Every Halloween for the last few years, Warzone and whatever Call of Duty game is active have been overhauled with night-time modes full of scares and new fun, all called The Haunting.
Now, it’s back for 2023 and kicking off today – so find out all about what’s new to Warzone as part of the mid-season update for Season 6, and just how scared you should be.
When is The Haunting in Warzone?
The Haunting starts today, on 17 October 2023, and it runs for a while – in fact, there’s no end-date set at this point, and we expect Season 6 to the be the last one for Modern Warfare 2, so it could run until Modern Warfare 3 launches in early November.
What’s new in The Haunting for Warzone?
There’s a whole bunch to enjoy in The Haunting, and we’ll break down the highlights for you, but this roadmap should give you a good overview of all the biggest additions.
Night maps
Both Al Mazrah and Vondel (now called Vondead) have been given night-time makeovers, full of interesting little new POIs to explore, and with totally different lighting and decorations.
Break out the thermal sights, equip your darkest skin, and try to blend in – the meta strategy will be pretty different given how much harder it will be to see your opponents.
Zombie Royale
The fan-favourite mode is back – you’ll come back as a zombie when you die, with the chance to earn a respawn by collecting souls, and chaotic final circles are basically guaranteed.
Activision
Normal Battle Royale modes will be called Operation Nightmare and be less insane, although you’ll still have to watch out for new paranormal threats like The Butcher from Diablo or an undead Pharaoh.
Jump scares
The best bit of The Haunting is always the jump scare – every box you open could now terrify you with noise and visuals, and the same goes for decoy grenades and suppression mines, which have been given a scary makeover.
Warzone Season 6 release date
Warzone Season 6 began on 27 September 2023, as announced by the game’s official channels.
The season is themed around comic book antihero Spawn, but will also feature a bunch of other spooky modes and skins as we hurtle towards Halloween, and the release of Modern Warfare 3.
What’s new in Warzone Season 6?
Season 6 is a big one – it’s bringing a whole bunch of modes, bundles, skins and more. All of this can be surveyed in the blog post announcing the season right here. We’ve broken down the major highlights for you below, though.
New night modes
The Haunting is back – Call of Duty’s annual Halloween mode is coming to both Al Mazrah and Vondel and promises night-time modes with zombie hordes and loads of fun. This time around it’ll be called Operation Nightmare as a limited event, but Zombie Royale will be around for longer, with players becoming zombies when they die, with the chance to regain their humanity.
New weapons
There are a few new weapons arriving with Season 6: the ISO 9mm SMG, TR-76 Geist assault rifle, Dual Kamas melee and the DOOM Chainsaw.
The first of these, the ISO 9mm, is a more lightweight and mobile version of the existing ISO, so should be popular. The TR-76 is an adaptable mid-range AR with apparently manageable recoil. The two melee additions (with the chainsaw locked in a store bundle at first) will be fun for those who like up-close fights, meanwhile.
Activision
New bundles
This is a season of tie-ins, with loads of bundles already announced. Spawn himself will be in the Battle Pass, with other characters from the comics hitting the store soon too. From Activision-published Diablo 4, we’re getting Lilith and Inarius bundles. Skeletor from Masters of the Universe is making an appearance, as is Ash Williams from Evil Dead, Alucard from the Hellsing manga, and presumably the Doom Slayer, although only his weapons are confirmed at this point.
Warzone Season 5 Reloaded release date
Season 5 Reloaded began on 30 August 2023, about halfway through the season as has been the norm for the last couple of years in Call of Duty.
What’s new in Warzone Season 5 Reloaded?
Warzone’s Season 5 Reloaded update brings a fair few changes, but principally is about some new additions in the form of new operator bundles and weapons.
New weapons
There are three new weapons being added to Warzone in Season 5 Reloaded: the Pickaxe (Melee), Lachmann Shroud (Submachine Gun) and 9mm Daemon (Pistol).
