactor
- the available vehicles
- the distribution of interactable objects and loot caches
Layout and points of interest
You fight across both North and South Korea over 13 major points of interest. Hajin City has towering buildings, barricaded roads and heavily fortified locations that reward squads who coordinate and take good positions. Rural areas like Imjin Farmland are open terrain where long-range fights and careful cover use matter. Across the border, the blog names North Korean locations such as the 14th Political Prison, Chang-san Air Base and Deadtown. The map also has winding rivers, forested hills and abandoned buildings, so you get a mix of urban fights, farmland sniping and ridgeline pushes depending on where you land.
Weather
Hajin has localized weather that changes from match to match: clear skies, fog, wind, rain and distant storms. The blog stresses that the developers worked to keep visibility a central factor, so fog and rain should change the feel of a fight without making it impossible to see. Whether the weather is truly random per match or tied to specific areas is not spelled out beyond "localized weather patterns."
The new Gulag
A new Battle Royale map means a new Gulag. When you are first eliminated, you can win your redeployment by beating an opponent in a 1v1. There are two variants of the Hajin Gulag, both exposed to the weather and both set in a small, symmetrical rectangular space. One uses partial walls around open ground, the other has sturdier cover including small sheds over a flagstone walkway. You can mantle on a lot of the obstacles, which pushes aggressive movement. For the first time, you spectate with ground level views while you wait your turn.
Zodiac: The New Resurgence Map
Zodiac is a compact Resurgence map built around the DRC Advanced Systems drone assembly and manufacturing headquarters in South Korea. It mixes sprawling factory interiors, research facilities, elevated rooftops, underground tunnels and coastal terrain across ten points of interest.
The named locations from the official blog:
- Admin, the central administrative tower
- Trackline, where trains travel across a double railway that cuts through the facility
- Furnace, the industrial area built around heavy manufacturing equipment
- Solar, Old Mines, Dispatch, Depot, Sentinel, Cooling and R&D
If you mainly play Resurgence, this is the map to learn first. It also hosts Rally Point, which is covered in the modes section below.
Verdansk and Rebirth Island come back later
Verdansk (Battle Royale) and Rebirth Island (Resurgence) both return later in Season 1, and the official map labels say "In-Season." Verdansk comes back with newer landmarks: the Signal Station, the Grazna-7 Launch Complex, Overlook skyscraper and the high-tech Drone Labs. Rebirth keeps its close quarters prison and control center fights with repurposed infrastructure, navigable waterways and hidden passages. The blog gives no specific date for either return. Some press says mid-season, but Activision's wording is "later in the season," so I am treating the date as not announced.
The modes section says Battle Royale runs on Hajin and Verdansk and Resurgence on Zodiac and Rebirth Island across the season. Since Verdansk and Rebirth return later, expect Hajin and Zodiac to be the only maps on day one.
Movement and Combat Changes
This is the section most players will feel in the first match. The official change list is short, and it deliberately leaves out some numbers.
Tactical Sprint for everyone
Tactical Sprint no longer needs a perk. Every Operator gets it, but its duration is "slightly shortened." There is no number in the blog for how long it lasts now, so any specific seconds figure you see floating around is not from Activision's Warzone post. If you want the numbers, wait for the patch notes. For context on how the same system has been behaving in Multiplayer, our Modern Warfare 4 launch patch notes breakdown covers the changes Infinity Ward made around it.
Drag while reviving
You can now drag your teammates while reviving them, pulling them out of harm's way. In squad play this is a big deal because the old revive was a commitment: you stood or crouched in the open until the bar finished. Dragging gives you a way to start a revive and still move toward cover. The blog does not say how fast the drag is, whether you can shoot while doing it, or whether there is a limit to the distance.
Visibility, footsteps and balance
The same list includes improved footstep audio, improved visibility and readability across all maps, and additional weapon balance tuning. No specific weapon changes are listed in the Warzone blog, so the balance pass will show up in the patch notes.
Interactive objects
New interactive objects add some Warzone-specific tricks. Fuel barrels can be moved around by players and carried by the Grabber Drone, so you can set them where they will hurt and detonate them when an enemy gets close. Other objects such as dumpsters, concrete cylinders and more can be pushed and pulled as cover, platforms, or even roadblocks, including pyramids that can be placed on a road to stop vehicles. You will find most of these across Hajin, Zodiac and Verdansk.
