IGN

My Hero Academia came out at the perfect time, releasing just a couple of years before Infinity War, at the height of superhero dominance of pop culture. While Marvel movies were delivering world-ending stakes, the simplicity and relatively small scope of My Hero Academia felt new and refreshing even if it was familiar — especially to anyone who watched Sky High in the mid-’00s. The show is just a very effective battle shonen with everything you’d expect from a series in the genre, including memorable characters, themes about friendship and self-improvement, a sense of escalation, and stunning animation.

But most importantly, the show has an interesting portrayal of a world of heroes where superpowers impact every single aspect of culture and society. Like most shonen, there is plenty of supplementary material, like movies and original video animation (OVAs) and even spin-offs that expand the world of the anime. Whether you’re just getting into the show or you want to see what you’ve missed along the way, here’s how to watch My Hero Academia (including the movies) in order.

How Long Is My Hero Academia?

Adapting Kōhei Horikoshi’s manga of the same name, My Hero Academia has been airing for seven seasons across almost a whole decade. In addition to the main show, there have been nine OVA’s that expand the story, either with silly little side stories or adaptations of one-shot manga, as well as four movies.

How about canon, though? Well, anything that doesn’t directly adapt the manga, like the movies and most of the OVAs, aren’t technically canon. Sure, they’re fun and the movies do often tease some new power-up that is to come in the anime later on, but they’re not necessary to the story.

How to Watch My Hero Academia Online

When you’re setting out to buy an iPhone, you’ve probably noticed that there’s like a gazillion of them out there. Apple released the iPhone 16 and 16 Pro models in 2024 and even more recently released the 16e, making the list of options even longer. This doesn’t make it any easier to pick out a new phone for yourself unless you just want the latest and greatest. Even if that is you, it’s still worth considering all of your options.

No matter which iPhone you choose, each supports iOS 18 that was announced at WWDC 2024, which brings a ton of AI features to every iPhone on this list, along with an all-new Photos app that’s way better organized. Though if you want to tap into Apple Intelligence, you’ll be looking at any iPhone 15 and above.

You can also check out our guide to the best iPhone accessories to help you find the right peripherals – especially screen protectors for your new phone. We got a chance to review the Apple AirPods 4 with ANC, and they rival the AirPods 2 in several categories, so these earbuds may be worth investing in.

Contributions by Georgie Peru and Rudie Obias

1. iPhone 16 Pro

Best Overall iPhone

2. iPhone 16

Best Mid-Range iPhone

3. iPhone 16e

Best Budget iPhone

4. OnePlus 13

Best iPhone Alternative

Upcoming iPhones

We saw a few new iPhone additions for 2024 by way of the iPhone 16s, and they offer some great improvements and serious performance. Apple also lowered the prices of earlier models in a meaningful way. That said, Apple recently introduced the cheaper iPhone 16e, meant to replace the iPhone SE budget model. Additionally, leaked images and information about upcoming iPhones have cropped up on the internet, which seem to be the iPhone 17 lineup that includes an iPhone Air.

What to Look for in an Apple iPhone

While there are a number of different models, the user experience is essentially the same. That’s one of the Apple iPhone’s biggest draws and why it’s the most popular smartphone in the world. However, the differences between models can make it tougher to find the best one for you. Here’s what to look out for in an Apple iPhone in 2025.

Phone Size

When it comes to the iPhone, size matters. If you want to be able to use it with just one hand, finding the best size is key. For bigger hands,the Apple iPhone 16 Plus or the Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max is the perfect fit, thanks to their larger displays and wider builds. But if you’re on the smaller side, then the Apple iPhone 16 or iPhone 14.

Storage Capacity

Additionally, storage size is also something to think about. If you want to take a lot of high resolution photos, then the Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max with 1TB of storage is the best option. Other models listed here come with a base of 128GB, which should do if you don’t want to use a lot of apps and just use it very casually.

Price

If price is a consideration, the Apple iPhone ranges from the new cheapest iPhone, the iPhone 16e, at $599 to the totally maxed out iPhone 16 Pro Max (1TB) at $1,599. Best of all, even if you go with the most inexpensive model, Apple iOS operating system will be included – which will receive updates for the next five-to-six years after purchase. So whatever the budget, each model gets about the same software experience and support.

Overall, the most important thing to look for when buying an iPhone is how you’ll use it. For most people, the Apple iPhone 16 Pro is the best pick because it’s the most well-rounded with a fast processor, fantastic camera system, timeless colors, and a wide range of storage options at a good price.

Best iPhone FAQ

What are the best iPhone alternatives?

Although iPhones dominate a large sector of the smartphone market these days, there are quite a few Android phones that match up well to the latest Apple devices. The best iPhone alternatives include the OnePlus 13 and Google Pixel 9 Pro which are at the top of the Android market. There are other brands like Asus and RedMagic that offer some decent phones as well that have many of the features and iOS user would expect.

Mark Knapp is a contributing freelancer for IGN covering everything electronics and gaming hardware. He has over 10 years of experience in the tech industry with bylines at PCMag, Reviewed, CNET, and more. Find Mark on Twitter @Techn0Mark or BlueSky at @Techn0Mark.

Over 10 years into the Conjuring Universe, James Wan and Peter Safran have created eight movies across three subfranchises: The Conjuring, Annabelle, and The Nun. With the final Conjuring movie coming out this year, we’ve put together this handy streaming guide detailing how you can watch all eight movies in the popular horror movie franchise.

For those looking to watch or rewatch the films during this year’s spooky season, we’ve compiled this guide on where you can watch all of the Conjuring movies right now.

Where to Watch The Conjuring Movies Online

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Season 3 patch notes are here, revealing all the biggest changes coming to Multiplayer, Zombies, and Warzone as Verdansk makes its triumphant return.

Activision published the full breakdown for everything coming to players on PC, PlayStation, and Xbox on its website today. It’s an enormous wave of tweaks and additions across all of Black Ops 6’s modes, giving players everything they could ever hope to know about how Call of Duty will change when Season 3 launches on Wednesday, April 2, at 9am PT.

Headlines from the Black Ops 6 Season 3 patch notes include crossplay tweaks that allow console players to individually adjust the player pool option in both ranked and non-ranked modes. It’s a change that, as Activision admits, could negatively impact matchmaking queue times for those who turn crossplay off, but it’s at least another option for those looking to tailor their experience to include – or exclude – players on all platforms, all consoles, or only their preferred console of choice.

Shotguns, meanwhile, are coming out of the Black Ops 6 update as big winners, as the weapon class is receiving a small blanket buff for nearly all weapons’ damage, range, and rate of fire. This is all in addition to brand-new content, including the return of classic Multiplayer map Firing Range, the reintroduction of the Kilo 141 assault rifle, and a familiar Scorestreak in the Death Machine.

Zombies players have plenty to chomp down on, too, starting with the biggest highlight with its new map, Shattered Veil. The Raygun Mark II is also here with three new variants to explode zombies with, with fan-favorite Perk-A-Cola Double Tap also back from previous games. Both Multiplayer and Zombies have also been stuffed with a variety of bug fixes and adjustments to ensure the experience stays smooth when launch arrives.

Warzone patch notes get special treatment this time around, as Season 3 will soon usher in the return of one of the most important maps in Call of Duty history: Verdansk. Set to launch one day later, April 3, the Warzone Season 3 update mostly focuses on giving longtime fans a classic coat of paint that reverts some features back to their launch state from 2020. You can see our roundup of some of the biggest differences between modern and classic Verdansk here.

It means that Warzone will feel nostalgic in good and bad ways while still incorporating modern Call of Duty features like Omnimovement. Buy Stations, for example, now feature that OG, vertical UI design for a more streamlined purchasing process in the heat of battle but also come with added features, including a Redeploy All option. Veteran players will also notice that the Precision Airstrike will be much harder to dodge, as its mini-map notification has been removed.

“We have removed the Precision Airstrike’s approximate path indicator on the mini-map in order to return back to how it worked in 2020, where part of its purpose was to surprise your enemies,” the patch notes explain. “We will monitor feedback, data and sentiment on this as we look to the weeks ahead.”

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Season 3 launches in just a few days. In the meantime, you can read up on Activision’s latest anti-cheat update here. You can also check out how Call of Duty is welcoming players back to Verdansk with a limited-time mode and a collection of exclusive rewards. Finally, you can check out the full Season 3 patch notes below.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Season 3 Patch Notes

WELCOME TO SEASON 03

“Did Hudson figure out the Pantheon silver bullet all the way back in 89?” – Frank Woods

In a video recorded before his death, Special Agent Jason Hudson warns of the Pantheon moles who have been working in the shadows for decades ever since Vietnam. They’ve managed to avoid detection throughout the years, using conflict and chaos to cover their tracks. With some new leads in play, however, their secrecy is no longer certain. Time to pick up the trail tomorrow with the launch of Season 03.

Like always, stay up to date with what’s to come with our Season 03 launch, including details of new Multiplayer and Zombies Content and the latest balance adjustments, gameplay improvements, bug fixes, and more arriving tomorrow.

New Multiplayer Maps

• Firing Range (6v6)
  • Firing Range makes its glorious return in Black Ops 6 in a faithful remaster of the fan-favorite map. Watch for crossfire down the long center Road as Operators fight for control of the vantage points in the Tower and the upper levels of the Shoot House and Garage. Shooting targets move back and forth on their tracks behind the Office and several other spots adding a useful diversion while preparing for the next fight. Avoid the center chaos by branching off to the Dirt Road, keeping your guard up against ambush as you pass the Storage unit along the way.
• Barrage (6v6)
  • Revisit 1968 Vietnam as you follow Hudson’s clues surrounding one Summit Watch at the front lines of battle. The trees have been cleared and the landscape flattened to make room for this base housing an artillery battery in active combat. The area has taken hits with large chunks blown off buildings including the Command Center and Barracks, the damage opening new pathways through the map.
• Nomad (6v6, 2v2)
  • The Pantheon moles were in Afghanistan, too, when Woods fought there in 1986. Fight in the ruins of a fortified settlement commandeered for the ensuing battle, a parked missile carrier facing out over the valley where a convoy lies in ruins on the narrow road leading up to the map.