The Lachmann Shroud is a burst-fire version of the Lachmann Sub with an integrated supressor, while the Daemon is a hard-hitting sidearm.
New operators
There are three new operators coming to COD in store bundles during Season 5 Reloaded. Lara Croft from Tomb Raider will be a new licensed addition, along with rapper 21 Savage.
Mace, who was a fan-favourite in Modern Warfare 2019, is also arriving.
Warzone Season 5 release date
Season 5 started on 2 August 2023, as we knew in advance thanks to both the ongoing countdown in the current Battle Pass and the below announcement Tweet from Call of Duty’s social account.
What’s new in Warzone Season 5?
We’ve now had a detailed briefing about Season 5 brings with it – all that’s left is to deploy. The image below gives an overview, and we’ve broken the key additions down into sections for you, too. For the full details, be sure to check the newly-released patch notes.
Modern Warfare 3 reveal event
We now know that there will be a limited-time mode to reveal 2023’s Call of Duty, just like in previous years – a game that is all but certain to be Modern Warfare 3.
The blog has the following hint about the mode: “Join the ranks of Shadow Company to take on Konni forces and secure the chemical weapon threat before it’s too late.”
New weapons
There is quite a lot of weaponry in Season 5 to sink our teeth into – the first piece being the FR Avancer, an assault rifle that looks an awful lot like Warzone 1’s FFAR. It’s got a high rate of fire and doesn’t hit your movement speed too much, making an ideal sniper support.
The Carrack .300 is a semi-auto sniper with a similarly familiar look to it from the original Modern Warfare games, but won’t have one-shot downs. That said, it should be fun to use.
Four other weapons are arriving during the season’s span (the other two will be there at launch): the M13C, another M13 variant, along with a new silenced SMG and a sidearm, and the Pickaxe melee weapon.
New vehicles – dirt bike and MRAP
Activision
There are two new vehicles for Warzone, the first being a slim and slinky dirt bike, just like the ones we got in the original Warzone. This is ideal for solo movement (although it can take a second rider) and is really fast, but very fragile.
The second is the MRAP, a huge armoured vehicle that will be complicated to get access to, and will at first only be available in special modes. It’s super durable but therefore pretty slow.
New operators
Phillip Graves is back after turning to the dark side in the campaign for Modern Warfare 2, and Velikan is making a return too, along with all-new operators Oz, Arthur and Mila – all from Shadow Company.
Hip Hop store bundles
Three new bundles are going to hit the store to bring some icons to the game. Snoop Dogg’s second coming will bring a new skin after his mega-hit in Warzone 1, while Nicki Minaj and 21 Savage will also get their own bundles.
Warzone Season 4 Reloaded release date
Season 4 Reloaded started on 12 July 2023, as was confirmed by the official social channels.
What’s new in Warzone Season 4 reloaded?
Season 4 Reloaded isn’t the biggest update we’ve ever seen for Warzone, even by mid-season standards, but there are a few telling changes that we’ve picked out for you. Check out the full roster of additions on the official blog here for more details.
The Boys tie-in
Three characters from hit show The Boys are coming to Warzone in their own in-store bundles – Homelander, Starlight and Black Noir, each with their own skin and weapons to take advantage of.
Activision
The tie-in is deeper than that, though, with new decorations around the game’s maps to mark it, and a new Temp V Field Upgrade to find around the game offering superhero upgrades to use until you die.
These are the Charge Jump that zombies used to have in Warzone, an Electric Shockwave that acts like a more powerful EMP, Laser Vision that fires super-powerful beams, and Teleport which warps you upward.
The powers are proving extremely potent, so grab them when you see the green field upgrades around all maps.
New weapon – MX Guardian
A new fully-automatic shotgun, the MX Guardian is a demon at close range and will be able to compete at mid-range, which sounds a little frightening. It’s available to claim from the battle pass in a newly-unlocked sector that had previously been unavailable, which requires some shotgun weapon challenges to be completed.
