It’s been just shy of a month since Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2’s Season 1 content drop brought about the official launch of Warzone 2.0 and the first ever battle pass for the new era of the franchise. Following along with a precedent that was set a few titles ago, players can expect to see the launch of additional content — both of the free and the paid variety — to help bolster interest in the current season and keep things fresh until it’s time for Season 2 to officially debut. Lead developing studio Infinity Ward will continue to helm the patches and updates for Modern Warfare 2 as well as Warzone 2.0’s DMZ mode, while Raven Software will continue to maintain Warzone 2.0.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Warzone 2.0 Season 1 Reloaded — Release date and time
Players can expect the midseason update to go live in both Modern Warfare 2 and Warzone 2.0 on Dec. 14 at 10:00 a.m. PT following a patch for both titles. Patch notes will be released just prior to the launch which will further detail technical changes and weapon balancing efforts.
In celebration of the upcoming event, players on Xbox consoles and the best Windows PCs can look forward to a Double XP weekend during launch beginning on Dec. 15 at 10:00 a.m. PT and lasting until Dec. 19 at 10:00 a.m. PT.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Season 1 Reloaded — Multiplayer changes
New map: Shipment
As part of the initial Season 1 content drop players of Modern Warfare 2’s multiplayer received a remake of the classic Shoot House map. Now with the midseason refresh they can look forward to another popular close quarters map returning to the rotation in the form of Shipment. This iconic map has been reimagined atop of a ship dock on the high seas, challenging players to rethink how they navigated the edge of the map lest they fall to the watery depths below.
Shipment can be found in the standard playlist rotation following the midseason refresh, but players will also be able to hop into the ultracompact map’s holiday themed Shipmas variant for a limited time beginning on Dec. 21 and lasting until Jan. 4. Despite Shipmas’ return, developers have promised that players will not be haunted by the incredibly terrifying Krampus that stalked the map during a previous holiday themed event.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Season 1 Reloaded — Special Ops Raid: Atomgrad
New raid: Atomgrad
Raids, while commonly found in other first- and third-person shooters like Destiny and The Division, are an entirely new concept to the Call of Duty franchise. The first ever raid, Atomgrad, is scheduled to go live in the Special Ops game mode as part of Season 1 Reloaded. The raid will allow a squad of three to team up and play as Captain Price, Farah, and Gaz in a mission that continues the events of the base game’s campaign.
To begin the raid players will need to acquire a Raid Key by completing the following challenges:
- Completing a specific Daily Challenge in either Multiplayer or Special Ops.
- Place in the top 20 or higher in any Warzone 2.0 Battle Royale playlist.
- Exfil from DMZ mode on the final helicopter while carrying at least $30,000 in Cash.
Only one player needs to acquire a Raid key with which they can use to unlock the mission for themself and two additional squad mates. Time is of the essence, however, as a key only grants access to the raid for one full week. After that, you’ll need to complete the tasks again in order to earn a new key.
If you haven’t yet jumped into Special Ops, you may want to take time before the raid’s official launch to level up your Operator’s Spec Ops kits. High-tier kits provide additional passive and active benefits that can make or break a Raid run, but you’ll need to level them up via the existing missions to make the most of them.
Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 Season 1 Reloaded — DMZ and Battle Royale changes
New DMZ area: Building 21
Active DMZ players may already be familiar with looted keys that open up a variety of restricted buildings, rooms and caches around Al Mazrah. For those looking to up the challenge for some high risk/high reward loot, a new key will be available following the mid-season refresh that can be used to unlock the heavily guarded Building 21. While information regarding Building 21 is redacted, including the building’s actual location, players that manage to get inside will find high-tier contraband, safes, and additionally secured rooms that require keycard access for entry.
Following the launch of Season 1 Reloaded, Infinity Ward confirmed that Building 21 would not be immediately available for players to discover, nor do they have plans to announce when it would be officially added to Al Mazrah. Players have reported already finding keys for Building 21 in the DMZ, but when those keys will be useful for unlocking and exploring the new building remains to be seen. It does seem, however, that once Building 21 is officially live it will be up to players to locate and gain access to the location via exploration rather than guidance from the developers.
Limited-Time playlist: Warzone Cup
If you love Rocket League but wish you could play it in Al Mazrah on an ATV inside of Call of Duty: Warzone then there’s some good news for you in the midseason update. Warzone Cup is a limited time playlist that will make its way to Warzone 2.0 to continue with the soccer/football tie-in that brought us the Modern Warfare FC Support a Team brackets as well as three soccer star Operator bundles. For Warzone Cup, two teams of three players will head to Al Easima Field where they will have ATVs featuring a pulse ability that are capable of pushing a massive soccer ball across the field. Players will be able to collect shock sticks and boost which can be used against opponents to turn the tide of the game. The first team to score five goals or whichever team has the most goals at the end of a five-minute match will be declared the winners.