New Multiplayer Modes

Sharpshooter

• Flex your skills in this classic Black Ops free for all party mode where every Operator is assigned the same Loadout which changes every 45 seconds. Each cycle introduces a new Primary and Secondary Weapon from scoped Sniper Rifles to akimbo Pistols, plus a new Dedicated Melee weapon and Tactical and Lethal Equipment.
• Use everything at your disposal to eliminate enemies while unlocking bonus abilities for going on a streak:
  • 1st Elimination: Increased movement speed.
  • 2nd Elimination: Increased reload speed.
  • 3rd Elimination: Increased sprint recovery speed.
  • 4th Elimination: Increased ADS speed.
  • 5th Elimination: Earn double score for eliminating enemies.
• Keep the streak going to unlock double score and make a run for the top three. When you’re taken out, respawn and build up those bonuses again. A short countdown precedes each weapon swap. Adapt and win.

Demolition

• Alternate between attacking and defending two bomb sites. The attacking team must destroy both bomb sites to win the round, gaining a time bonus after detonating the first site. All attacking Operators spawn with a bomb and respawns are active for both teams throughout the match.
• Defense is all about running down the clock. Defuse planted bombs right away, as the match timer pauses whenever a bomb site is in active countdown. If one of the sites is destroyed, regroup and throw everything you have into defending the last one.

New Weapons (Multiplayer & Zombies)

• Kilo 141 – Assault Rifle (Call of Duty: Warzone Login Reward)
  • Fully automatic assault rifle with an ergonomic design that improves handling, and a steady fire rate helps stay on target.
  • The Kilo 141 is back and ready to tear it up across Multiplayer and Call of Duty: Warzone. The weapon’s smooth handling, manageable recoil, and steady fire rate give it room to shine in a variety of combat situations, leaving no doubt as to why the Kilo 141 was a favorite in Verdansk. Now that the location is back, it’s time to relive the glory days with this hard-hitting Primary Weapon.
  • Players will automatically unlock the Kilo 141 for use in Black Ops 6 and Call of Duty: Warzone after logging in to Call of Duty: Warzone at the launch of Season 03.
• CR-56 – Assault Rifle (Battle Pass)
  • This lightweight 7.62 x 39mm full-auto assault rifle is compact and powerful. Built exclusively for military use, the standard issue rifle is deadly at mid-range combat and easily configured for a variety of assault tactics.
  • Combining high-damage hits with a fast fire rate and good handling, the CR-56 AMAX is the perfect mid-range weapon for downing targets fast. Eliminate enemies in three to four shots up to 25 meters out, leaving plenty left over to chew through equipped armor. Quick reloads get you back into the action fast, a helpful trait no matter how you choose to customize the weapon via Gunsmith.
• HDR – Sniper Rifle (Battle Pass)
  • Anti-material bolt action sniper rifle chambered in 12.7 x 108mm ammunition. Bullets have a lower muzzle velocity but remain devastating even at very long ranges.
  • Veterans of Verdansk know the power of the HDR and the havoc a sniper can inflict with it when stationed in high vantage points like the infamous Airport Control Tower. The weapon’s long reach and heavy damage make it a favorite of sharpshooters, its distinctive firing sound sending squads running. Add the Reinforced Barrel attachment to further extend your damage range and bullet velocity, and don’t forget to hold your breath for difficult shots.
• Kali Sticks – Melee (Event Reward)
  • Two-hit kill. Extremely fast attack speed. Short range.
  • The infamous Kali Sticks return, dealing out damage with rapid swings that’ll take down your target in a flash. Smack them with fast follow-up hits using the weapon’s light attack or take them out in a more dramatic fashion by unleashing the heavy attack. Use Kali Sticks in Multiplayer with the new Close Shave Perk to deploy a quick whack against enemies without having to manually swap to your Dedicated Melee slot first.
• Nail Gun – Special (In-Season)
  • Full-auto Nail Gun. High damage at close range with fast handling speeds and very low muzzle velocity.
  • Stick it to them with this handy tool configured with a magazine of 15 nails that fires at full auto. The damage drops off quickly after 25 meters and performs best up close. The Nail Gun’s low muzzle velocity can make it difficult to land shots against fast moving targets, so get them in your sights and unload before they know what hit them. This armament is a reward earned during the Black Ops Tribute Event.

New Attachments

• Monolithic Suppressor (Battle Pass)
  • Monolithic Core provides superior sound suppression and increased range. Moderate weight increase affects agility.
  • Available for Assault Rifles (except AS VAL), SMGs, Shotguns, LMGs, Marksman Rifles, Sniper Rifles, and Pistols.
• SWAT 5.56 Grau Conversion (Battle Pass)
  • Convert the SWAT 5.56 into a fully automatic weapon with lower damage and range but improved accuracy, mobility, and handling. Equips a new default Barrel and Magazine and unlocks an exclusive 50-round extended Magazine. Blocks Barrel attachments.
• C9 10mm Auto 30-Round Mags (In-Season)
  • Conversion kit to use higher caliber 10mm Auto ammunition for increased stopping power. Though the conversion results in some increased recoil and a slightly lower fire rate, the extra damage, range, and velocity make this attachment a worthy consideration when approaching enemies on bigger maps.

New Multiplayer Perks

Close Shave – Enforcer (Event Reward)

• Automatically use your Dedicated Melee attack when you perform a weapon butt attack. Simply tap the Melee button to attack. Like the old days!

New Scorestreak (Multiplayer & Zombies)

• Death Machine (In-Season)
  • Heavy minigun with a fast fire rate, high penetration, and a large ammunition capacity.
  • Wield the infamous Death Machine, a powerful weapon with a single large magazine that fires high impact rounds at a blistering rate of fire. Score earned while using the Death Machine contributes to your current Scorestreak progress, making this a great tool for bumping up to the next streak.

New Zombies Map: Shattered Veil

With the Sentinel Artifact in hand, the crew heads to the remote wooded hills above Liberty Falls to meet with S.A.M. at an old mansion in the forest which has been retrofitted to [[REDACTED]]. Only with the aid of S.A.M.’s synthetic mind can the team hope to unlock the ancient artifact’s mysteries and bring back Agent Maxis. What could possibly go wrong?

New Zombies Perk-A-Cola

• Double Tap
  • The classic rapid-fire Perk returns for the first time in nearly a decade, dramatically increasing your weapon’s fire rate to chew through enemy hordes in record time. Research the iconic Perk for powerful enhancements like an even faster fire rate and the chance to inflict double damage.
  • Double Tap is available in Shattered Veil along with the other previously accessible Zombies Perks. Note that some of these Perk-a-Colas are only available via the Der Wunderfizz machine.
  • Double Tap is available on The Tomb, Citadelle des Morts, Liberty Falls and Terminus maps via the Der Wunderfizz machine.
• Double Tap Augments
  • Major
    • Double Jeopardy
      • Normal zombies at low health have a chance to die immediately when shot.
    • Double Impact
      • Double hits on the same target in quick succession deal more damage.
    • Double Standard
      • All non-critical shots do double damage. Only applies to normal bullet weapons.
  • Minor
    • Double Time
      • Increases fire rate bonus.
    • Double or Nothing
      • Weapons have a chance to do double damage but also have a chance to do zero damage.
    • Double Play
      • Killing two enemies in quick succession has a chance to return two rounds to your magazine. Only applies to normal bullet weapons.

New Zombies Wonder Weapons

• Ray Gun Mark II (+ 3 Variants)
  • Drop multiple zombies at once with the upgraded and modestly unstable Ray Gun Mark II. Recovered from the Dark Aether by Project Janus, this powerful laser armament delivers three-round bursts of energy, can be Pack-a-Punched, and doubles as a bludgeoning instrument if you’re running low on ammunition.
  • Then there’s the three new variants.
    • Provided you’ve [[REDACTED]], you can experiment with an additional three variants of the Ray Gun Mark II:
      • Ray Gun Mark II-W: Offering similar bullet patterns to a submachine gun, this also has a random chance to ignite enemies.
      • Ray Gun Mark II-P: Shooting ammunition like a shotgun, with a chance to spawn a sigil with the ability to grant invulnerability to the player standing on it for a limited time.
      • Ray Gun Mark II-R: Dropping zombies with a Marksman Rifle-like discharge, expect a chance to spread a plague infection that can inflict area-of-effect damage.
• Wunderwaffe DG-2
  • Capable of striking down hordes with chain-lightning blasts, this has the bonus effect of stunning crowds of zombies, usually resulting in additional, and eventually terminal damage.

New Zombies Enemies

• Elder Disciple
  • Strange, floating apparitions have been seen flitting about the sprawling gardens and rambling mansion estate. Known to some as Elder Disciples, these powerful enemies likely spell trouble for the crew.
  • Elder Disciples gain strength as they empower the zombies around them while summoning more undead to join the battle. Using their dark magic, these fetid, floating carcasses can force their allies to evolve more quickly, allowing a lowly zombie to more rapidly transform into a Doppelghast or some other sinister form.
  • Eliminate the Elder Disciple before their forces grow too powerful, keeping it at a distance to avoid the scream it lets loose against players who draw too close. The deadly enemy grows more agitated as it takes damage, so try to get the job done fast.
• Toxic Zombies
  • As a sickly yellow fog descends across the mansion, expect the inhabitants to take on an even-more revolting pallor. Easily identifiable due to their greenish hue and more skeletal exterior, Toxic Zombies seem to have lost all but their base perambulatory functions and seem intent on sprinting toward their prey before exploding, leaving a damaging pool of acid in their wake. Listen for their telltale shriek and get the jump on them before they can close the distance.