Battle Royale changes
The newest map for Warzone, Vondel, has arrived for Battle Royale after previously being limited to Resurgence modes, making for a more high-stakes playstyle. This includes a new gulag to fight in when you die for the first time.
We’ve also got new portable redeploy drones to let you pop your own zipline when you need a quick exfil.
Warzone Season 4 release date
Season 4 launched on 14 June 2023.
What’s new in Warzone Season 4?
With a full briefing by Call of Duty on what to expect from Season 4, there were plenty of changes to get used to, so we’ve broken them down into some key areas for you.
New Warzone map – Vondel
We basically knew this was coming thanks to leaks and rumours, but now Vondel is now released – a new map that sits between Ashika Island and Al Mazrah in terms of size.
Set in the Netherlands it presents an expansive section of a canal-filled city, reminiscent of Amsterdam, and has a bunch of points of interest to explore including a castle, train station and more.
Activision
The map will initially host Resurgence game modes before Battle Royale arrives later in the season, and will also offer a new location for DMZ players. In DMZ it’ll allow up to 18 operators, while in core modes that will rise to 72.
Vondel also has some dynamic weather, with the possibility of fog rolling in during a match to limit visibility a bit – this is great to add some variable factors in late-game situations.
Balance changes
While it might not be as glamorous as new content, some huge changes to balance have arrived in Season 4, as you can see from the lengthy patch notes.
The biggest is a global rise in the amount of health each operator has, from 250 up to 300, which should make the time-to-kill slower with in every fight, which is a massively welcome tweak.
Movement is also getting some subtle boosts, and the bane of AI is shrinking ever further – they’ll now only be in the Blacksite, not every Stronghold. Strongholds are also now open from the start of a game, to make them more easily planned for.
There’s loads more detail in those patch notes, so check them out for all the details.
New weapons – Tempus Razorback, ISO 45
There are a couple of new primary weapons in the new season’s battle pass at launch, with the first being a reliable battle rifle, the Tempus Razorback, which should be controllable and pack solid damage.
Activision
The ISO 45, meanwhile, is an SMG that will also be in the battle pass and has high damage but a slightly slower fire rate than most weapons in its class, making it a big hitter for those who land their shots.
New vehicle – Tactical Amphibious Vehicle
A new vehicle comes to Warzone in the form of an amphibious armoured carrier that isn’t very fast but can crucially drive through water as well as on land, making it potentially hugely valuable for moving around all the maps. For now, it’s only in Vondel, but should come to Al Mazrah later in the season.
New operators
There are plenty of new operators to pick from in the season, with the headlines being grabbed by Nikto.
This is the return of an operator from the first Modern Warfare, although there are four others joining him – Io, Ana Vega, Izanami and Butch.
Activision
Some of these will only be available via in-store bundles, as usual.
Warzone 2.0 Season 3 Reloaded release date
Warzone’s mid-season updates can sometimes bring changes just as meaningful as new seasons themselves, so they’re well worth watching out for.
Season 3 Reloaded started on 10 May 2023.
What was new in Warzone 2.0 Season 3 Reloaded?
Warzone Ranked
People have wanted a ranked mode in Warzone for ages and they’re finally getting their wish, although it’s launched in a beta version.
Warzone Ranked sees players use slightly restricted equipment (meaning no riot shields) in highly competitive matches that reward them for both kills and placement. You’ll slowly climb the ladder of ranks by raising your skill rating over time and it should make for incredibly nail-biting finales.
Activision/ Pocket-lint
New features and quality of life
There have been some new additions coming to Warzone, some of which are returning – in particular, deployable buy stations reduce your dependence on dangerous shared shops.
Lootable and purchasable perk packages let you get some passive perks without needing a full loadout drop, which could be handy.
Gulag entry kits return your right to enter the Gulag if you die, also returning from Warzone 1.
