Call of Duty Warzone’s new Pacific map Caldera has a release date

Activision has confirmed the release date for Caldera, the upcoming new map for Call of Duty: Warzone which will herald the end of the existing Verdansk map and add dogfighting to the mix.

Caldera will be available on December 2, the same date Season 1 of what will be known as the Warzone Pacific era begins. Players who own Vanguard will get 24 hours early access.

As exclusively revealed by VGC in June, the map will be set in the Pacific. Raven Software confirmed this in September, saying it will feature completely original locations and share new engine technology with Vanguard, which is powered by an updated version of the Modern Warfare engine.

As part of a lengthy blog article detailing all its plans for Call of Duty: Vanguard, Activision explained the plans for Warzone’s new Pacific era and the resulting destruction of the Verdansk map it replaces.

On November 18, a new limited-time mode called Operation: Flashback will begin, allowing players to relive the past 18 months on the Verdasnk map. Players will be rewarded with an emblem for taking part, and an animated calling card if they win.

Then, starting on November 24, a new Secrets of the Pacific event developed by Beenox will let players find out more information about Caldera and its points of interest by completing challenges in both Warzone and Vanguard.

Activision says that on November 30 “the destruction begins” with another Beenox-developed event that will bring “a spectacular and fitting end to your time in Verdansk as we say farewell to the Kastovian city… forever?”

This is followed by the official launch of the Warzone Pacific era and the Caldera map on December 2 (with Vanguard players able to access it from December 1).

When Season 1 also launches on December 2, players will gain access to a Vanguard Royale playlist, which will showcase all the new content from the update, including biplanes and anti-air trucks.

Activision assures players that all Operators from Vanguard, Black Ops Cold War and Modern Warfare can be used across all of Warzone after Vanguard’s integration.

It also states: “Your progression – for your Player Level, Battle Pass system, etc – is synchronized across Vanguard, Black Ops Cold War, Modern Warfare and Warzone Pacific, and the Seasonal Levelling and Prestige System will return.

“This also means your level will reset to Military Rank 1 within all games, but this only applies to XP – all content you previously unlocked will still be available.”

Warzone will also include Ricochet, Call of Duty’s new anti-cheat system which will also be featured in Vanguard.

Plans for the new anti-cheat system were first revealed in August as part of Call of Duty: Vanguard’s announcement.

Further reading

Call of Duty’s anti-cheat system leaked after an early version was given to testers

Activision would have been aware that it would likely fall into the hands of cheaters

And Activision said earlier this month: “The Ricochet Anti-Cheat initiative is a multi-faceted approach to combat cheating, featuring new server-side tools which monitor analytics to identify cheating, enhanced investigation processes to stamp out cheaters, updates to strengthen account security, and more.

“In addition to server enhancements coming with Ricochet Anti-Cheat is the launch of a new PC kernel-level driver, developed internally for the Call of Duty franchise, and launching first for Call of Duty: Warzone.

“This driver will assist in the identification of cheaters, reinforcing and strengthening the overall server security. The kernel-level driver launches alongside the Pacific update for Warzone later this year.”