Call of Duty: Warzone 2 devs started work on Al Mazrah right after Verdansk

Warzone 2.0 Al Mazrah
(Image credit: Infinity Ward)

Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 devs started work on the new Al Mazrah map straight after the original Verdansk map was finished.

The new detail comes from an interview with The Washington Post, who quizzed Infinity Ward game director Jake O'Hara on Warzone 2.0. "We started on this map straight after Verdansk," O'Hara said of the huge new Al Mazrah map, which launches as the featured Warzone 2 map later today on November 16.

"We kind of rolled from that one to a little bit of a breather and then we started laying the foundations for the next map, which is Al Mazrah. It’s a chance to refine what we did last time and a chance to build on all the lessons," the game director at developer Infinity Ward continued.

O'Hara goes on to reveal that Al Mazrah is designed around two core tenets. The first is stitching together 18 points of interest that define the massive map, and the second is taking everything the development team learned from watching player behaviour on Verdansk after Warzone first launched several years ago.

The director goes on to add that when Verdansk was first being created, Infinity Ward was working with "fresh technology and a fresh set of tools to make it." O'Hara and Infinity Ward wishes they could've done plenty of things differently with Verdansk, even if it all turned out okay in the end. Al Mazrah is two years of learning for Infinity Ward, all rolled together into one monumental map.

Check out our Warzone 2 release times guide for all the details on when the new battle royale game launches in your region today. 

Hirun Cryer

Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.

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