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Warzone 2.0 Season 2: release date, Ashika Island map, and Resurgence mode

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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 will be entering its second season, and while Activision hasn’t officially unveiled all of the contents of the update, the company did make a few announcements to stir up excitement. Much like you’d expect with live-service games, Call of Duty is built on a seasonal system, wherein the game gets major content drops with each update.

Season 2 is gearing up for launch after a short delay, and for many fans, it’s a make-or-break scenario, because reception to Modern Warfare 2 and Warzone 2.0 has been middling thus far.

With that in mind, here’s everything you need to know about the upcoming season of Modern Warfare 2 and Warzone 2.0.

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Season 2 release date

Initially, Season 2 was supposed to launch on February 1, 2023 — at least according to the in-game battle pass countdown timer. But then, following player feedback and the pile of bugs in the game at launch, Activision decided to delay the season to February 15, 2023.

The company revealed this via Twitter.

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https://twitter.com/CallofDuty/status/1615771014478155779

To mitigate the bad news, Activision did share a sprinkle of information about what to expect from Season 2.

Season 2 features

1v1’s are back in Battle Royale.

Gulag updates are coming in Season 02. We’ll be sharing more details about this in next week’s studio blog.@RavenSoftware

— Infinity Ward (@InfinityWard) January 19, 2023

With each season, Call of Duty receives new weapons, multiplayer maps, Operators, modes, and major changes to gameplay. While a specific road map hasn’t been revealed yet, the company did confirm that a slew of new features is coming.

One new confirmed mechanic is the return of 1v1 Gulags, which were featured in the original Warzone. In Warzone 2.0, the base Gulag is designed for 2v2, which players were not happy with. Likewise, the overpowered Bird’s Eye Perk has been removed and will be reintroduced later, possibly during Season 2, when customizable Perk Packages are added.

Activision will add an improved cash pool, the ability to apply armor plates while moving faster, and a new looting system. The looting system will mirror that of the first Warzone, removing the menu-based system in favor of items simply dropping onto the ground. Medium and Large Backpacks are being removed entirely, which will prevent players from stockpiling Self-Revive Kits.

DMZ will get enemy tuning, new spawning locations, adjustable mission difficulty, and new areas to explore. Activision also confirmed that crash fixes will come, though, it’s unclear what specific issues are being prioritized in this regard. DMZ crashes are common, causing players to lose their items.

Aside from that, several leaks point to the existence of new weapons including a crossbow and the Vepr-12 shotgun. Activision says it’s listening to the community and will implement new features based on feedback from players. We will update this article as more information about Season 2 becomes available.

Welcome to Ashika Island 🌊

Drop into the brand new free-to-play #Warzone2 small map, featuring Resurgence and DMZ on February 15th 🪂#ResurgenceReturns pic.twitter.com/u4ToibP3U7

— Infinity Ward (@InfinityWard) January 31, 2023

Arguably the most important feature of Season 2 is the new Ashika Island, which is the small-scale Resurgence map coming during Season 2. This map will mirror Fortune’s Keep and Rebirth Island, focusing on a smaller scale with more condensed action.

Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 - New Map: Ashika Island | PS5 & PS4 Games

Ashika Island is a fraction of the size of Al Mazrah, but it’s unclear how it stacks up against Rebirth Island and Fortune’s Keep. We do know Ashika Island is created by High Moon Studios, the same team that worked on Fortune’s Keep, which is a great sign, as that map is beloved.

A recent blog post from Activision actually takes a deep dive into Ashika Island, detailing each of the seven locations. It will include seven main POIs — one of which is Tsuki Castle — based on the beloved Castle map from past games. In addition, Ashika Island will be playable in Battle Royale and DMZ, giving more players something to look forward to. As with many Warzone maps, Ashika Island actually features other familiar POIs, most notably, Shipment in the form of “Containers,” which is heartening to see.

At this point, it’s clear Activision is wanting to harken back to the golden days of the first Warzone, implementing Ashika Island, along with gameplay improvements to bring players back on board.

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Joseph Yaden
Joseph Yaden
Joseph Yaden is a freelance journalist who covers Nintendo, shooters, and horror games. He mostly covers game guides for…
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