Modern Warfare 2 and Warzone 2 patch notes released as Season 3 launches

BATTLE PASS

BlackCell

• BlackCell is a Battle Pass Bundle and Pro Pack combined with even more items. BlackCell is a premium offering that provides incredible value – to be used across both games. For more details, see the BlackCell blog.

EVENTS

• Trophy Hunt New Limited-Time Event
  • Players and enemy combatants will drop Trophies when eliminated. Trophies can also be found via loot. Trophies must be collected and secured at an Upload Station to add them to your bank.
    • Multiplayer
      • Trophies drop from each unique player killed. Collect Trophies and finish the match to add them to your bank.
    • Battle Royale
      • Operators and AI Combatants drop Trophies when eliminated
      • Trophies can also be found by looting.
      • Trophies are extracted from the match via the following methods:
        • Secured at an Upload Station
        • Match victory
    • DMZ
      • Operators and Agents drop trophies when killed. Trophies can also be found in loot. Trophies must be collected and secured at an Upload Station, or extracted to add them to your bank.
  • Once extracted, these trophies can be exchanged for items shown in the Events tab, including:
    • Weapon Blueprints
    • Vehicle Skins
    • Battle Pass Token Tier Skips
  • Those who redeem enough items will also unlock some exclusive Operator Skins for their efforts.

PROGRESSION

Progression has been updated for Season 03:

• Prestige 10: Unlocked at Level 500
• Prestige 11: Unlocked at Level 550
• Prestige 12: Unlocked at Level 600
• Prestige 13: Unlocked at Level 650

CHALLENGES

• New Weapon Unlock Challenges for Season 02 Battle Pass weapons:
  • ISO Hemlock – Get 20 Longshot kills with Assault Rifles
  • KV Broadside – Get 10 one-shot kills with Shotguns
  • Dual Kodachis – Get 20 kills with Melee weapons
• New Camo and Mastery Challenges for the Cronen Squall and FJX Imperium
• New set of Prestige Stickerbook Challenges

WEAPONS

New Weapons

GENERAL

FIELD UPGRADES

Adjustments

• Added Thermal Vision to the Tactical Camera for Night Map Modes

EQUIPMENT

• Gas Grenades should no longer detonate enemy explosives
• Claymore | Warzone 2.0 Only
  • Armor damage reduced

• Flash Grenade
  • Flash effect duration reduced

• Frag Grenade  | Warzone 2.0 Only
  • One hit kill radius against fully armored Players reduced

• Proximity Mine  | Warzone 2.0 Only
  • Armor damage reduced
  • Armor damage reduced against crouched or prone Players

• Semtex 
  • Now kills downed Players when stuck

KILLSTREAKS

• Players watching a Killcam after getting killed by a Cruise Missile will no longer be looking downwards when they respawn
• Reduced the range of screen shakes for Precision Airstrike explosions
• Juggernaut should now be able to see the tablet screen when planting or defusing a bomb

• Bomb Drone  | Warzone 2.0 Only
  • Can no longer down fully armored Players

• Cluster Mine  | Warzone 2.0 Only
  • Armor damage reduced

VEHICLES

• Vehicle windows can now be destroyed by melee attacks
• Vehicle tires can now be popped with knives

AUDIO

• Added a new cinematic music slider to the front end, which will allow Players to control UI music, game intros/outros, and cinematic sequences separately from music that happens during gameplay
• Various refinements to footstep and occlusion mixes

SOCIAL

UI/UX

GLOBAL BUG FIXES

PC SETTINGS

ATOMGRAD RAID

• Added ping icons for platforms in Episode 02
• Increased the difficulty of the escape sequence in Episode 02
• If a Player is downed when the final airlock sequence starts in Episode 02, they will now be revived and placed in a safe spot

ATOMGRAD RAID BUG FIXES

• Fixed an issue where the red buttons to the first number puzzle would disappear after being interacted with in Episode 01
• Fixed an exploit where Players could leave the Map in Episode 01
• Fixed an issue preventing the spectator camera from working as intended during the final sequence in Episode 02
• Fixed an issue causing the Raid Rewards screen to display in an incorrect aspect ratio

COOPERATIVE

• Loadouts can now be used in all non-modified Cooperative content
  • Added a unique Loadout configuration option

COOPERATIVE BUG FIXES

• Fixed a bug where the “kill enemies with throwing knives” Challenge was not tracking properly
• Fixed a bug where defusing a Claymore while wearing an Assault Suit would cause the Player to lose the Assault Suit
• Fixed a weapon exploit using Kit/Role Select crate

PLAYLIST

Modes

• Gunfight
  • Gunfight is here with 4 maps at Season 03 launch, and new maps coming in future seasons. This iconic 2v2 mode is sure to make for high-octane moments of combat.

