Warzone nuke event - everything you need to know

Warzone nuke
(Image credit: Activision)

The Warzone nuke event has been and gone, but what went down? Aside from the obvious, if you missed the nuking of Verdansk last night, we've got the low down on what happened in Call of Duty Warzone. There were zombies, a big explosion, then everyone got evacuated to Rebirth Island... and we're still waiting for part two! This is everything you need to know about the Warzone nuke event.

Check out the GamesRadar Warzone nuke stream highlights to watch the event for yourself.

Warzone Season 3 | Call of Duty Warzone tips | Warzone Error codes | Is Warzone down? | Warzone best guns | Warzone bunkers | Best Cold War guns in Warzone | Warzone Patch notes 

What happened in the Warzone Nuke event?

Call of Duty Warzone zombies gulag

(Image credit: Activision)

Spoiler: a nuke happened. As the zombies started to overwhelm any remaining players in The Destruction of Verdansk Part 1, a cutscene played which showed a nuclear missile being fired from somewhere to the west. So even though the expectation was that the nuke would come from within one of the missile silos on the map, it instead came from elsewhere.

As the title says though, that is only part one. The second part is happening at 12pm PT/3pm ET/8pm BST today, April 22, at which point we'll know what is going down. We know what the actual outcome will be – constant leaks leading up to this event revealed that Verdansk would be transported back to the 1980s – but what will cause that to happen? Some time travel shenanigans, inevitably. Make sure you check out our guide to the new Warzone map for everything you need to know.

Ford James

Give me a game and I will write every "how to" I possibly can or die trying. When I'm not knee-deep in a game to write guides on, you'll find me hurtling round the track in F1, flinging balls on my phone in Pokemon Go, pretending to know what I'm doing in Football Manager, or clicking on heads in Valorant.

Read more
soldiers dropping in from the sky and looking over verdansk
Warzone's original map is returning next month, but it's still not enough: "We don't just want Verdansk back. We want everything back"
Fortnite Live Event Chapter 6 Season 1
When is the next Fortnite live event?
A player wearing a gasmask and holding a gun during the shooter, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6.
Call of Duty season 2 brings back Gun Game and a fan-favorite Zombies weapon we haven't seen in 10 years
A screenshot from the Helldivers 2 opening, showing the Super Earth Spokesperson shouting.
Liberty save us, Helldivers 2 just lost a planet to the deadly black hole we created last year after spaghettifying Meridia, and the singularity is still on a path to Super Earth
Helldivers 2 intro cutscene helldiver thumbs up
Helldivers 2's Galactic War resumes as Arrowhead fixes its broken liberation rates, and High Command insists anyone who saw anything weird "may be suffering from Illuminate mind-influence"
Destiny 2 Guardian in Taken energy
Bungie yanked Destiny 2 servers offline for emergency maintenance as Episode 3: Heresy got off to a rocky start, but it looks like we're back in business
Latest in Call of Duty Warzone
soldiers dropping in from the sky and looking over verdansk
Warzone's original map is returning next month, but it's still not enough: "We don't just want Verdansk back. We want everything back"
A man riding a motorbike and shooting a gun during the upcoming game, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6.
Rumored Warzone 2025 map Avalon appears to be fully explorable in Black Ops 6 spectator mode, and with it comes a classic Call of Duty: World at War map
Black Ops 6 Separation Anxiety code
Black Ops 6 Separation Anxiety code and puzzle guide
Warzone's Area 99
There's no sign of Call of Duty's beloved Nuketown map in Black Ops 6 - except for its "birthplace" in Warzone's Area 99 and a nuked version in Sandhouse
Warzone 2
Activision is open-sourcing one of the biggest Call of Duty maps ever for AI development and to "expand the knowledge base of the gaming industry"
Warzone 2
Call of Duty: Warzone 2 averages five million new players a day
Latest in Guides
Chris Pratt in The Electric State
The Electric State post-credits scene: does the Russo brothers' new Netflix movie have a post-credits scene?
FC 25
FC 25 Season 6 Ladder Players list and how to unlock them all
Fortnite Gold Veins
Fortnite Gold Veins: How to mine them for Bars
WWE 2K25
WWE 2K25 locker codes guide to free MyFaction cards
A Sim draws a tattoo in The Sims 4 Businesses and Hobbies
The Sims 4 Businesses and Hobbies cheats for small business success
Fortnite Outlaw Keycard
Fortnite Outlaw Keycard: How to unlock it and what does it do