06/07/2023 Call of Duty has released key artwork for the Warzone 2 Season 4 update, confirming several details alluded to in this article. The copy and title have been updated to reflect that.
Following reports that a new Warzone 2 map was in the works for the battle royale’s Season 4 update, Vondel appears to have been confirmed by Call of Duty in new key artwork for said Warzone 2 seasonal update. We don’t know if this is going to help reinstate Warzone as one of the best battle royale games again, but it’s certainly something to look forward to if you’re not sick of the ever-shifting Warzone 2 meta yet.
On Twitter, CharlieIntel reported that on the Warzone 2 Season 4 start date, June 14, players will be able to enjoy “the new Warzone map Vondel, which is set in the Netherlands and developed by Beenox”.
CharlieIntel’s sources claim that this map will have Resurgence support “to start” – which hints at the size of this new map – and it’s rarely wrong when it comes to these sorts of claims. This also lines up with a potential loading screen for a new Warzone map that was datamined earlier this year, which was the first time we heard the name Vondel mentioned (the datamined image has since been removed after a copyright claim).
It is also claimed that while it will start as a Resurgence map, Vondel will also support DMZ and traditional battle royale later down the line. CharlieIntel claims that when BR support is added to Vondel, it will remain in rotation with Al Mazrah. It’s unclear whether it will also be added to Warzone ranked play.
Now, though, ahead of a full Season 4 reveal at this year’s Summer Game Fest showcase on June 8, Call of Duty has shared key artwork that confirms Vondel is an Amsterdam-based map. As you can see below, as spotted by content creator ‘Killer Stidge‘ online, it looks like prominent Amsterdam Catholic church and landmark The Basillica of Saint Nicholas is featured – just on the far left of the image. While this is roughly six kilometers away from Amsterdam’s Vondelpark -which we assume will feature given the map’s name – we could see both iconic locations feature in a condensed version of the city in this new battle royale map.
While we don’t know much more about this map just yet, we do find it quite interesting that Beenox has developed it. Over the last few years, Beenox has been largely seen as a support studio for Activision. It’s provided additional work on titles like Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War and Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2019 in the past, and is currently working on supporting the PC port of 2022’s Modern Warfare 2.
However, Beenox (with some assistance from fellow Call of Duty studio, Raven Software), did develop Rebirth Island, the small-scale Resurgence map from the original Warzone. That map is regarded as a fan-favorite, which puts Vondel in good stead to become the same.
We don’t know about you, but all this sounds pretty good. However, Warzone 2 isn’t in the best state right now – and it hasn’t been for some time. For example, players have been suffering a “pathetic” sniper rifle bug that really needs to get sorted. With any luck, though, Vondel will give players something positive to shout about while they work out how to get the most out of the best Warzone 2 guns after yet-another balancing update.