• Cranked
  • Cranked takes Team Deathmatch and amps up the intensity by putting a countdown on any Operator who earns an elimination. If they cannot earn another elimination before the timer hits zero, they meet an untimely explosive death.

Maps

• Core (6v6)
  • Pelayo’s Lighthouse
  • Black Gold
• Gunfight Maps (2v2)
  • Alley
  • Blacksite
  • Exhibit
  • Shipment

• Battle Maps (Ground War and Invasion)
  • Rohan Oil
  • Sattiq Cave Complex

GENERAL

MULTIPLAYER BUG FIXES

RANKED PLAY

WARZONE 2.0

The patch notes detailed in the section below affect all Warzone 2.0 content across both Battle Royale and DMZ.

MAPS

Map Updates

Ashika Island

• A Cargo Ship and several Submarines are now present outside of the Port.

GAMEPLAY

All Maps | All Modes

• Tempered Plate Carrier
  • Upgrades the Player’s Armor Plate Carrier to improve armor plate efficiency.
  • Details:
    • Player now equips 2 stronger armor plates, down from 3
    • Each armor plate counts for 75
    • Can be found in strongholds and loot

• Bomb Drone Balancing
  • Reduced the damage of the Bomb Drone so it will no longer one-hit-kill or down a fully armored player.

• Heavy Chopper
  • Re-enabled this vehicle in the following modes:
    • Standard
    • Duos
    • Trios
    • Quads
  • Added new Heavy Chopper gas cans unique to this vehicle that are required for initial takeoff.
    • Spawn locations of these gas cans will differ between Battle Royale and DMZ.
    • Battle Royale:
      • One of five possible spawn locations will spawn Heavy Gas gas cans each match.
      • One Heavy Chopper gas can is included as a guaranteed Stronghold mission reward.
  • Subsequent refuelings can be done via Gas Stations or other Heavy Chopper gas cans
  • This vehicle is now more vulnerable to explosive damage

• Gas Mask
  • The gas mask has been given a slight buffer when the player delays it from being put on or taken off. This should help catch situations where further delay is desired immediately after it was dropped.

• Interrogation
  • Decreased the time it takes to perform an interrogation to 3 seconds, down from 5
  • Added a grace period if the downed Player is immediately eliminated after a successful interrogation.
    • This guarantees that the enemy squad will be pinged at least once, up to three times during the grace period.
    • Reminder: Keeping the interrogated Player alive will further extend the effect

QUALITY OF LIFE

• Mantle Assist Improvements
  • Improved the system that would allow players to mantle over or through objects such as windows.

• Advanced UAV Improvements
  • Enemy Players and AI Combatants will now appear differently while using an Advanced UAV

• Killstreak Banner Positioning
  • The position of the Killstreak banner that appears on screen has been moved to no longer overlap with the player’s reticle.

BUG FIXES

• Fixed an issue that allowed Players to clip inside the Sentry Gun.

• Fixed several issues with placing a Sentry Gun on the train.

• Fixed issue where Mortar Strikes were not doing enough damage against AI targets, making it hard to kill them.

• Recon/Bomb Drones will now die if the player goes into last stand.

• Added item persistence to Stim Pistol / Rebreather. Now Stim pistol / Rebreather can be dropped after it has been activated.

• Fixed several issues caused by Players having both a Self Revive and Stim Pistol equipped.

• Fixed an issue with the Assimilation UI that could cause some squad members’ names or numbers to appear incorrectly.

BATTLE ROYALE

The patch notes detailed in the section below are exclusive to Battle Royale, which includes but is not limited to standard Battle Royale, Resurgence, Mini Royale, Unhinged, and more.