New Gear: Zipline Launcher, Grabber Drone, Augments and Ground Ops
Zipline Launcher
The Zipline Launcher is a new Field Upgrade. You aim and fire it to create anchors and a zipline that lets you scale high points and cross terrain. It stays on the map until it is retrieved or destroyed, and the whole squad can use it, enemies included. You can use your pistol while riding it. Check enemy ziplines near you for incoming players.
Grabber Drone
The Grabber Drone is a rare drone with a retractable claw. It can pick up loot, environmental objects and even other Operators, so you can bring a downed teammate closer for the revive, retrieve hard-to-reach weapons, or grab Buy Station loot. Battery life is limited, so you have to pick your targets.
Weapon Augments
After multiple drones fly across the map and drop portable Buy Stations, you can hunt down these "Fly Buy" stations to access Weapon Augments, a match-long upgrade with significant bonuses. They are limited in number. Season 1 launches with three:
Ground Ops and Grind for Royalty
Ground Ops are discoverable activities across the map: drillable safes with high value items, surveillance towers that give intel on enemy positions plus legendary loot chests, drones you can shoot down for their cargo, and loot-filled radioactive barrels located with a Geiger counter.
Grind for Royalty is a new system that generates personal challenges from your own stats. Royalty challenges reset every season, and you get two new Weapon Camos each season, one static and one animated. In Season 1 those are Gold Excellence and Gold Mosaic.
Resurgence extras
Two Resurgence-only additions: the Weapon Trade Station, where you swap your equipped weapon for a better-rarity version with more attachments, and Drop Kits that boost your next redeploy. The four Drop Kits are Insured (redeploy faster with all your cash), Loadout (redeploy with your current Loadout), Armored (full armor, bonus Perks and a Self-Revive) and Radar (an active Radar Ping and supply sweep).
Perks and the Fourth Slot: Elite Perks
Warzone's perk system gets a reset too. There are 18 Perks total: 15 you pick in your Loadout across three slots of five, and three Elite Perks you acquire during a match.
Elite Perks add a fourth Perk slot with stronger effects. You cannot pick them before the match. They are found at Buy Stations, with additional ones from completing Supply Run contracts, and only one Elite Perk can be equipped at a time.
The 15 Loadout perks are:
- Slot 1: Field Medic, Hunter, Stocked, Incognito, Surveyor
- Slot 2: Mountaineer, Adaptive, Scavenger, Drill Instructor, Deft Hands
- Slot 3: Berserker, Quick Fix, Survivor, Tempered, Wingman
Equipment, Killstreaks and Vehicles
The blog also lists the revised equipment pool. Here is the quick version.
- Tacticals (8): Flash, Smoke, Snapshot, Concussion, Heartbeat Sensor, Shock Stick, Stim and Screamer Mine. Stim starts health regeneration, boosts speed and refreshes Tactical Sprint.
- Lethals (10): Frag, Sticky, Drill Charge, Proximity Mine, Trip Wire, Thermite, Molotov, Claymore, C4 and Throwing Knife.
- Field Upgrades (13): New with MW4 are Grabber Drone, Perk Supply Box, Razor Wire, Redeploy Drone and Redeploy Drone Beacon, SAM Airburst Turret, Smoke Wall and Zipline Launcher. Returning are Armor Box, Munitions Box, Portable Radar, Recon Drone, Trophy System and Utility Box.
- Killstreaks (9): New are Aerial Scanner (Rally Point only), Artillery Beacon, Bomb Glider, Bombing Run, Combat Drone and Impact Warhead. Returning are Advanced UAV, CUAV and UAV.
- Special Items (4): Armor Satchel, Gas Mask, Self-Revive and Armor Plate.
Vehicles at launch are the Sedan, Grizzly, Polaris DAGOR, Cargo Truck, LTV, Aston Martin Dreadnought, Helo and RHIB, covering land, water and air.
Game Modes at Launch and Mid-Season
Battle Royale and Resurgence remain the main modes, with a Casual variant of each. Season 1 adds three limited-time modes at launch and two more later.
Rally Point is clearly built as the soft landing for new and returning players. The blog describes it as a training ground with unique events like Hostile Choppers, JLTV Deliveries and Elite Hostile Reinforcements, plus a rumor that a Nuke might be available for purchase for squads chasing high kill runs. If you have friends who have not touched Warzone in years, queue this first.