New GobbleGums

• Tactical Diffusion (Rare)
  • Disables the next Nuke Power-Up explosion you activate and gives everyone 2,000 Essence instead.
• Support Group (Legendary)
  • Gobble up this tasty GobbleGum to acquire the ARC-XD, Mangler Cannon, Sentry Gun and Mutant Injection Support items.
• Die Pitched (Whimsical)
  • Zombies have high-pitched voices. Lasts three minutes.

New Features

• Camo Hub
  • The Camo HUB is planned to be added shortly after launch to provide players with a wealth of Camo information and assist all in their quest for Dark Matter and Nebula. Available via the Barracks > Challenges Menu, the Camo HUB gives players all the Camo information they need in a single location:
    • View all available Weapons by Weapon Class, with each Weapon sorted by furthest Camo progress
    • View the Next Camo Challenge for each Weapon
    • View the 2 available Special Camos for each Weapon
    • View the next unearned Camo Mastery Calling Card reward
    • Track/Untrack a Weapon’s Next Camo
    • Select a Weapon to go to that Weapon’s full Camo screen
    • “Tracked & Near Complete” tab now serves as the new home for the player’s manually tracked or automatically surfaced near complete Camo Challenges

New Operators

• R0-Z3 (BlackCell, Crimson One, Launch)
  • R0-Z3 returns to claim her status as a top BlackCell operative working in Verdansk. You know the drill. No witnesses.
• Hudson (Battle Pass, Rogue Black Ops, Launch)
  • Special Agent Jason Hudson, CIA operative, handler to Alex Mason, and KIA during Operation False Profit.
• Mace (Battle Pass, Crimson One, Launch)
  • The Special Forces Army Ranger turned PMC returns, ready to inflict serious damage on anyone who thinks they can best him in Verdansk.
• John Black Ops (Event Reward for Black Ops 6 owners, In-Season)
  • A mysterious Operator clad in a gray jump suit, sporting tactical goggles and helmet. Anonymous. Unassuming. Deadly.

New Events

• Black Ops Tribute (In-Season)
  • Don’t miss out on this legendary tribute to Black Ops in an event stuffed with rewards that honor the history of the series.
  • Earn XP in any mode to progress the Event and earn Black Ops themed rewards. Black Ops 6 owners will receive additional rewards only available to use in Black Ops 6.
  • Earn cosmetic content and functional equipment, including the Nail Gun (Special Weapon), C9 10mm Auto 30-Round Mags (Attachment), Thermite (Lethal in Call of Duty: Warzone), Death Machine (Scorestreak in MP/Support in Zombies), Close Shave (MP Perk), an Emote, GobbleGums, and the fan-requested Operator, “John Black Ops”.

GLOBAL

RICOCHET Anti-Cheat

This season, the focus remains on our commitment to taking down cheat makers, banning bad actors, and ensuring a great player experience. Our roadmap for anti-cheat extends beyond this season, but in the latest Progress Report we’ll focus on recent results and security-focused updates coming in Season 03.

Check out the Season 03 RICOCHET Anti-Cheat Update here.

Console Cross-Play Settings

In Season 03, we’re giving console players more granular options by separating the MP Ranked Play and Call of Duty: Warzone Ranked Play settings and adding a new Multiplayer-only setting for Quickplay, Featured, and Party Games matches.

Each of these three settings (Multiplayer Ranked Play, Call of Duty: Warzone Ranked Play, and Multiplayer Unranked) will include the following options:

• On: Enables matchmaking with all gaming platforms when playing in the selected playlists.
• On (Consoles Only): Enables matchmaking only with other consoles when playing in selected playlists.
  • May negatively impact matchmaking queue times.
• Off: Restricts matchmaking to your current gaming platform only in selected playlists.
  • Will negatively impact matchmaking queue times.

Additional details on how these settings interact with party members who are on different platforms.

• Players in a party who all belong to the same console platform will matchmake with the party leader’s preferred cross-play settings.
• Players who have selected “Cross-Play Off” and create a mixed platform party that includes a different console platform will have their cross-play settings temporarily adjusted to “Cross-Play On (Consoles Only)” to enable matchmaking. This temporary adjustment enables matchmaking for the duration of the mixed platform party, and disbanding this party will result in preferred matchmaking settings being restored.
• Players who have selected “Cross-Play Off” and create a mixed platform party with a PC player will have their cross-play settings temporarily adjusted to “Cross-Play On.” This enables matchmaking for the duration of the mixed platform party, and disbanding this party will result in preferred matchmaking settings being restored.
• Reminder: Adjusting Cross-Play settings may negatively impact matchmaking queue times.

UI/UX

Pre-Loading Shaders Improvements

• Improved menu framerate stability while compiling shaders.
  • The Pre-Loading Shaders warning has been split per game mode.
  • Significantly reduced the time required to compile shaders before launching a match.
• A new menu widget was added in the lobby to indicate the progress of Pre-Loading Shaders to let you know when you are ready to play!

PC Benchmark

• ICYMI: The PC Benchmark remains a useful tool to optimize your gaming experience. Located in the Graphics Settings menu of Black Ops 6 Multiplayer, it simulates a multiplayer match to help you fine-tune your graphics for optimal performance and higher framerates.

Global

• Entering Prestige will no longer reset Operator, Calling Card, Emote, Spray, or Gobblegum customization.
• Addressed an issue where Finishing Move audio would continue to play after scrolling to a new tier in the Battle Pass.

Challenges

• BlackCell
  • BlackCell Daily Challenge
    • BlackCell owners can now complete an additional Daily Challenge in Multiplayer, Zombies, and Call of Duty: Warzone for an added 7,500 XP each. The BlackCell Daily Challenge counts toward the 3 challenges needed to earn the Daily Challenge Bonus XP.

Weapons

Multiplayer & Zombies

A major focus of our weapon balance changes in Season 3 is to enable more gameplay variety. Almost every attachment that modifies the core behavior of a weapon is receiving an improvement to help with its viability in the meta. It is our goal to ensure that all existing and future weapon mods feel fun and powerful to use.

As a last top-level note, the Season 3 patch includes adjustments to the Jackal PDW. More details on the thinking behind the change can be found below. Our weapon balance philosophy is to be conservative with nerfs, and to always consider whether there is an opportunity to elevate other weapons instead. In this case, we feel strongly that tuning down the Jackal PDW will be good for the health of the weapon meta going forward.

Shotguns

All three shotguns have improvements to their alternate ammo types: Dragon’s Breath and Slug Rounds. Dragon’s Breath now has a slightly higher damage over time, as well as longer range. Pellet damage is also being improved at various ranges. The goal is to make Dragon’s Breath a longer range alternative that still retains a classic shotgun feel.

Slug Rounds are getting significant buffs, with the goal of giving each shotgun a unique alternate playstyle. The Marine SP Slugs have a massive range improvement, which paired with better headshot damage turn it into a high risk, high reward precision weapon. The ASG-89 Slugs have much higher damage, converting it into a mid-range semi-auto slugger. Finally, the Maelstrom Slugs have higher damage and ranges that make it akin to a slow-fire rifle.

Shotgun Attachment Adjustments

• Dragon’s Breath
  • Burn damage increased from 25 to 30.

Marksman Rifles

As noted in the general section, semi-auto Marksman Rifles are getting buffs to help them contend with the other weapon classes. Rate of Fire is the main tool here, as that improves TTK and makes missed shots more forgiving.

Movement Updates

• Increased crouch to stand speeds by 15%.
• Increased crouch to stand speeds while ADS by 39%.
• Increased directional sprint animation blend speeds for improved fluidity.

Multiplayer

Maps

• Barrage (NEW)
  • New 6v6 map set in 1968 Vietnam.
• Nomad (NEW)
  • New 6v6/2v2 Strike map set in 1986 Afghanistan.
• Firing Range (Remaster)
  • Remastered 6v6 map, also available via Firing Range 24/7 playlist.

Modes

• Sharpshooter
  • Classic Black Ops free-for-all Party Game where every Operator is assigned the same Loadout, which changes every 45 seconds.
  • Each cycle introduces a new Primary and Secondary Weapon, plus a new Dedicated Melee weapon and Tactical and Lethal Equipment.
  • Eliminate enemies while unlocking bonus abilities for going on a streak:
    • 1st Elimination: Increased movement speed.
    • 2nd Elimination: Increased reload speed.
    • 3rd Elimination: Increased sprint recovery speed.
    • 4th Elimination: Increased ADS speed.
    • 5th Elimination: Earn double score for eliminating enemies.
  • Keep the streak going to unlock double score.
  • NOTE: Sharpshooter will be added to the new Party Games menu later in the season after it leaves the Featured Playlist selection.
• Demolition (Launch Window)
  • Alternate between attacking and defending two bomb sites. The attacking team must destroy both bomb sites to win the round, gaining a time bonus after detonating the first site.
  • All attacking Operators spawn with a bomb and respawns are active for both teams throughout the match. The match timer pauses whenever a bomb site is in active countdown.
  • The first team to win two rounds wins the match. If the score reaches 1-1, players enter a tie-breaking final round where both teams race to detonate a single neutral bomb site.

