Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Season One has arrived, and Treyarch is making wholesale changes to multiplayer, Warzone, and Zombies. The most noticeable change for players who play more than one of these multiplayer experiences is that progression is linked between all three, but there’s also new maps, new weapons, new operators, and new Gulags to keep things exciting.
Put simply: if you unlock a new weapon in Warzone, you can use it in Zombies or Cold War multiplayer, and vice-versa. Your Battle Pass and Season progress will also be linked, meaning any experience earned in Zombies will contribute to the same pass as Cold War multiplayer, and unlock the same rewards across all three games.
We’ll explain more about how progression works when we get into the patch notes proper, but we’ve also got to cover all the other changes that Treyarch has implemented this season – and there’s a lot of them.
Here are the Call of Duty Season One patch notes:
Call of Duty: Zombies patch notes
Zombies is getting a new Jingle Hells holiday mode. Enemies, including those terrifying undead canines the Hellhounds, will be decked out with more baubles than your nan’s Christmas tree. Maps will be similarly festively decorated, and you’ll be able to pick up stocking power-ups, snowballs that freeze zombies, and presents from frozen enemies. Be sure to keep your eyes peeled for snowmen also, as they house special surprises inside.
Later in Season One, the Cranked event will hit Zombies mode. We don’t know a lot about this at the moment, but we’ll keep our ears to the ground to keep you in the loop with any updates.
Zombies is also getting its own Operator Missions that can only be completed in this mode. Although Stitch and Garcia are available in all multiplayer and Warzone, these missions offer skins that can only be unlocked in Zombies – but crucially can be used in any game. Stitch’s missions are unlocked straight away, and Garcia’s at Tier 20 on the Battle Pass, and we already know that some of the available skins are Siberian Ghost and Toxic Terror.
The final change for Zombies is the leaderboards. Leaderboards will be reset for Season One, and Die Maschine’s board now tracks your highest round, rather than the total rounds – meaning you can show off your best performances to any who will listen.
Thankfully, the patch notes confirm support for 2-player split-screen and stability fixes (including improvements for Host Migration), as these were causing players major headaches. Check out all the changes below:
Die Maschine:
- Support
- Cruise Missile: Cruise Missile added as new Support weapon starting in Season One.
- Salvage Rewards
- Refactored Round Milestone Salvage awards to ensure a more even distribution and higher amount awarded to all players.
- Exfil
- Addressed an issue that could prevent zombies from reaching the Exfil area fast enough to be cleared.
- Addressed an issue that sometimes caused an excessive number of Megaton enemies to spawn during the Exfil event.
- Addressed a rare issue that could cause the Megaton to become stuck outside of the map during the Exfil event.
- Addressed an issue that allowed completing Exfil while in the Dark Aether in the “Die Maschine 20 Round” playlist.
- Field Upgrades
- Addressed an issue that could cause the player to lose charge on a Field Upgrade when swapping classes to one that had the same Field Upgrade equipped.
- Addressed an issue where Field Upgrades that have an active duration were able to earn progress toward the next charge while still active.
- Equipment
- Addressed an issue that prevented the Cymbal Monkey from automatically being picked up and stacked if one was already in the player’s inventory.
- Pack-a-Punch
- Addressed a timing-specific issue that caused the Pack-A-Punch to become non-functional.
- UI
- Addressed an issue that could cause the “Swap and Attach” prompt to appear on weapon pickup prompts under specific circumstances.
- General
- Closed various map exploit areas.
- Addressed an issue that could cause the left hand of a Dual Wield weapon from receiving Weapon Skill upgrades.
- Addressed an issue that prevented players from Pinging the Mystery Box.
- Addressed a rare issue that could prevent Plaguehounds from triggering their death visual effects.
Dead Ops Arcade 3:
- Gameplay
- Added various enemy and weapon tuning.
- Closed various map exploits.
- Leaderboards
- Leaderboard stats reset for Solo/Duo/Trio/Quad (boss defeats, high score, high round) at the start of Season One to allow for a fresh start based on updated gameplay tuning.
Onslaught (PS4/PS5)
- Gameplay
- Increased early Surge spawn rates for a faster-paced experience.
- Filling up the Surge meter now immediately clears the area.
- Maps
- The Pines: available in Onslaught at the start of Season One.
- Nuketown ’84: added various exploit fixes.
- Enemies
- Addressed an issue that prevented Plaguehound toxic kills from contributing to Orb Power.
- Addressed various pathing issues for the Megaton.
- General
- Addressed a rare issue that could cause Salvage to drop in Onslaught when using certain attachments.
Call of Duty: Warzone patch notes
Warzone is getting a brand new map, Rebirth Island. We’ve got an in-depth guide to the new locale, but it’s a 45-player island much smaller than Verdansk and will require a whole new set of skills and fresh tactics to emerge victorious. We dived into the nitty gritty details of the new map to work out Rebirth Island’s best drops, but the patch notes reveal even more changes to the battle royale.
