Warzone needs to make one massive weapon change to get players back for Verdansk

If Raven Software wants the Verdansk remake to be successful, the devs must make Warzone accessible to everyone, even those who haven’t played in years.

On April 3, Warzone’s original map, Verdansk, finally returns for the first time in four years. Besides a few minor changes, rumors suggest the iconic map will be nearly identical to the version fans fell in love with in 2021.

However, Black Ops 6’s game engine is much different than what fans remember from Modern Warfare 2019. The movement, gunplay, Perks, Killstreaks, and other equipment items have all drastically changed.

In addition, if this is your first time returning in years, there are more than 170 weapons because the pool includes everything from MW2, MW3, and BO6. Forcing returning players to unlock every weapon and attachment would be a massive mistake.

Warzone should unlock every weapon and attachment in Season 3

Activision

If you need to unlock a weapon, attachment, or Aftermarket Part from previous games or seasons, the only way is through the Armory.

Each item requires 75,000 XP to unlock, which is no small ask. And once you have a weapon, the job isn’t over because you have to level up each weapon to unlock every attachment. It usually takes at least a few hours to earn enough XP to reach the maximum level on a weapon, if not longer, depending on how many kills you get.

It becomes even more challenging if you don’t own a BO6 because your only option is to level up weapons in Warzone. Plunder is the easiest mode to expedite this process because you can respawn and use whatever weapon you want, but this is the last thing returning players want to waste time on.

And, even if you do own BO6, the only way to level up MW2 and MW3 weapons is in Warzone because you can’t use them in BO6 multiplayer. If this seems convoluted, imagine how confusing it will be for players logging back in for the first time in years.

Expecting players to unlock every meta weapon and attachment is unrealistic. This system will only push returning players away if they are too far behind the power curve.

The best solution is to have everything unlocked for players when they load up Verdansk for the first time in Season 3. Working toward leveling up and unlocking new weapons helps keep players engaged in multiplayer, but it’s not as necessary in Warzone.

The core battle royale experience and playing on Verdansk will be enough to keep players entertained, so developers shouldn’t waste their time and force them to go through the tedious process of unlocking everything if they’re expected to stick around.

And it’s in Raven Software’s best interest to make the upcoming season accessible to everyone because a leak revealed that Warzone may not receive additional support for CoD 2026 if Verdansk fails to retain current and returning players.