General Playlist Updates

• Season 03 Moshpit
  • Play respawn modes on the newest Season 03 maps: Barrage, Nomad, and Firing Range.
• Firing Range 24/7
  • Moshpit of respawn modes on Firing Range.

• Party Games
  • Added Party Games option in Featured Playlists with options to play Infected, Gun Game, Prop Hunt, or Gunfight.
  • Any additional Party Games will be added to this menu in the future.
• Gunfight
  • Moved to the Party Games menu going forward.

Spawns

• Addressed an issue where players could spawn at active Shock Charge placements.

Perks

• Close Shave (Launch Window)
  • Automatically use your Dedicated Melee attack when you perform a weapon butt attack. Simply tap the Melee button to attack. Like the old days!
• Dispatcher
  • Increased the score bonus for Interceptors from 100 to 125.

Scorestreaks

• Death Machine (Launch Window)
  • Heavy minigun with a fast fire rate, high penetration, and a large ammunition capacity.
• Interceptors
  • Reduced score cost from 1150 to 1025.
• War Machine
  • Reduced score cost from 1300 to 1150.

Movement Updates

• Reduced slide in max speed scale from from 1.6 to 1.55.
• Reduced slide max time from .7 to .65.

Ranked Play

Ranked Play continues in Season 03 with new rewards to claim and new Competitive Integrity systems to keep Ranked Play fair for all competitors.

New Ranked Play Systems

• Retroactive SR Adjustments
  • To help reverse the impact cheaters have on the Ranked Play SR system, retroactive SR adjustments will be made starting in Season 03.
    • When a Ranked Play cheater is banned, anyone they’ve recently beaten will receive a SR refund for those matches.
    • Players who we detect playing with cheaters may have SR for those wins taken away.
• Rejoin Matches in Progress
  • Starting with Season 03, players will be able to rejoin Ranked matches if they disconnect.
  • Players will have five minutes to rejoin the match in progress and avoid quit penalties and suspensions. Teammates will receive a reduced SR Loss if a matchmade teammate rejoins and they lose the match.

Season 03 Rank Setback

• Competitors who are continuing their conquest in Ranked Play from Season 02 will notice that their accounts may have been set back as outlined in previous notes.
  • Every new Season, your Rank may be rolled back based on where you ended the previous season, as follows:
    • Bronze or Silver Rank players are not impacted by the Seasonal setback and will be able to pick up where they ended Season 02 with no SR deduction.
    • Gold or Platinum Rank players will start Season 03 in Tier I of Gold or Platinum respectively.
    • Diamond Rank and above players will start the Season 03 at Diamond I.

Demotion Protection

• Demotion Protection will be active for everyone’s first 3 Ranked Play losses in Season 03, and players can expect 1 free loss per day via Daily Loss Forgiveness like in Season 02.

Ranked Play Season 03 Rewards

• Ranked Play Season 03 Rewards
  • Rank Weapon Blueprints: Jackal PDW SMG
    • Each Rank Gold and above has a unique Rank-themed Weapon Blueprint that you can earn to show off your rank.
      • Gold, Platinum, Diamond, Crimson & Iridescent: Start in (or above) or reach the applicable Rank anytime in Season 03 to instantly earn the corresponding Jackal PDW Blueprint.
      • Top 250: Finish Season 03 in the Top 250 to earn the “Top 250 Issue Jackal PDW” Blueprint.
  • Rank Calling Cards
    • Each Rank Silver and above has a unique Calling Card reward:
      • Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, Crimson, Iridescent: Start in (or above) or reach the applicable Rank anytime in Season 03 to instantly earn the corresponding Season 03 Rank Calling Card..
      • Top 250: Finish Season 03 in the Top 250.
      • Top 250 Champion: One-of-a-kind Calling Card awarded to the single player who finishes Season 03 in the #1 position on the Top 250.
  • Pro Issue AMES 85 Weapon Blueprint: Unlocked by winning 10 Ranked Play matches in Season 03.
  • 100 Season 03 Wins Large Decal: Unlocked by winning 100 Ranked Play matches in Season 03.

Challenges

• “Hard and Fast” Prestige Master Challenge: the description now mentions the Fast Hands Perk, which also needs to be equipped to progress the Challenge.

UI

• Updated the Quartermaster, Hunter’s Instinct, and Slipstream Perk descriptions to be clearer.
• Addressed an issue where the Scoreboard would be blank when opening it at the end of a round or match.
• Addressed an issue where Forward Intel Perk would produce inconsistent minimap zoom functionality.
• Added a timer to the Winner’s Circle that counts down the delay before Emotes can be performed. An Emote triggered during the countdown will automatically play as soon as the timer ends.
• Addressed a Private Match issue where Game Setup was unresponsive after queuing for Gun Game.
• Addressed an issue where the winning map would be displayed as vetoed after the Veto Vote concludes in Ranked Play.
• Updated the SR Protection string in the Ranked Play lobby to be more descriptive.

Stability

• Addressed various stability issues.

Zombies

Maps

• Shattered Veil (NEW)
  • New map available in Season 03. Main Quest goes live at 9AM PT on April 2.
• Liberty Falls
  • Directed Mode
    • Addressed an issue that prevented the Round Cap from updating properly during the Liberty Falls Pack-a-Punch quest.
• The Tomb
  • Addressed an issue where rarely the monocle wouldn’t spawn at the Shock Mimic’s location when killed for the Wonder Weapon Quest.
  • Addressed an issue where zombies could damage Staff of Ice from behind the Plinth.
  • Addressed an issue where some zombies could appear jittery when attacking the Staff of Ice.
  • Addressed an issue that caused black smoke to come out of a playable character on death.
  • Addressed an issue where the Max Ammo after a special round would spawn far away from the player if they were in the Roma Mausoleum.
  • Addressed an issue where sections of the barrier denoting the Vermin Trial zone were not always present.

Modes

• Team Cranked (Launch Window)
  • Rules
    • The Cranked Timer starts when the first enemy is eliminated. The timer is shared across the whole team and any kill from any team member fills it.
      • The timer starts at 30 seconds. Each enemy eliminated replenishes the timer to its current maximum, and every round survived causes the maximum timer to be reduced by 1 second.
        • Essence earned by eliminating zombies is increased compared to Standard/Directed Mode
        • The Time Stopper Field Upgrade replaces your loadout’s Field Upgrade.
        • Main Quests and Easter Eggs are enabled.
  • Abilities
    • Time Stopper: Temporarily pause the Cranked timer for all teammates. All Operators begin the match with the Time Stopper Field Upgrade equipped.
      • Time Extended: Grab this rare power-up to fill the Cranked timer and add a small amount to the maximum time allowed.
  • Rewards (Survive past Round 50)
    • A custom selection of six GobbleGums per map.
      • Each contains one high-rarity GobbleGum and five GobbleGums of other rarities.
        • 15,000 XP per map, for a total of 75,000 XP across all maps.

Wonder Weapons

• Raygun Mark II (and Variants)
  • Drop multiple zombies at once with the upgraded and modestly unstable Ray Gun Mark II. Recovered from the Dark Aether by Project Janus, this powerful laser armament delivers three-round bursts of energy, can be Pack-a-Punched, and doubles as a bludgeoning instrument if you’re running low on ammunition.
  • Then there’s the three new variants.
    • Provided you’ve [[REDACTED]], you can experiment with an additional three variants of the Ray Gun Mark II:
      • Ray Gun Mark II-W: Offering similar bullet patterns to a submachine gun, this also has a random chance to ignite enemies.
      • Ray Gun Mark II-P: Shooting ammunition like a shotgun, with a chance to spawn a sigil with the ability to grant invulnerability to the player standing on it for a limited time.
      • Ray Gun Mark II-R: Dropping zombies with a Marksman Rifle-like discharge, expect a chance to spread a plague infection that can inflict area-of-effect damage.
• Wunderwaffe DG-2
  • Capable of striking down hordes with chain-lightning blasts, this has the bonus effect of stunning crowds of zombies, usually resulting in additional, and eventually terminal damage.
• Ray Gun
  • Addressed an issue where the Ray Gun would not automatically reload when emptying magazine ammo.

Perk-A-Colas

• Double Tap (New)
  • The classic rapid-fire Perk returns for the first time in nearly a decade, dramatically increasing your weapon’s fire rate to chew through enemy hordes in record time. Research the iconic Perk for powerful enhancements like an even faster fire rate and the chance to inflict double damage.
  • Double Tap is available in Shattered Veil along with the other previously accessible Zombies Perks. Note that some of these Perk-a-Colas are only available via the Der Wunderfizz machine.
  • Double Tap is available on The Tomb, Citadelle des Morts, Liberty Falls and Terminus maps via the Der Wunderfizz machine.
• Double Tap Augments
  • Major
    • Double Jeopardy
      • Normal zombies at low health have a chance to die immediately when shot.
    • Double Impact
      • Double hits on the same target in quick succession deal more damage.
    • Double Standard
      • All non-critical shots do double damage. Only applies to normal bullet weapons.
  • Minor
    • Double Time
      • Increases fire rate bonus.
    • Double or Nothing
      • Weapons have a chance to do double damage but also have a chance to do zero damage.
    • Double Play
      • Killing two enemies in quick succession has a chance to return two rounds to your magazine. Only applies to normal bullet weapons.

Ammo Mods

• Light Mend
  • Dual Action
    • Addressed an issue where consuming a healing glyph would not temporarily allow the player to heal faster.
  • Antibiotic
    • Addressed an issue where healing glyphs would not damage enemies that touch it.