As Season One launches, the Rebirth Island event also goes live, which includes 16 challenges. Complete them to earn the usual haul of calling cards, charms, emblems, and stickers, but also the “Noxious” LMG Blueprint.
Rebirth Island is also launching with Resurgence mode, which sees teammates automatically respawn after a certain length of time – which is dependent on the zone and the number of kills remaining teammates get. Be careful though, as getting killed reveals the location of your teammates on the map! Unfortunately, we won’t get a glimpse of the new Gulag in this mode, but it should be coming soon. You can get all the information on the new mode in our Call of Duty: Warzone Resurgence mode guide.
As well as a new Gulag on Rebirth Island, Verdansk is getting one too, and it is inspired by the Nuketown map layout. Don’t worry, the houses are boarded up and gardens inaccessible to focus the combat, but you’ll have to use your knowledge of the classic multiplayer map to outwit your opponent in order to be respawned in regular battle royale matches.
Another big change for Warzone players are the weapons. You will likely know your Grau and your Bruen by now, but over 30 weapons from Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War are joining the Warzone loadouts, including the Groza AR and MAC-10 SMG which can be obtained for free in the Season One Battle Pass.
In addition to the Groza and MAC-10, there will be five assault rifles, five submachine guns, four tacticalrifles, three LMGs, three sniper rifles, three pistols, two shotguns, three launchers, including the M79 Special launcher, and one melee weapon.
As well as the 31 new weapons, three new operators are available to unlock: Stitch and Vargas from the Warsaw Pact and Song from NATO.
A new vehicle is also making its way to Verdansk and Rebirth Island: the Attack Helicopter. It works much the same as a regular chopper, except passengers can control a belt-fed minigun on each side of the cab.
Additionally – we told you there was a lot of new stuff in Season One – Warzone is adding Daily Challenges which are broken down into three categories: Reconnaissance, Combat, and Support. You can customise which missions you take to match your role on the battlefield, and Mastery Challenges and missions from previous seasons will still be available.
As well as some stability and UI fixes, there are a handful of general changes, too:
- Removed the Juggernaut reward from Subway and Stadium Easter Eggs
- “Strange Magic” / “Time of the Season” Watch will no longer be visible through walls
- Players will be longer be able to clip inside of Loadout packages
- Added collision to Airport to prevent an exploit
- Addressed an issue where Park or Baker Operator Skin listings could show a repeating “Name” skin that could kick the player back to the menu when hovered over
- Addressed instances where War Tracks could continue to play when exiting vehicles
Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War multiplayer patch notes
Black Ops: Cold War multiplayer has more changes than any other mode, so we’ll jump straight in.
Game Modes
- Gunfight
- Available at the start of Season One.
- 2v2 showdowns. First duo to win six rounds wins the match.
- Includes four new maps: Game Show, ICBM, U-Bahn, and KGB.
- Prop Hunt
- Available at the start of Season One.
- One team of Hunters scours the map for the other team disguised as Props throughout the environment.
- Map list includes The Pines, Cartel, Checkmate, Moscow, Nuketown ’84 Holiday, and Garrison.
- Hardpoint
- Additional spawns added for all Hardpoint zones on Crossroads Strike.
- Adjusted spawns for Hardpoint zone 2 on Moscow.
- Addressed an issue where players could capture a Hardpoint outside of the yellow house on Nuketown ‘84.
- Domination
- Addressed an issue where zone borders would show as contested before the round started.
- Addressed an issue where the announcer would incorrectly state an “almost won” line to the losing team.
- Free-For-All
- Players will now join matches already in progress less frequently.
- Search & Destroy
- The bomb waypoint will now fade when in line of sight.
- Control
- Overtime Defense will now be given to the team that has fewer total deaths during the previous 4 rounds.
- Removed several defender spawns that were too close to the A zone on Garrison.
- VIP Escort
- Addressed an issue where the VIP’s third-person model would not match their first-person view during Exfil.
- Fireteam
- Addressed an issue where the Cruise Missile HUD effects would play while in the Fireteam Spawn overhead menu.
- Addressed an issue where the Fireteam Spawn overhead HUD effects would be present during Best Play.
- Fixed a rare crash in Fireteam: Dirty Bomb related to the Sentry Turret.
- Custom Games
- CDL Control
- Reduced capture time from 60 seconds to 45 seconds.
- Addressed an issue where the lives remaining UI would not properly display the correct number of lives.
- CDL Control
Featured Playlists
- Raid the Mall
- Available at the start of Season One. Includes a moshpit of 6v6 modes on Raid and The Pines.
- Gunfight
- Available at the start of Season One.
- Prop Hunt
- Available at the start of Season One.
- Nuketown ’84 Holiday 24/7
- Available at the start of Season One. Includes a moshpit of 6v6 modes on Nuketown ’84 Holiday.