A new water breath meter makes it easier to tell when you’re about to die underwater, which is welcome, while AI enemies at strongholds are apparently less aggressive.
In-world killstreaks have gotten visual tweaks to make them easier to see and loot, so hopefully they’ll be left behind on the assumption that they’re a heartbeat sensor a bit less often.
New weapons – FTAC Siege and GS Magna
Two new sidearms enter the fray, both fully-automatic pistols with different aims. The FTAC Siege is very controllable with a huge rate of fire so could be pretty useful in a pinch.
The GS Magna is a harder sell – it’s basically a full-auto Desert Eagle with .50 Cal ammo that will have absolutely monstrous recoil but deal incredible damage.
When did Warzone 2.0 Season 3 start?
Warzone Season 3 started on 12 April 2023, bringing to an end a few weeks of waiting for some major changes.
What’s new in Warzone Season 3?
Warzone 2.0’s third post-launch season brought with it a bunch of changes, including weapon balancing and more, along with the much-discussed return of one-shot snipers.
Plunder
Plunder is finally back, a favourite casual game mode that lowers the stakes and brings respawns with it as players seek to rush around Al Mazrah looting huge cash prizes to come out on top of a leaderboard when the game ends.
There are new contracts to pick up compared to Warzone 1’s version of the mode, alongside new in-game events like Money Siphon, which will see every ATM on the map spit out cash for a limited time.
One-shot snipers
There’s more weapon balancing than just this one point, not least a substantial nerf to the dominant ISO Hemlock assault rifle among others, but the change grabbing everyone’s attention centres around snipers.
One-shot downs are returning, in short, although only on three sniper rifles and only when using explosive rounds as their ammo type, making for a lot of bullet drop-off. The guns in question are the MCPR, the Victus XMR and the brand-new FJX Imperium.
This will completely up-end the meta and how people play Warzone 2.0, so make sure you’re more careful about ranged engagements now that Season 3 is live.
New weapons
We do know about the new weapons that the season will bring, and one of them is the long-awaited return of the Intervention sniper, a favourite from the original Modern Warfare 2.
This time it’s re-named as the FJX Imperium, but the gun looks really similar and appears to have a similarly snappy aim-down-sights speed for quickscoping.
Also coming to the roster is the Cronen Squall battle rifle, a semi-automatic gun with high stopping power.
There will be a new sidearm pistol added in a mid-season update, too, but we don’t know what that one’s called yet.
New operators
This season focuses on a fight we witnessed in Modern Warfare 2’s campaign – the one ongoing between cop Alejandro and drug runner Valeria.
Both are being added to the game as new operators, and both are unlockable through the battle pass, along with a range of other skins.
Activision
New gulag
The gulag is finally moving, to a new map called Blacksite, which features a mixture of indoor and outdoor sections but should be fairly tight for quick fights.
Perk packs and redeploy drones
You’ll now be able to use the redeploy drones that were already on Ashika Island to get around Al Mazrah more quickly, a welcome change.
Also returning from Warzone 1 are lootable perks, this time in the form of packages that let you choose a bundle of perks in addition to those provided by your loadout, all to get a nice mid-game advantage.
When did Season 2 Reloaded start in Warzone?
Season 2 Reloaded launched on 15 March 2023.
What was new in Season 2 Reloaded?
Season 2 Reloaded brought a bunch of new content, much of it focussed on the multiplayer side of Modern Warfare 2, but there were some changes for Warzone, as well.
New weapon – Tempus Torrent
There is a new weapon to unlock and use, in the marksman rifle class: the Tempus Torrent.
It’s a hard-hitting gun that takes a little finesse to use but can pack a real punch if you land a headshot, although it thankfully hasn’t spawned a reincarnation of the dreaded DMR meta.
Weapon balancing
The game received a major balancing pass, and while plenty of weapons came through it unscathed, it spelt doom for the new KV Broadside shotgun, which had been absolutely everywhere in recent times.
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