Field Upgrades

• Tesla Storm
  • Overclocked
    • Addressed an issue where activating Tesla Storm would not increase the player’s movement speed.
  • Lithium Charged
    • Addressed an issue where the extended duration would apply to all players activating Tesla Storm if at least one player had it equipped.

GobbleGums

• Addressed an issue where players weren’t able to use their GobbleGums in their pack after entering a Prestige.

Power-Ups

• Max Ammo
  • Addressed an issue that prevented the Max Ammo powerup from refilling ammo for players that are using a Mutant Injection.

Enemies

• Mangler
  • Addressed an issue where Manglers could attack the player with their cannon from outside playable space.

Challenges

• GS45 Military Camos
  • Changed requirement to Eliminations instead of Critical kills due to these weapons becoming explosive after being Pack-a-Punched.
• LR 7.62 Military Camos
  • Changed requirement to Eliminations instead of Critical kills due to these weapons becoming explosive after being Pack-a-Punched.
• Titan Felling (Get Elite Kills with Shotguns)
  • Now allows Special Zombie kills to progress the challenge.
• Perfectly Charred (Kill Special Zombies with Molotovs)
  • Now allows Thermobaric Grenades to progress the challenge.
• Stalking Prey (While inside smoke from a Smoke Grenade, kill Zombies with Melee Weapons)
  • Removed melee weapon requirement so all weapons can progress the challenge.

UI

• Addressed an issue where the earned reward was missing from the notification after completing a Main Quest.
• Addressed an issue where the vote prompt could stay on screen after taking a fast travel.
• Addressed an issue where the Deadliest Weapon was incorrect in the After Action Report.
• Addressed an issue where reward notifications would overlap with the Round Cap callout in Directed Mode.
• Addressed an issue where the equipped Ammo Mod was hidden behind your Support when using akimbo weapons.
• Addressed an issue where Blueprint icons would be misaligned when viewing ground loot.
• Addressed an issue where players are able to interact with certain machines while spectating.
• Addressed an issue where the Calling Card awarded for completing a Main Quest would not be shown in the After Action Report.
• Addressed an issue where Mutant Injection HUD was displayed during a cutscene.
• Addressed an issue where a ping on the Mystery Box would stay after it changes location.
• Corrected some typos.

Graphics

• Addressed an issue when using the Time Out GobbleGum while a white flash occurs could leave the screen white.
• Addressed an issue with visuals during the Gold Armor Side Quest on The Tomb.
• Addressed an issue where the Ray Gun would be misaligned with players hand when in 3rd-person prone supine.
• Addressed an issue where the Pack-a-Punch camo for the “Donatello’s Bo Staff” Blueprint would not cover the entire weapon.
• Addressed an issue that caused the “Fire Eater” Beamsmasher Blueprint to not be visible at short distances.
• Addressed an issue where some white flashes could be seen during the Terminus Boat Race Side Quest.

Audio

• Addressed an issue where no sound effects played when interacting with the bottom row of keys on the Keypad in Terminus.

Stability

• Addressed various stability issues.

Warzone

GLOBAL

RICOCHET ANTI-CHEAT

This season, the focus remains on our commitment to taking down cheat makers, banning bad actors, and ensuring a great player experience. Our roadmap for anti-cheat extends beyond this season, but in the latest Progress Report we’ll focus on recent results and security-focused updates coming in Season 03.

Check out the Season 03 RICOCHET Anti-Cheat Update here.

BATTLE PASS

Memories are a powerful tool, and even the departed can change the course of history. The road back to Verdansk involves unlocking some core memories, as well as some unforgettable weaponry and new Operators. A flashback to agent Jason Hudson, bringing echoes of his frontline savvy, Hudson is unlockable by progressing within the Battle Pass. Joining him is Mace, the metal-faced mercenary, who will bring the war anywhere, anytime, for anyone, unlocked instantly upon Battle Pass purchase.

The Season 03 Battle Pass includes over 110 pieces of unlockable content (excluding BlackCell) including free, earnable armaments; two new Base Weapons, the Monolithic Suppressor Attachment, and more. Check out the BlackCell, Battle Pass and Store Bundles blog prior to Season 03 launch for a closer look at what’s coming.

CONSOLE CROSS-PLAY

In Season 03, we’re giving console players more granular options by separating the MP Ranked Play and Call of Duty: Warzone Ranked Play settings and adding a new Multiplayer-only setting for Quickplay, Featured, and Party Games matches.

Each of these three settings (Multiplayer Ranked Play, Call of Duty: Warzone Ranked Play, and Multiplayer Unranked) will include the following options:

• On: Enables matchmaking with all gaming platforms when playing in the selected playlists.
• On (Consoles Only): Enables matchmaking only with other consoles when playing in selected playlists.
  • May negatively impact matchmaking queue times.
• Off: Restricts matchmaking to your current gaming platform only in selected playlists.
  • Will negatively impact matchmaking queue times.

Additional details on how these settings interact with party members who are on different platforms.

• Players in a party who all belong to the same console platform will matchmake with the party leader’s preferred cross-play settings.
• Players who have selected “Cross-Play Off” and create a mixed platform party that includes a different console platform will have their cross-play settings temporarily adjusted to “Cross-Play On (Consoles Only)” to enable matchmaking. This temporary adjustment enables matchmaking for the duration of the mixed platform party, and disbanding this party will result in preferred matchmaking settings being restored.
• Players who have selected “Cross-Play Off” and create a mixed platform party with a PC player will have their cross-play settings temporarily adjusted to “Cross-Play On.” This enables matchmaking for the duration of the mixed platform party, and disbanding this party will result in preferred matchmaking settings being restored.
• Reminder: Adjusting Cross-Play settings may negatively impact matchmaking queue times.

UI/UX/TECH

• Pre-Loading Shaders
  • Improved menu framerate stability while compiling shaders.
    • The Pre-Loading Shaders warning has been split per game mode.
      • Significantly reduced the time required to compile shaders before launching a match.
  • A new menu widget was added in the lobby to indicate the progress of Pre-Loading Shaders to let you know when you are ready to play!
• PC Benchmark
  • ICYMI: The PC Benchmark remains a useful tool to optimize your gaming experience.
  • Located in the Graphics Settings menu of Black Ops 6 Multiplayer, it simulates a multiplayer match to help you fine-tune your graphics for optimal performance and higher framerates.

CUSTOMIZATION

• Weapon & Blueprint Customization
  • You’re now able to customize any Black Ops 6 base weapon or Weapon Blueprint with a skin you’ve unlocked or purchased, across Multiplayer, Zombies, and Call of Duty: Warzone.
    • For Base Weapons, you can only change the skin of the Base Weapon, not any Attachments.
    • For Blueprints, you can customize the skins with other existing Attachments.

CHALLENGES

• BlackCell Daily Challenge
  • BlackCell owners can now complete an additional Daily Challenge in Multiplayer, Zombies, and Call of Duty: Warzone for an added 7,500 XP each. The BlackCell Daily Challenge counts toward the 3 challenges needed to earn the Daily Challenge Bonus XP.

WARZONE

EVENTS

Return to Verdansk

Welcome back to Verdansk!

Celebrate Verdansk’s return by logging into Call of Duty: Warzone from April 3rd to 15th to earn up to 20 rewards including six instant unlocks and the Kali Sticks Melee Weapon.

Open safes in various locations to secure rewards, such as the exclusive “Trail Blazer” Operator Skin for Caine. You may even get especially lucky during your search!

Be sure to log in to instantly unlock the Kilo 141 and two Operator Skins. Original Verdansk veterans also get bonus items: the “Blue Legacy” Contrails, “Coming Home” Parachute, and “Like We Never Left” Gun Screen.

Visit the Return to Verdansk Blog for full details.

MAPS

Classic

• Verdansk
  • Welcome Home: Verdansk has returned! The map that started it all in Call of Duty: Warzone – including a breadth of classic and memorable features that naturally come with it.
  • Below is a recap of some of the improvements made to Verdansk that players can expect to see – as outlined in the Return to Verdansk blog:
    • Trees slightly repositioned from the original map.
    • Non-drivable vehicles clearly marked as smoldering wreckage.
    • Swimming now possible – southern coastline expanded into Kastovian Sea (not critical to gameplay).
    • Improved traversal in steep areas – new “goat trails” added.
    • Shorter telephone/electrical poles for easier parachute landings.
    • Additional ladders and adjusted paths to rooftops for better accessibility.
    • Doors now double-hinged, allowing barging, shooting, or blowing open/closed.
    • Ascenders returning mid-season, already available in Plunder mode; updated to faster “L” shape design for increased fluidity and speed when getting on and off
    • Enhanced exterior lighting, improved visibility, and reduced glare.
    • Interior lighting adjusted to reduce hiding spots, especially against dark corners.
    • Added detail enhancements, such as extra debris and scenery around Fire Stations and riverbanks.
    • And for console players, the ability to view Verdansk in up to 120 FOV for the first time.
  • For a full breakdown of the map details, check out the Tac-Atlas guide here.
• Gulag Showers
  • The original Gulag from 2020 is back, with all three variants included.

• Gulag Overtime: Capture the Flag (CTF)
  • When Gulag match-ups don’t resolve fast enough, a flag will spawn in the middle of the arena. The winning player is the one that either dispatches their rival as normal or captures the flag within the time limit.

Returning

• Rebirth Island
  • Rebirth Island, which is currently live, will remain part of our Season 03 offering. Resurgence Quads will be added to the playlist shortly after the launch of Season 03, with the remaining squad sizes coming later into the season.