Weapons
- Assault Rifles
- AK-47
- Reduced headshot multiplier.
- Reduced damage for 20″ Spetsnaz RPK Barrel.
- Krig 6
- Reduced headshot multiplier.
- FFAR 1
- Increased damage ranges.
- Reduced recoil.
- AK-47
- Submachine Guns
- Milano 821
- Increased effective damage ranges.
- KSP 45
- Increased effective damage ranges.
- Bullfrog
- Increased effective damage ranges.
- Milano 821
- Tactical Rifles
- M16
- Reduced maximum effective range.
- Reduced fire rate.
- Tactical Rifle Charlie
- Reduced headshot multiplier.
- Reduced maximum effective range.
- Reduced fire rate.
- Reduced damage for 19.8” Task Force Barrel.
- Attachments
- Adjusted Barrel attachments that improve fire rates for tactical rifles.
- M16
- Light Machine Guns
- M60
- Increased ADS speed.
- Increased weapon swap speeds.
- M60
- Sniper Rifles
- Sniper Rifle Charlie
- Increased damage multiplier for upper chest to allow for a one-hit kill without attachments.
- 22.6″ Tiger Team Barrel will now increase one-hit kill zone to upper arms.
- Recoil adjusted for higher shot power.
- Sniper Rifle Charlie
- Pistols
- Magnum
- Increased effective damage ranges.
- Increased fire rate.
- Magnum
- Shotguns
- Hauer 77
- Decreased damage ranges.
- Decreased damage range for 25.2” Task Force Barrel.
- Shotgun Bravo
- Decreased damage ranges.
- Decreased fire rate.
- Decreased damage range for 24.8” Task Force Barrel.
- Attachments
- Adjusted Barrel attachments that improve fire rates for shotguns
- Hauer 77
- General
- Reduced the amount of player knockback when being damaged by bullet weapons.
Perks
- Flak Jacket: reduced explosive damage mitigation.
- Forward Intel: increased viewable mini-map area.
- Ninja: removed protection from Field Mic detection.
- Spycraft: added full immunity to Field Mic detection.
Equipment
- Frag Grenade: slightly increased damage.
- Molotov: slightly increased damage.
- Stimshot: reduced heal speed.
Field Upgrades
- Field Mic: no longer detects users who are crouch-walking, ADS walking, or swimming.
- Gas Mine: increased damage, removed detonation delay, and reduced how much a player will be slowed when affected by the gas.
Scorestreaks
- H.A.R.P.
- High-Altitude Reconnaissance Plane shows both enemy positions and their directions on the mini-map.
- Cruise Missile
- Addressed an issue where the Cruise Missile HUD effects would display after a Cruise Missile killcam.
- Addressed an issue where using a Cruise Missile from a Care Package could clear score earned toward the player’s equipped Cruise Missile Scorestreak.
- RC-XD
- Addressed an issue that allowed the RC-XD to push teammates.
General
- Quick Play will now display the player’s last selected tab between Core and Hardcore by default.
- Addressed an issue where Friendly Fire penalties would be applied for self-kills in Hardcore modes.
- Addressed an issue where the camera could not access the entire map in Crossroads.
Battle Pass System and progression patch notes
As we mentioned earlier, Battle Pass progression is linked between all three games. If you only play one or two of the games then don’t worry – you won’t miss out on much. There are some exclusive Operator Skins that can only be unlocked through Operator Missions in certain games, but anything Battle Pass-related will be available in any of the games.
As usual, the Battle Pass offers new Operator Skins, Weapon Blueprints, War Tracks, 1300 COD Points, 2XP Tokens, and more. However, it should be easier to progress than ever due to the fact you can earn Battle Pass XP in Warzone, Cold War multiplayer, and Zombies. Additionally, the Season One Battle Pass offers two unlockable weapons for free: the MAC-10 at Tier 15 and Groza at Tier 31.
There is also a new Prestige system based on your Season Level, which can continue rising even after you’ve finished with the Battle Pass. Here’s how you can increase your Prestige Level – which caps at Prestige 7 in Season One:
- Level 50: New Prestige, Emblem, Prestige Key, Weapon Blueprint, Battle Pass Tier Skip
- Level 100: New Prestige, Emblem, Prestige Key, Battle Pass Tier Skip
- Level 150: New Prestige, Emblem, Prestige Key, Battle Pass Tier Skip
- Level 200: New Prestige, Emblem, Prestige Key, Battle Pass Tier Skip, Prestige Master Calling Card, all Season Challenges unlocked
- Level 250-1,000: New Prestige Key every 50 levels
That covers all the Call of Duty Season One patch notes, so now you’re completely up to date with the major changes. Now all that’s left to do is jump into some games – we recommend using one of NICKMERCS’ Warzone loadouts for best results, but you might have equally good results with the new gear.