Massive Resurgence is the one to watch on Hajin. Resurgence rules on a huge map with 120 players means respawns and long rotations, which is a very different rhythm from standard Battle Royale. Loaded Resurgence is the fast one: you load in ready and keep your equipped weapons after death, so there is no loadout drop to hunt for.
Mastery Camos, Events and the Battle Pass
Season 1 introduces Warzone Mastery Camos: Parallax, Damascus Reforged and Empyros. You unlock access after earning the Military, Special and Completionist camos for a particular weapon, and then the Mastery grind can be completed with any weapon or combination of weapons.
The Return to Call of Duty: Warzone Event offers the Renaissance (animated), Violet Striker and Neutral Ground camos, and Activision says more events come throughout the season. The Season 1 Reloaded blog is promised closer to the mid-season update.
Events across modes
The October 28 announcement lists the Wager Match Event as the first Season 1 Event across Multiplayer, DMZ and Warzone, plus Weapon Camo Events and the Joint Fire squad-up Event. Rewards include attachments, Operator skins, Blueprints and camos. The blog notes that no money or items of real-world value are available by participating.
Battle Pass details
Per the same announcement, the Season 1 Battle Pass is a 100-tier linear track with 100+ rewards. It costs 1,100 COD Points, or 2,400 COD Points for the Battle Pass Bundle. A new catch-up system automatically brings premium owners to the reward matching the current day of the season, up to day 50, and guarantees 50+ rewards. Two new base weapons are free in the track: the Cronen Osprey assault rifle and the CSG-35 SMG. GameSpot lists them at tier 16 and tier 36 respectively. The JAK 12 shotgun and ZLR Talonhawk melee axe arrive later in the season as limited-time event rewards. For the multiplayer and DMZ side of the season, see our Modern Warfare 4 Season 1 guide.
The November 2 MW4 Update: What It Means for Warzone Players
Infinity Ward's November 2 patch notes landed as the last launch-window update before Season 1. They are an MW4 update with Global, Campaign, Multiplayer and DMZ sections, not a Warzone patch, so here is the honest read on which parts matter to you.
The headline change is the DMZ UAV tower cut. GameSpot describes the community complaint as UAV tower spam that kept much of Hajin under constant radar pings, and the update randomizes spawns, trims them by 40% and stops clustering. GameSpot says the change does not fully fix the tower problem, and Infinity Ward's own notes admit the Sedative Inhaler still does not hide you from towers activated by operators with the UAV Upgrade trait. A Season 1 fix is planned, with no date.
Those DMZ items are listed under DMZ in the patch notes, so they should not be read as changes to Warzone Battle Royale. The Warzone blog says DMZ and Battle Royale versions of Hajin differ in circle behavior, vehicles and loot, so treat tower behavior in Battle Royale as unknown until the Season 1 notes say otherwise.
The dive velocity change is the one that touches movement in general. On October 28 Infinity Ward cut dive velocity as a temporary exploit mitigation, and the November 2 notes revert that, restoring the 23% of dive's intended velocity, with a note that the server-side fixes introduce minor visual animation bugs to be resolved later. The same entry says an issue that let players go from prone to standing without the intended animations was fixed. Whether Warzone uses the same dive tuning is not stated.
On the Multiplayer side, Shipment got a first pass at spawn logic and Free for All switched to a Final Killcam. Infinity Ward said voice chat outside parties for FFA is planned for a future update. Neither affects Warzone directly, but if you use Shipment to level weapons before Season 1, the spawns should feel a little less chaotic.
How to Get Ready Before Thursday Night
A short checklist, based only on what Activision confirmed:
- Link your Activision account on your current platform, especially if you are moving off PS4 or Xbox One.
- Make sure you have a supported platform if you want to keep playing: PS5, Xbox Series X or S, PC or Switch 2.
- Finish any camo grinds you care about on legacy weapons. They stay playable, but without Mastery Camos, Gunsmith or build codes.
- Check your storage and watch the Call of Duty blog and @CODUpdates for the patch notes and preload details.
- Plan for a level reset, since your Player Level starts over and Prestige is optional and shared across modes.
- Try Rally Point first if you want a low-pressure way to relearn the game on Zodiac.
What We Could Not Confirm
I will not fill in blanks with guesses. These are the open items as of Wednesday morning, November 4, Central time:
- Warzone Season 1 patch notes. Infinity Ward said they are coming later this week. Weapon balance, exact Tactical Sprint duration and other numbers wait on them.