MODES

New

• Battle Royale Casual At Launch
  • The Battle Royale experience is branching out with the introduction of a new mode featuring bot players. This is designed as a stepping stone for players to go from the Warzone Bootcamp tutorial mode to an experience closer to our traditional, player-only, experience. Players can learn the game and hone their skills in a lower-stress environment while still embracing the core survival challenge of being the last squad standing among 148 players.
  • Map:
    • Verdansk
  • Player Count:
    • 28 Players
    • 120 Bots
• High Trip In-Season
  • Players can look forward to a new limited-time event highly inspired by this time of year. Join your squad in a joint effort to light up your enemies and blaze the trail to victory. Details will be rolled out as we draw closer to the event date.

Returning

• Battle Royale At Launch
  • Our core experience, Battle Royale challenges players to scavenge, survive, and outlast their opponents as the map shrinks, with the ultimate goal of being the last squad standing.
  • Map:
    • Verdansk
  • Player Count:
    • Solos, Duos, Trios → 150
    • Quads → 152
• Plunder At Launch
  • Plunder returns to Verdansk, challenging players to loot, complete contracts, and battle to earn $2 million, with respawn enabled and loadouts intact—ideal for leveling weapons, exploring the map, and experimenting with strategies.
  • Map:
    • Verdansk
  • Player Count:
    • 100
• Warzone Bootcamp At Launch
  • Call of Duty: Warzone Bootcamp is a training mode with up to 20 players and 24 bots, offering mode-specific matchmaking to help players practice skills, learn basic strategies without affecting their stats.
  • Map:
    • Verdansk
  • Player Count:
    • 20 Players
    • 24 Bots
• Resurgence Launch Window
  • This mode offers a faster-paced, aggressive take on Battle Royale, with respawn timers allowing eliminated players to redeploy as long as teammates survive, encouraging riskier play and frequent engagements.
  • The playlist will be updated to include Resurgence Quads shortly after the launch of Season 03. Other squad sizes for Resurgence will be included later into the season.
  • Map:
    • Rebirth Island
  • Player Count:
    • 44

PLAYLIST

For information about upcoming Playlists, please check out the dedicated Call of Duty: Warzone Trello Board.

RANKED PLAY

Now that Season 02 has officially wrapped up, Ranked Play will be temporarily offline during the first half of Season 03. This downtime will give players a much awaited opportunity to rediscover and relearn Verdansk before diving back into the competition.

We plan to bring Ranked Play back online with the Season 03 Reloaded update. Upon its return, all player ranks will undergo a full reset to Bronze, offering everyone equal footing and the excitement to climb back up through the ranks. When Season 04 arrives, we’ll resume the standard soft reset, pulling players back by only a few ranks.

Thank you for your patience during this transition period – now go drop into Verdansk and have fun!

GENERAL

Classic

• 150 Players
  • The number of players in a Battle Royale match has been increased to 150 players, up from 120.
  • There are 152 players in the Quads playlist.

We tipped our hat at this by running it in Season 02 Reloaded, however it was all to serve a greater purpose. We’re officially coming home with a mix of 150 of your friends and enemies.

• Freefall Shooting
  • Players can shoot while freefalling (also known as skydiving) using their secondary weapon. If no secondary weapon is equipped, they will default to their backup pistol.

We’re restoring some of the early game intensity that keeps you on your toes immediately leaving the infil plane, and enables more of a response during a freefall.

• 360-Degree Revive Rotation
  • Players can now rotate their view 360 degrees while reviving a squadmate, instead of being fixed on their squadmate’s downed position, giving the perfect opportunity to call out if your squadmate is being pushed by an enemy as they revive you
• End-Game Circle Pacing
  • The gas circle pacing is faithful to the original timings of the gas closing as well as the circle size and movement.This means that Battle Royale matches will run longer to create a more well-defined initial looting phase.

We’ve some good memories of games ending in the woods above Quarry, or in the deep forests on the East or West of Verdansk, and this change to circle logic brings back those possible end games. Be warned! This does mean that the circle can move very quickly if you are caught deep outside when the gas starts to move. Respect the circle, and you’ll stay alive.

• Map Assets
  • Many models and textures found across Verdansk now feature classic aesthetics including but not limited to Armor Plates, Armor Satchels, Buy Stations, and Contracts.

GAMEPLAY

Classic

• Ascenders on Verdansk Battle Royale
  • To bring back the classic feel of Verdansk, external ascenders have been disabled at launch but are scheduled to return in the mid-season.
  • Internal ascenders within elevator shafts remain operational.

Adjustments

• Gulag Loadouts
  • Loadouts within the Gulag has been reworked to improve variety and balancing.
  • These loadouts will change as the game progresses, allowing players that return to the field victorious to do so with a competitive weapon in hand for a better chance at recovery.
• Infil & Backup Pistol
  • Players will now infil and spawn with the 9mm PM, replacing the GS45.

• Late-Game Redeploy
  • Late-game redeployments will now spawn players closer to the ground, reducing the need to hover while positioning during final circles. This system has not been turned on since BO6 launched.

• Player Respawn Angles Quality of Life
  • Players will now respawn looking approximately 30 degrees downward instead of directly at the horizon, providing a clearer view of potential landing areas.
  • This adjustment aligns with natural player behavior when scouting landing spots.

• Unsuppressed Red Dot Distance
  • The distance at which unsuppressed weapons display a red dot has been reduced in Resurgence to better align to the map size:
    • Reduced to 112.5 meters on Rebirth Island, down from 250

Unsuppressed Red Dots are core to the Call of Duty: Warzone experience, and while developing Verdansk we took great care in evaluating the strength of red dots on each map – which previously was a static value regardless of play-space. While reviewing these values, we felt that given the vastly smaller map size of Rebirth Island, the Red Dots should be better aligned to the small-map experience. These adjustments are based on both player feedback and our design goals, ensuring that visibility of unsuppressed gunfire matches the intended combat dynamics for each map.

LOOT & ECONOMY

Classic

• Floating Loot
  • Loot found on the ground will once again float in the air for better visibility and interactability.

The return of floating loot is the foundation of many improvements we’re making to loot interaction this season. Floating loot by itself will improve your ability to pick up, or simply notice important items when at a distance.

Adjustments

The return to Verdansk comes with some refinements to Battle Royale’s loot philosophy that brings us back to its roots: life is valuable, adaptability is key, great loot must be earned, and contracts are central to earning cash.

In order to create more intentionality around looting, the various sources of loot have been adjusted to be more reminiscent of the classic Verdansk days, with some improvements.

• Ground Loot Refresh
  • Common to Epic weapons now sport a selection of random attachments that align with the weapon’s natural strengths.
  • Legendary weapons come with a variety of fixed builds tailored to specific roles, that are randomly selected match over match.
  • This change aims to maintain the excitement of random loot while preserving the reliability of weapon performance.

Looting in recent years has become a little too static- a blue (rare) tier weapon often providing the most valuable attachments and devaluing an epic or legendary find. This change aims to bring some different outcomes in the more commonly found weapons, and makes legendary weapons (or loadouts) highly sought after.

• High Value Loot Zones
  • This season, HVLZs remain consistent every match, allowing players to reliably identify Hospital, Military Base, and Superstore as Points of Interest (POIs) with enhanced ground loot and an increased number of Supply Boxes.
  • Further enhancements to this feature will be added in future updates.

• Supply Boxes
  • Basic
    • These boxes provide consistent cash rewards and average to high-quality weapons, occasionally offering premium equipment such as legendary weapons, killstreaks, and gas masks.
  • Legendary
    • Legendary Supply Boxes have received significant upgrades for a more rewarding experience. These boxes guarantee top-tier weapons and some of the best loot available, with increased chances of obtaining substantial cash.
  • Reusable
    • These boxes replenish every 90 seconds, serving as an ideal means for players to regain strength in the mid-to-late stages of a match, particularly after returning from the Gulag or redeployment. They supply players with a viable weapon, an armor plate, and some cash to quickly return to combat readiness.

• Duffel Bags, Medical Cabinets, & Weapon Lockers
  • These sources of loot have been removed to better service the classic feeling of Verdansk.

• Second Chance Mechanics
  • The following items have been removed from loot:
    • Gulag Tokens
    • Reinforcement Flares
    • Redeploy Tokens
  • The only available methods to return after death are:
    • Gulag Victories
    • Buy Station Buybacks
    • Jail Break Public Events

• Self-Revive Kit
  • Self-revives can only be acquired via the following sources:
    • Legendary Supply Boxes → Random drop
    • Scavenger Contract → Random drop
    • Buy Station → $4,000
    • Fire Sale → Free

Your life matters. In returning back to the classic feeling of Verdansk, we are going back to a simpler set of Second Chance Mechanics that are faithful to the original Battle Royale experience.

• Death Tax
  • Cash dropped upon death has been adjusted to assist players returning from the Gulag, providing them with a larger portion of their previous cash balance for mid-to-late game recovery:
    • 50% of the cash balance will drop on the ground
    • 50% will remain with the eliminated player, up from 20%
    • Previously, 50% of the cash balance dropped on the ground, with players keeping 20% and 30% being entirely removed from the economy.

After months of playtesting we noted that regain in the mid-to-late game was almost impossible, so the design intent of this is to better allow players to redeploy with a little more cash to give them a slight leg-up when it comes to getting back into the flow of the game.

• Loot Angle Quality of Life
  • Interactions now require more precise aiming to reduce accidental item pickups, resolving most unintended looting situations, such as inadvertently picking up items during reloads.

• Rarity Outlines
  • Rarity outlines now gradually fade into view only when players are within a logical proximity, rather than remaining visible at all distances.