PLAYLIST

MODES

New Modes

Al Mazrah

• Massive Resurgence Launch
  • Resurgence makes its Al Mazrah debut! Prepare to take on dozens of other squads in a much larger version of this fan favorite mode.
    • How does it work?
      • When eliminated, Players enter a spectating state and must wait for the Resurgence timer to tick down. Squad members can shorten the timer by completing Contracts, looting, and eliminating enemy Players. Respawns are disabled on the fourth circle, so keep an eye on the clock
    • Hunt & Track Mechanic 
      • At any point during a match, eliminating an enemy Player will display their Squad members for a few seconds on the minimap.
      • Specific to Solos, eliminating an enemy Player will display their location upon redeployment for 10 seconds.
    • Score Events
      • As a reminder, we recently added quite a few new ways to shorten the respawn timer for Squad members:
        • Headshot
          • Eliminating an enemy Player via Headshot
        • On The Move
          • If you move more than 25 meters while your teammate is dead
        • Hunt
          • You eliminated a Player while they were tracked by the Hunt mechanic
        • Hunter Double
          • You eliminated two Players in a row while they were tracked by the Hunt mechanic
        • Hunter Spree
          • You eliminated more than three Players while they were tracked by the Hunt mechanic
        • Armor Break
          • You broke all of a Player’s active Armor Plates
        • Audacious Elimination
          • You got an elimination while a Squad member was down
        • Fearless Elimination
          • You got an elimination while being the last living member of your Squad
    • Loadouts
      • Players can acquire their Loadouts via two different methods in Resurgence. Towards the end of the first circle there is a Public Event that drops a Loadout crate for your Squad. Loadout Dop Markers are also available for purchase via Buy Stations, using the same price scaling as standard Battle Royale.
    • Additional Information
      • Strongholds are disabled
      • Weapons found via ground loot always have attachments
      • Blue Resurgence Supply Boxes restock after 90 seconds

• World Series of Warzone In-Season
  • Grab your two sweatiest friends and start warming up now Stage 1 of the upcoming WSOW 2023 Season.
  • A limited-time playlist will go live on April 27th called WSOW Trios for squads to practice for the In-Game Open.
    • This is a new WSOW ruleset, which is a variation of a standard match of Battle Royale. This includes changes such as:
      • No turreted vehicles
      • No Heavy chopper
      • No assimilation
      • No Fire sales, Jailbreaks, Restocks or Champion’s Quest
  • While the public Playlist will be available throughout this weekend for practice, the actual competition — and opportunity for official scoring for WSOW Stage I — will take place on April 28 through April 30 from 10 AM to 2 PM PT each day.
  • Full details for the WSOW 2023 Season are available on the official blog here.

GENERAL

• Resurgence Private Matches
  • Ashika Island Resurgence (Solos, Duos, Trios, and Quads) has been enabled in Private Matches.

• Private Match Spectating
  • Spectating has been enabled for all available maps/modes including:
    • Al Mazrah
      • Standard Battle Royale
        • Solos, Duos, Trios, Quads
      • Mini Royale
        • Trios
    • Ashika Island
      • Resurgence
        • Solos, Duos, Trios, Quads

• After Action Report (AAR)
  • All Players in a squad that complete a match will see the After Action Report.

• Birdseye Perk
  • This Perk has been reenabled.
  • Adjustments:
    • Now activates when Player uses a UAV Killstreak
    • Enemy UAVs no longer trigger Birdseye
    • UAVs activated by the Player using Birdseye will provide enemy headings
    • UAV pings activated by the Player using Birdseye are slightly larger

GAMEPLAY

Al Mazrah | Standard Battle Royale

• Blacksite New Gulag
  • This roughly rectangular, asymmetrical map has several interior spaces and long external routes. Those who want to redeploy will have to prove their worth on this new yet familiar ground.

GAMEPLAY

• Redeploy Drones
  • Redeploy Drones have been added to Al Mazrah. Utilize these for quick repositioning.
  • Details:
    • Can be shot down
    • Will reposition when in the gas
    • Will begin leaving the field around the 4th circle

QUALITY OF LIFE

• Minimap Ping Anchoring
  • Coordinates and map elements that have been pinged will now anchor the icon along the borders of the minimap even when they are outside of the visible area on the minimap.

• Spawn Protection Timeout
  
  • Spawn protection will now expire on players who remain airborne for more than 10 seconds
  • This is in addition to the current x that remove spawn protection when they are x meters from the ground
  • We’ll evaluate the effectiveness of Spawn Protection and if necessary make adjustments on a per mode basis.

