Ashika Island is the latest Warzone 2 map, arriving courtesy of the Warzone 2 Season 2 update. COD players have been waiting for a new Resurgence map since Fortune’s Keep, and now, it appears Call of Duty fans might need to fend off more than just enemy operators. In-game intel alludes to Ashika Island’s history, suggesting that the fog-filled COD map is actually haunted. Well, in times like these, who are you gonna call?
COD players saw a multitude of POIs and unique areas in Al Mazrah, but it’s the Tsuki Castle in Warzone 2’s Ashika Island that has Call of Duty easter egg hunter ‘Killer Stidge‘ intrigued. The COD theory enthusiast explains “so it appears the Tsuki Castle on Ashika Island is haunted according to the Combat Engineer Toolkit intel that you find located at the Sam Site.”
Killer Stidge displays an in-game piece of intel, which is from the perspective of a soldier named Jiro. Addressed to a now-deceased ally called Itsu, the intel reads “I don’t trust these new soldier people. They don’t listen to me when I tell them this place is haunted. I warn them about the island spirits, but they dishonour them every chance they get.”
Jiro vows that it is “time to fight back” and in a cracking gesture to Itsu, he’d left him some rice behind. How thoughtful of him. But what exactly is plaguing the isles of Ashika Island? By the sounds of Jiro’s letter, it seems like the threat is a supernatural one, possibly taking the form of ghosts and other spectral anomalies. Killer Stidge reckons there is more to Tsuki Castle than meets the eye.
In a tweet from December last year, the COD theorist claims that “the Resurgence map POI ‘Castle’ is most likely based on the Himeji Castle the largest and most visited castle in Japan, which is also surrounded by lush Cherry Blossom trees.” In popular culture, it has been alleged that the Himeji Castle contains its own otherworldly presence, which inspired the classic 1998 horror film Ringu.
Ringu follows a reporter attempting to uncover the mystery of a cursed videotape that caused the viewer to pass away several days later. Many people will recognise Sadako Yamamura, the iconic vengeful ghost with long black hair. Though Warzone 2 intel doesn’t reference Ringu directly, maybe a new horror event is in the works that crossovers with the Ringu franchise. It certainly wouldn’t be the first time this has happened, as the Haunting of Verdansk event saw the Scream, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and Saw franchises appear in Call of Duty.
Either way, we’ll be watching our back more than ever as we traverse around Ashika Island. It might not save you from ghosts, but using the best Warzone 2 loadouts will give you a fighting chance against other soldiers.