• Loot Card Positioning
  • Loot cards are now centered over items to improve readability, particularly when combined with floating loot.
  • Loot cards remain at a fixed height rather than moving with the player’s view.
  • Loot cards are hidden when players sprint, dive, slide, or use lethals, tacticals, and field upgrades.

Loot cards now have contextual prompts. For example if the player has an empty weapon slot, a weapon loot card prompt will display “Equip”, but if the player has two weapons equipped, the prompt will display “Swap”.

BUY STATIONS

Classic

• Vertical Redesign
  • The vertical list is back! The Buy Station interface has been streamlined, returning to a vertical list layout to more clearly display purchasable items and teammates eligible for redeployment.
  • The left side of the Buy Station now clearly shows all gear available for purchase, including equipment, killstreaks, and field upgrades.
  • The right side of the interface will display teammates who have been eliminated and are eligible for buyback, provided they are not currently awaiting a Gulag battle.
  • Importantly, controller players can still press ‘Up’ to access the ‘Loadout Drop Marker’ in one button press as we wanted to retain the carousel interface to allow for quick access to items further down the list.
  • To enhance navigation efficiency and emphasize loadout acquisition, individual weapon purchases have been removed.

Our aim is to recapture the classic Battle Royale feel reminiscent of playing on Verdansk five years ago. Adjustments to the Buy Station reflect this vision, featuring a reduced selection of purchasable items and updated prices aligned with the game’s new economic balance. We intend for players to experience an economy more akin to Call of Duty: Warzone in 2020, where strategic cash management becomes essential to gameplay decisions.

New

• Redeploy All Button Quality of Life
  • We have introduced a single-button shortcut at Buy Stations, allowing players to redeploy all teammates simultaneously.
  • Although the Redeploy All button is executed with one button press, individual flares and sound effects will trigger for each teammate redeployed, alerting nearby enemies to the total number of returning players.
  • In scenarios where insufficient funds prevent buying back the entire squad, the Redeploy All feature will prioritize teammates carrying the highest cash amounts.

We recognize the urgency of quickly redeploying teammates under pressure, especially when attempting hero plays amidst heavy combat. After careful consideration, we determined that prioritizing teammates with the highest cash aligns most closely with the most prominent behavior that we’ve observed.

• Item Icons Quality of Life
  • Each entry in the vertical buy station now shows the icon of its respective item, as we found that this vastly sped up the at-a-glance navigation in playtesting.

• Item Count Quality of Life
  • Players can easily see how many of an item they already own while in the Buy Station before making a decision on what to purchase.

• Category Subheaders Quality of Life
  • We appreciate that for new players, being able to see the equipment category like “Killstreak” or “Field Upgrade” is helpful to know what item slot will be equipped or swapped when an item is purchased.

Adjustments

• Spawn Locations
  • Buy Stations will spawn in the same exact 30 static locations across every match.

• Inventory Pricing
  • We have updated the prices of the various items in the buy station as follows:
    • Armor Plate: $300
    • Cluster Strike: $3,000
    • Precision Airstrike: $5,000
    • UAV: $6,000
    • Gas Mask: $3,000
    • Self Revive: $4,000
    • Munitions Box: $2,500
    • Armor Box: $4,000
    • Loadout Marker:
      • Solos: $6,000
      • Duos, Trios, Quads: $10,000
    • Squadmate Redeploy: $4,000

• Interact Angle
  • The Buy Station can now be accessed from any angle, including behind it, providing increased flexibility during tense engagements.

MOVEMENT

Adjustments

The introduction of Black Ops 6’s omni-movement system revolutionized gameplay and has become the foundation of player movement in Call of Duty: Warzone. While the system launched with multiplayer-inspired values, we’ve recognized the need for adjustments to better align movement dynamics with the unique demands of Call of Duty: Warzone’s limited-life modes.

Season 03 focuses on fine-tuning the Black Ops 6 player movement by ensuring a balance between fluidity and responsiveness. The adjustments to the movement mechanics are as follows:

• Movement Speed
  • Crouch Movement Speed reduced by 10%
  • Crouch-to-Stand Speed increased by 15%
  • Crouch-to-Stand Speed While ADS increased by 39%
  • Prone Movement Speed reduced by 5%
  • Sprint Movement Speed reduced by 4.9%
  • Directional Sprint Animation Blend Speeds increased for improved fluidity

These values bring Call of Duty: Warzone’s movement speeds closer to the spirit of the original experience while still preserving the fluidity of Black Ops 6. We encourage players to go hands-on with these fine-tuned changes, as they can be hard to express in a patch note. The proof is in the pudding!

• Jump Cooldown
  • Reduced the cooldown by 40% for improved responsiveness during repeated jumps.

• Omni-sprint Side & Back Speed Scaling
  • Reduced by 8.5%, to better balance strafe movement.

• Slide Friction
  • Increased by 4% to reduce overly slippery engagements.

These adjustments address the dominant power of strafe engagements while maintaining fluidity for mechanics such as sprinting, strafe reloading, and general navigation. Responsiveness across movement systems has been improved to ensure smoother gameplay while striking a better balance for Call of Duty: Warzone’s fast-paced encounters. This will bring back the feeling of a classic Warzone experience that we all know and love.

CONTRACTS

Classic

• Recon Contract
  • Replacing the Intel contract, the Recon Contract provides players with a 4-minute timeframe to capture a designated domination point.
  • Rewards for completion include cash and a preview of the next circle.
• Supply Run
  • The much-loved “Supply Run” Contract returns! Players have 2 minutes to reach a designated Buy Station to earn rewards, which include cash and a single-item Fire Sale for each squad member at the targeted Buy Station.
  • Supply Run contracts will not appear on the map until the first circle has fully collapsed.

With the return of the “Supply Run” Contract, we want to make sure that its return fits within the gameplay loop and the economy. This adjustment to be available from the second circle onwards allows for the Contract to be more centered around travel and vehicles, which in playtesting we have found to be a more fun and engaging Contract experience.

• Contract Multiplier
  • Returning from the Verdansk era, the contract multiplier enhances cash rewards as players complete more contracts.
  • Each contract completed now grants a +30% cash bonus, stacking up to a maximum of +150% additional cash rewards in both Battle Royale and Resurgence modes.

Stacking up on completed Contracts in the early game is a great way to improve your chances if you need a mid-to-late game regain, as the multiplier will carry throughout the entire game to give greater financial rewards later on.

• Tablet Models
  • All contracts have reverted to their original tablet models, providing players with a nostalgic experience.

Adjustments

• Spawn Rebalancing
  • Contract spawn rates have been adjusted throughout base Battle Royale to enhance distribution and improve overall gameplay balance.

• Payout Updates
  • Contract payouts have been updated to align more closely with values reminiscent of the Verdansk era, although not exactly matching them.
  • Supply Run and Recon contract payouts are now standardized to match the Scavenger contract values in both Battle Royale and Resurgence modes.
  • Completing a Most Wanted contract no longer results in a supply cache drop.
  • Plunder-specific contract payouts have been adjusted for consistency across modes.

• Recon Contract Progress Quality of Life
  • Added upward arrows indicating how much faster a Recon contract is being captured by your team depending on how many players are on the target location assisting with the capture.

EQUIPMENT

Classic

• Thermite
  • In Season 03, Thermite returns as a specialized anti-vehicle and area denial tool, echoing its original use in Verdansk.
  • Unlike previous versions, Thermite no longer guarantees a kill upon sticking an opponent. It will, however, deal sufficient damage to down players with two armor plates or fewer.
  • Thermite now instantly explodes vehicles if their health reaches zero from its damage ticks, similar to C4.
  • Unlockable via the Black Ops Tribute event.

Adjustments

The following is an outline of the full arsenal of Lethal & Tactical equipment – including how to acquire them across a match in Battle Royale on Verdansk:

SATCHELS

• Available Satchels
  • Armor Satchel
  • Munitions Satchel
    • Available via Bandolier Wildcard

ARMOR

Adjustments

• Maximum Armor Plates
  • Default maximum capacity reduced from 6 to 5 to match the classic experience.

• Armor Satchel Capacity
  • Now increases plate capacity by an additional 3 plates (totaling 8 armor plates when equipped), down from the previous 6, to also match the classic experience.

• Armor Drops
  • Eliminated players will consistently drop at least 1 armor plate in Battle Royale and Resurgence matches.
  • This does not apply to bots in Bootcamp and Battle Royale Casual.

Armor is your first line of defense and gauges how freely you’ll take engagements. Recently armor supplies have been so plentiful that enemies are able to reinforce armor several times in the middle of a fight and the notion of “downtime” or the need to resupply has been lost. This massively affects the pace of the game and also changes how you’ll rotate to the next safe zone.

To maintain balanced gameplay, armor has become less abundant, ensuring players experience meaningful downtime and strategic decisions between engagements. This returns the gameplay feel to a more classic experience, emphasizing the value of armor resupply.

• Gulag Armor Removed in Unranked
  • In unranked Battle Royale modes, the Gulag now features health-only combat, placing greater emphasis on precision and tactical movement, reminiscent of the classic Gulag experience.

• Armor Plate Color Improvements Quality of Life
  • The Armor Plate color has received an improvement where the color hue will be darker if the player doesn’t have full plates. The color will remain the familiar bright color hue when the players are full. This will better indicate to players when they have almost full plates.

FIELD UPGRADES

New

• Field Upgrades in Squad Widget Quality of Life
  • The Squad Widget now expands to display squadmates’ active Field Upgrades to show their entire inventory to allow for improved comms and strategy.

Adjustments

The following is an outline of the full arsenal of Field Upgrades in a match of Battle Royale on Verdansk:

• Heartbeat Sensor
  • Increased battery life from 60 to 120 seconds.