- Preload date and download size. I did not find an official preload window or file size for the Season 1 update, on any platform. Third party size estimates are not from Activision, so I am not repeating them.
- Tactical Sprint duration. The blog says only "slightly shortened."
- Regular Battle Royale player count on Hajin. The official post gives 120 players for Massive Resurgence on Hajin, but I did not find a stated player count for the standard Battle Royale playlist, so I am not assuming it matches.
- Verdansk and Rebirth Island return dates. "Later in Season 1" is all Activision says. Some press says mid-season.
- Mid-Season date. Extreme Resurgence and Rockets and Snipers are confirmed for mid-season, with no date or map assignments.
- Switch 2 performance and crossplay details. The launch is confirmed. Resolution, frame rate, file size and crossplay rules are not in the Warzone blog.
- Whether Hajin weather is random or area-based. The blog only says localized weather patterns change from match to match.
- UAV Upgrade trait fix for the Sedative Inhaler. Promised for a Season 1 update, no date.
- How the Black Ops 7 omnimovement removal is implemented. GameSpot reports it, but the Warzone blog does not use that wording.
Frequently Asked Questions
When does Warzone Season 1 start?
Warzone Season 1 starts at midnight Eastern on November 6, 2026, which is 11:00 PM Central on Thursday, November 5, and 9 PM Pacific the same night. It launches on all platforms at once, alongside Modern Warfare 4 Season 1.
Is Warzone free to play?
Yes. Activision describes Call of Duty: Warzone as a free-to-play game, and Season 1 does not change that. The Battle Pass costs 1,100 COD Points and the bundle 2,400, The blog does not say whether owning Modern Warfare 4 unlocks anything extra in Warzone beyond the Battle Pass and BlackCell progress it lists.
Is Warzone coming to Nintendo Switch 2?
Yes. The official blog says the start of Season 1 marks the launch of Warzone on Nintendo Switch 2, with Hajin, Zodiac and the other maps and playlists available. Activision has not published Switch 2 resolution, frame rate or crossplay details in that post. It also only mentions Switch 2, not the original Switch.
What happens to Warzone on Xbox One and PS4?
Starting with Season 1, Warzone is no longer playable on PlayStation 4 or Xbox One. Activision says your progression will carry over to a supported platform if you log in with the same linked Activision account, so link your account before you move.
What are the new Warzone maps in Season 1?
Hajin is the new Battle Royale map, set across North and South Korea with 13 major points of interest, variable weather and two Gulag variants. Zodiac is the new Resurgence map built around a drone factory with ten points of interest, a double railway with moving trains and underground tunnels. Verdansk and Rebirth Island come back later in the season.
Is Tactical Sprint free for everyone now?
Yes. Tactical Sprint no longer requires a perk and every Operator has it, but its duration is slightly shorter. The blog does not give the exact duration, and you can also drag teammates while reviving them.
What are Elite Perks in Warzone?
Elite Perks add a fourth Perk slot during a match. The three at launch are Athleticism, Phantom and Fieldcraft. You find them at Buy Stations or through Supply Run contracts, and you can only equip one at a time.
Does my player level reset in Warzone Season 1?
Yes. Player Level resets at launch, and you can optionally Prestige, with that Prestige shared across Multiplayer, DMZ and Warzone. Your Black Ops 7 and older Operators, skins, Blueprints and cosmetics carry over, but older weapons sit in the Legacy tab without Gunsmith, Mastery Camos or build codes.
What game modes are in Warzone Season 1?
At launch you get Battle Royale and Resurgence with Casual variants, plus Rally Point on Zodiac for 20 players, Massive Resurgence on Hajin for 120 players and Loaded Resurgence for 44 players on Zodiac or Rebirth Island. Extreme Resurgence and Rockets and Snipers arrive at mid-season.
How big is the Warzone Season 1 download?
Activision has not published a download size or preload window in the sources I checked. Watch the Call of Duty blog and the official update channels for the Season 1 patch notes, which are expected later this week.
Did the November 2 update change Warzone?
The November 2 update is an MW4 patch with Global, Multiplayer and DMZ changes, such as 40% fewer DMZ UAV towers, a longer Sedative Inhaler, a Shipment spawn pass and a Final Killcam in Free for All. Those notes do not list Warzone Battle Royale changes, which will come in the Season 1 patch notes.
