CoD: Modern Warfare 2 And Warzone 2.0 Season 1 Start Times And Details
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 recently launched on October 28, but the Season 1 update is just weeks away, and this inaugural season will include the arrival of Warzone’s sequel and new DMZ mode. Here is everything we know so far about the big update.
Call of Duty Season 1 start times
Season 1 is set to arrive on November 16 for Modern Warfare 2 and Warzone 2.0. Activision has not revealed the specific start time for the season, but past seasonal updates usually went live around 9 AM PT / 12 PM ET / 5 PM BST. We should know exact dates and pre-download times soon.
What to expect from Season 1
Season 1 for Modern Warfare and the new Warzone will likely include the standard seasonal content with a battle pass, new operators, weapon bundles, and seasonal challenges. There will also probably be some weapon tuning and bug fixes in the update as well.
Modern Warfare 2
For Modern Warfare 2, Activision has already teased that Season 1 would include the return of a fan-favorite multiplayer map. Additional missions are also confirmed to be arriving to Modern Warfare 2’s cooperative Spec Ops mode.
Call of Duty’s Hardcode mode, which is a multiplayer playlist featuring lower health and removed HUD, did not launch with Modern Warfare 2 this year. Instead, Infinity Ward announced the Hardcore playlist has been renamed as “Tier 1” and would arrive with the start of Season 1.
Later in the season, players can expect Raids to arrive. The Raids feature is launching as a part of Spec Ops mode, as Activision said Spec Ops would receive the first episode of Raids for players to master on December 14 with the start of the midseason update. Raids are described as a three-player co-op “engagement” that Activision says will require “teamwork and strategic puzzle-solving” in between intense firefights. Raids also sound like they’ll include some additional narrative, as Activision mentioned Raids as being “a direct continuation of the campaign.”
For those looking for a competitive challenge, a CDL Moshpit playlist is set to arrive in Season 1. Specific details weren’t given, but this playlist will likely feature the modes being used for the Call of Duty League’s 2023 season. Call of Duty’s competitive Ranked Play mode has been confirmed for Modern Warfare 2 sometime in 2023, which will feature the maps and modes of the CDL with the inclusion of skill divisions, leaderboards, and rewards, but this will likely arrive after Season 1.
Warzone 2.0
A new free-to-play sequel arrives for Warzone. Warzone 2.0 features the brand-new Al Mazrah map, which will introduce brand-new circle mechanics, with multiple circles appearing and changing the end-game scenarios before merging into one final circle.
Al Mazrah will also feature a revamped and more complex “Gulag 2.0,” where players must battle it out via 2v2 instead of the normal 1v1 arena. Here we highlight all the changes and new Gulag features players can expect.
DMZ mode
The launch of Warzone also includes the arrival of DMZ, which Activision described as an all-new “sandbox experience” played out on the Al Mazrah map. We still don’t have many details on DMZ, but this is set to be an extraction mode with similarities to Escape from Tarkov. More information on the mode should be coming closer to launch.
Modern Warfare 2 released on October 28, and it earned $800 million worldwide in just three days, which topples the initial sales of 2011’s Modern Warfare 3 as the previous record-holder. For more on Modern Warfare 2, check out GameSpot’s Modern Warfare 2 campaign and multiplayer reviews.
The products discussed here were independently chosen by our editors.
GameSpot may get a share of the revenue if you buy anything featured on our site.