• Blacksite Key Visibility
  
  • Blacksite Key dropped will now be visible on the Tac Map to all squads

• Loadout Drop Visuals
  
  • Adjusted the visual representation of Loadout Drops to help Players better distinguish between their own and those that belong to other Players.
  • New color coding:
    • Squad Loadout Drop = Blue
    • Contested Loadout Drop = Yellow

• Gulag Item HUD
  
  • Items that a Player picks up during a Gulag round will be briefly indicated next to the crosshair before fading away.

• Object Elevation Arrows
  
  • Buy Stations, Contracts, and Loot items now have a small up/down arrow on the tac map and minimap to better indicate elevation.

BUG FIXES

• Fixed an issue where Quick Fix did not activate after plating in Resurgence modes.

• Fixed an issue causing the Intel Contract world icon to persist despite having failed to complete the objective.

• Fixed an issue causing Battle Royale victories to not update properly in the Combat Records.

• Fixed an issue causing the Play Again buttons to no longer work after assigning a new party leader.

• Fixed an issue causing items to disappear when attempting to stow them away in the backpack.

• Fixed an issue causing Players using the Birdseye Perk to receive UAV pings when an enemy activated a UAV.

DMZ

NEW FOR SEASON 03

New Faction

• [ REDACTED ] has arrived with new Faction Missions coming throughout Season 03.

Barter

• We are introducing Barter for Players to have another way to gear-up during deployment. Barter can be found at Buy Stations and offers exchange of certain items for useful equipment. Remembering these “Recipes” will be a useful tool for acquiring specific items. Barter is not Player-to-Player.

Workbench

• The Workbench has arrived in DMZ and allows players to customize Contraband Weapons during deployment – this includes any equipped weapon that may be insured or looted. Players will be able to add or remove attachments based on their weapon progression. Craft the perfect build or add the right attachment for an advantage in situational combat.

UI/UX

• Reworked the Factions tab for better ease of use. Revamped Faction Mission menu layout for better ease of use
  • Missions are now shown in a vertical list with new mission buttons
• Shortened description panel so that selected Missions can be viewed on the right side
• Added a new section to the Challenge menu that tracks the Player’s current progress for Weapons Cases and the awards they have, or are trying to achieve

GAMEPLAY

• “Out of the Deep” mission is now easier to complete
  • First step no longer requires killing Operators
  • Second step can be completed with kills from the surface of water
• Reduced range requirements for the M4 Weapons Testing and Lachmann Weapons Testing Missions
• Changed “Non-Discriminatory” mission to require killing cartel soldiers instead of Shadow Company soldiers
• The details of a Story Mission are now hidden until the Player unlocks the Story Mission by completing 5 of the 6 missions in the tier
• The Secure Intel Contract now reveals the closest commander to the Upload Station instead of a random one
• Upon failing to exfil from a deployment, a Player’s selected Lethal, Tactical, and Field Upgrade will now default to what was previously selected, rather than having to reselect those slots
• Increased overall amount of loot found in world
• Toolboxes now spawn more Field Upgrades, gun oil, and blow torches
• Military containers, rifle cases, and weapon lockers all spawn more items overall
  • Spawn rates of Plate Carriers, medical items, gun oil, documents, and food rations have been increased
• New potential spawn location for Weapons Case on Al Mazrah

BUG FIXES

• Fixed a handful of issues that prevented certain areas from spawning more context-specific loot (Example: Industrial buildings spawning industrial items)
• Fixed M4 Weapons Testing not tracking kills for the Tempus Torrent
• Fixed Kastov Weapons Testing not tracking kills for the KV Broadside
• Fixed an issue where stowing a weapon from an enemy’s Backpack wouldn’t count it as an enemy Operator’s weapon
• Fixed an issue where using an exploding barrel to kill enemies wouldn’t count towards some mission progress
• Fixed a number of issues causing some missions to not track progress for taking an item if you Infiled with that item in your inventory
• Fixed an issue that caused Revive Pistols to be counted as a weapon for the purposes of missions that require Players to Infil without weapons
• Fixed an issue with “The Pound” mission where progress wasn’t given if a weapon was in the Backpack’s weapon slot
• Fixed an issue causing some weapon cosmetic customizations to be lost upon exfilling a weapon
• Fixed an issue where exfilling with a Gas Mask would sometimes turn it into a Durable Gas Mask
• Fixed an issue where the HUD wouldn’t update Armor values when Assimilating to a new team
• Fixed an issue where Contract UI wouldn’t properly clear when Assimilating to a new team