Limited-Time playlist: Mini Royale
If you prefer the traditional Battle Royale experience but find yourself longing for the days of smaller maps and more fast paced action of Resurgence Modes, then Mini Royale may be the playlist that can assuage your bloodlust. Mini Royale offers players a chance to drop into smaller, more compact safe zones for fast paced matches in close quarters scenarios. Sadly, there is not any confirmation of a proper Resurgence mode returning in Warzone 2.0, so this will have to do even though players will not have the option to respawn with their teammates beyond normal battle royale parameters.
Call of Duty Season 1 Reloaded — New Operators, bundles, and weapon
New weapon: Chimera
Previously alluded to in the details for Season 1’s initial launch, the Chimera is a new assault rifle found on the Bruen Ops platform. The weapon is geared toward stealthier encounters, and comes equipped with an integrated suppressor and subsonic .300 BLK rounds so that kill skulls are hidden from the enemy team. While the Chimera’s range is not quite as dramatic as that of other assault rifles, the near silent build is perfect for sneaking up on Operators and Agent AI alike without alerting nearby enemies to the player’s position. The Chimera can be unlocked via a weapon challenge or by purchasing an in-store bundle.
New Operator: Gaz
Kyle “Gaz” Garrick, like Ghost and his other fellow Task Force 141 brethren, is a fan favorite character from the Modern Warfare franchise and his initial absence from the multiplayer Operator roster led many to speculate that the character would meet an untimely demise in Modern Warfare 2’s campaign. It turns out, however, that Infinity Ward was just hanging onto Gaz as a midseason reward for completing the Atomgrad Spec Ops Raid. If the Raid is not your cup of tea, or you struggle to reach the end, do not fret as Gaz can also be unlocked by purchasing a store bundle which will feature the “Aquatic” skin. Players who succeed at unlocking the “Convoy” skin by completing the raid and also purchase the “Aquatic” skin’s bundle will be rewarded with the third skin, “Grass Ops” as a bonus reward.
New Operator: Klaus Fisker
Ho ho ho, this member of Denmark’s Elite Special Forces seems vaguely familiar. Legends of Klaus’ heroic antics include tales of scotopic night vision which allowed him to navigate a mile in near total darkness as a small child, as well as carrying a wounded comrade eighteen miles to receive help while surviving on the memory of his father’s lessons and an unusual amount of chocolate. Klaus can be unlocked in the in-game store by purchasing the Klaus Operator bundle.
New bundle: Dune Stalker
The Dune Stalker starter pack will offer two new weapon blueprints, including the “Scarab” SMG based on the M4’s platform modified to be high-capacity and ideal for close range combat as well as the “Duster” sniper rifle. A “Muddled Up” skin for the APC, “Golden Beetle” weapon charm, and “Desert Starter Pack” animated emblem round out the $10 bundle which also includes a stash of 1,100 Call of Duty Points — enough to pick up the Season 1 Battle Pass if you haven’t yet.
New bundle: Year of the Rabbit
Call of Duty rings in the Chinese New Year with this charming little bundle centered around the fourth zodiac of the 12-year cycle. The bundle includes two weapon blueprints including the “Dash of Luck” SMG and the “Tokki”, a variant of the Chimera. Two weapon charms, two animated emblems, and a red and gold themed “Zodiac Rabbit” Operator skin for Zimo finishes out the bundle. If you have a preference for the Operator Zimo and would like to unlock skins for that character without ponying up for a bundle, however, consider checking out our guide on how to unlock free Operator skins (including Zimo’s “Defuse” skin) by completing DMZ missions.
Call of Duty Season 1 Reloaded — Quality of life improvements
New social feature: Groups
Included in the Season 1 Reloaded update is an all new social feature that will make finding friends and squadmates for DMZ and Spec Ops that much easier. The new Groups feature will be accessible under the Social menu and will allow players to create communities of up to 5,000 players in one group. Players can then label these groups with the following labels:
- Call of Duty-based preferences including Battle Royale, DMZ, Multiplayer, Veterans Only, or New Player Friendly.
- Vibe-based out of game interests including entertainment and sports.
- Community-based preferences that can set the tone of the group, such as competitive only or daily players vs weekend warriors.
- Other categories will include streamer affiliations and Call of Duty League teams.
Groups can also be defined by language and privacy settings which will help allow other players to find them. Once a new Group is made, its users can make use of dedicated text channels to chat, look up fellow members, and create parties to squad up for Modern Warfare 2 or Warzone 2.0.
Combat record update
Combat records, a feature that was surprisingly missing from Modern Warfare 2 at launch, were introduced as part of the Season 1 content drop. However, players quickly noticed that their stats for Warzone 2.0 were not being included in these calculations. The Season 1 refresh was supposed to rectify that issue, however with one small catch: Only stats collected after the start of Season 1 Reloaded will be included in the record. Stats from the beginning of season 1 on Nov. 16 and lasting through to Dec. 14 will not be tabulated.
Unfortunately for players, Combat Records for Warzone 2.0 have been delayed according to an announcement from Infinity Ward. Current statistics will not be tracked until Combat records are officially live.
