4 years after it was destroyed, Call of Duty: Warzone's Verdansk map will make a comeback in 2025

Verdansk 84 new warzone map
(Image credit: Activision)

Call of Duty just announced that the original Warzone map, Verdansk, will make a grand return to the battle royale shooter at some point next year.

Yesterday, August 28, saw Call of Duty's big 'Next' showcase, chiefly focusing on the forthcoming Call of Duty: Black Ops 6. The event also featured news for Warzone, though, where it was revealed that the battle royale shooter's original map, Verdansk, will finally be returning to the game in 2025.

Verdansk has long been gone from Call of Duty: Warzone - it's been roughly three years since the map was circulated out of rotation in the shooter. By the time Verdansk arrives back in Warzone next year in 2025, it will have been right around five years since it originally launched as Warzone's base game map in 2020.

Right now, we don't know if Verdansk will look and play exactly how it did three years ago. The original map was filled with points of interest like Stadium and Superstore, among others, but Activision hasn't confirmed whether Verdansk will be altered in any way when it returns.

More immediately though, Area 99 is the new Warzone Resurgence map, and it'll be debuting in the battle royale's smaller, more focused mode later this year in Season 1. Dubbed the "birthplace of Nuketown," you can get a glimpse at some of the points of interest for Area 99 just below, and it does somewhat look like a spiritual successor to the classic Black Ops multiplayer map.

Finally, in terms of new details for Warzone during Call of Duty Next, there'll be brand new Mastery Camos for your weapons arriving as part of Season 1. 'Traditional' Prestige is also returning for the game, so whenever you hit level 55, you'll be able to Prestige and continue levelling up for brand new in-game rewards. 

Take a look over the Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 beta dates for when you can dive into the brand new shooter area of its final launch.

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.