We can’t return home properly without welcoming back the Heartbeat sensor. While not infinite like its great predecessor, we understand that a minute of battery time is simply not enough to utilize effectively.

• Reclaimable Field Upgrade Icon Quality of Life
  • An interactable icon (white dot) now appears on reclaimable Field Upgrades to better highlight that they can be re-equipped.

KILLSTREAKS

• Precision Airstrike Indicator
  • To return to the classic feeling of Verdansk, the Precision Air Strike Mini-Map notification that was added last year has been removed.

We have removed the Precision Airstrike’s approximate path indicator on the mini-map in order to return back to how it worked in 2020, where part of its purpose was to surprise your enemies. We will monitor feedback, data and sentiment on this as we look to the weeks ahead.

• Crowded Airspace Notification Quality of Life
  • The “Airspace too crowded” message will now appear when a player attempts to pick up or aim down sights (ADS) with a killstreak in an area where too many aerial killstreaks are currently active.
  • This removes uncertainty about killstreak usability upon looting.

PERKS

Adjustments

• Lootable Perks
  • All lootable perks have been removed from Battle Royale as we return to the classic feeling of Verdansk.
  • These may return in a future update depending on feedback.

WEAPONS

Reflecting on our 5th Anniversary, it’s important to acknowledge our journey and current state, including in regards to combat. This milestone presents an opportunity to celebrate our successes and critically assess our shortcomings. The game has continuously evolved through the addition of new features, systemic enhancements, economic adjustments, and philosophical shifts in balancing. These improvements help us better understand what is effective and where further refinements are needed.

Our goal with these changes is to increase the lethality of every encounter, reinvigorate overlooked weapon classes, and encourage players to adopt a more thoughtful and deliberate strategy in preparation for engagements.

Classic Weapons

• Kilo 141 Assault Rifle
  • Fully automatic assault rifle with an ergonomic design that improves handling, and a steady fire rate helps stay on target.
  • Available via Call of Duty: Warzone Login Reward
• CR-56 AMAX Assault Rifle
  • This lightweight 7.62 x 39mm full-auto assault rifle is compact and powerful. Built exclusively for military use, the standard issue rifle is deadly at mid-range combat and easily configured for a variety of assault tactics.
  • Available via Battle Pass Page 6 HVT Tier Reward, Completion Page Battle Pass Blueprint
• HDR Sniper Rifle
  • Anti-material bolt action sniper rifle chambered in 12.7 x 108mm ammunition. Bullets have a lower muzzle velocity but remain devastating even at very long ranges.
  • This weapon is able to one-shot headshot enemy players from any distance.
  • Available via Battle Pass Page 3 HVT Tier Reward, Page 11 Battle Pass Blueprint
• Kali Sticks Melee
  • Two-hit kill. Extremely fast attack speed. Short range.
  • Available via Event Reward

New Conversion Kits

• SWAT 5.56 GRAU Conversion Kit
  • Convert the SWAT 5.56 into a fully automatic weapon with lower damage and range but improved accuracy, mobility, and handling. Equips a new default Barrel and Magazine and unlocks an exclusive 50-round extended Magazine. Blocks Barrel attachments.
  • Available via Battle Pass Page 5 Reward

New Attachments

• Monolithic Suppressor
  • Monolithic Core provides superior sound suppression and increased range. Moderate weight increase affects agility. The ideal attachment for extending your damage range on big maps like Verdansk while retaining the concealment provided by a suppressor.
  • Available via Battle Pass Page 7 Reward

General Adjustments

• Default Loadouts
  • Default Loadouts available via Loadout Crates during a match have been updated with more competitive options.

This season, we have updated the Default Loadouts with a new selection of weapons and equipment. Our goal is to provide viable options that cater to both new and returning players. To ensure these loadouts remain competitive, we are committed to making frequent adjustments.

VEHICLES

Classic

• Heli
• Cargo Truck
• Polaris
• LTV
• ATV

Adjustments

With the return of Verdansk we are looking to capture the original essence of vehicles in Warzone. In collaboration with our friends at Treyarch, we have tuned movement, health, damage resistance, and equipment interactions to feel much closer to the original vision.

We know that nobody wants paper thin vehicles and we also know that vehicles are more fun when they can efficiently get you from point A to B. Traversal shouldn’t feel restricted to roads alone. That said, there will be appropriate counters to vehicles reminiscent of the past.

The chart below serves as a high level view of the equipment lethality against vehicles. With greater vehicle responsiveness comes the need for more powerful and more memorable, moment-inducing equipment counters.

Pinging Near Vehicles Quality of Life

• Made improvements to the accuracy of pings to loot near a vehicle to avoid the ping to ‘snap’ to vehicles.

UI/UX

Classic

• Victory Screen
  • The iconic Warzone Victory screen returns to the classic Victory animation.

• Tac Map & Compass Icons
  • The Tac Map has the circular cursor from the classic Call of Duty: Warzone experience.
  • All Map icons are also spiritually faithful to the color pallet from Verdansk with some improvements to help better identify certain items at a glance.
• Ping Visuals
  • The Ping Shape has been reverted from the triangle shape to a lollipop shape that featured in classic Verdansk
  • “Go To” pings now also have classic visuals, improving legibility.
• Score Feed Colors
  • Standard score events now appear yellow for that classic look.
  • Special score events are highlighted in white for better distinction.

New

• Weapon Inspect to View Attachments Quality of Life
  • Inspecting a weapon now displays all its attachments on-screen, allowing players to see exactly how the gun is configured.
  • This can be disabled with the “Weapon Inspect Attachment Info” option.

We’re excited to introduce this update as part of our ongoing efforts to improve clarity and onboarding. Seeing a weapon’s full attachment setup at a glance helps players better understand builds and especially the weapon they picked up from the ground. We’re investigating other ways to use the Inspect interface to assist with onboarding and better explaining the player’s loadout. We’ll keep listening to feedback to ensure this improvement feels helpful without adding clutter.

• Detailed Death Recap Quality of Life
  • We’ve expanded the Death Recap Widget to provide more detailed information about how you were eliminated. In addition to showing attacker count and damage dealt, the widget now highlights key conditions that contributed to your death:
    • Affected by Live Ping: Indicates if the enemy had you pinged.
    • Affected by UAV: Indicates if you were revealed on the minimap by a UAV, UAV Tower, or Advanced UAV.
    • Affected by Unsuppressed Weapon: Indicates if firing an unsuppressed weapon exposes your position to nearby enemies.
      • For the first few days of the new season, players will notice “Unsuppressed Weapon” saying “Weapon Ping” while the team works to get the wording updated.

We’re excited to introduce this update as part of ongoing efforts to improve clarity and address concerns around unfair deaths. This is just the beginning — we’ll continue expanding the Death Recap Widget with future patches. Our goal is to create a helpful tool that allows players to better understand what led to their death, recognize enemy advantages, and ultimately improve their gameplay. While we’re committed to adding meaningful insights, we’ll ensure the widget remains clean and informative without overwhelming players.

We’re eager to hear your feedback as we refine this feature further.

• Prioritize Favorite Loadout in Gunsmith Quality of Life
  • When you’ve finished your preferred Loadout in the Call of Duty: Warzone Gunsmith, and set it to Favorite in the Loadout Options, the Loadout is prioritized and moved to the top of the list for ease of access.
• Mission Items in Squad Widget Quality of Life
  • A new slot has been added to the Squad Widget to show each squad member’s most recent mission item icon for improved coordination.
    • A mission item refers to things like Keycards or easter-egg items that might require some coordination with allies.

Adjustments

• Death Skull Icon Quality of Life
  • The size of the Death Skull Icon has increased to make it easier for players to locate their previous death location based on feedback that it was difficult to spot.

• Navigation Pings
  • Updated to provide clearer, more intuitive iconography, with a design that may feel familiar to veteran players.

• Player Icons
  • Mini-map and Tac map player icons have been enhanced to visually differentiate between:
    • Talking
    • Firing a weapon
    • Staying quiet
    • Ghost perk on / off

• Leaving Match Confirmation Quality of Life
  • Players attempting to leave a match while a teammate is still alive will now receive a confirmation prompt to prevent accidental exits.

• Ping Distance Text on Map Quality of Life
  • Added dark backing to pings on map to improve readability of the distance text on the map.
• Ping Duration Setting Quality of Life
  • This new setting lets players decide how long pings last on their screen. Select between Off, Infinite, or On which will let players pick the duration between 1 and 20 seconds.

• Tacmap Centering Options Quality of Life
  • New setting, “Map Assist”, provides a few different options to enable players to have more agency over their experience:
    • Auto Zoom & Center: Upon opening the map, it will auto zoom and auto center on the player each time
    • Auto Center: Upon opening the map, it will auto center on the player each time
    • Zoom & Center Once: Upon opening the map, it will auto zoom and auto center on the player one time per match
    • Center Once: Upon opening the map, it will auto center on the player one time per match
    • Off: Upon opening the map, it will be showing the last location the tacmap was closed on. This means players will need to manually adjust the map each time they open it.

We’re excited to provide more options to players to adjust the map to their preference. We will continue to monitor feedback about this improvement as players get to experiment with it.

AUDIO

Classic

• Cinematics
  • Infil, Gulag, and Exfil
• Music
• Announcer
  • Re-recorded by original announcer Julian Stone (2020)
• Hit Markers
• Including Armor and Armor Breaks
• Death’s Door
• Footstep Recordings
• Loot Chests
• Buy Stations
• Contracts
• UI Sounds
  • Pings, Splashes, and Progression

Adjustments

• Occlusion & Reverb
  • Transitioned from older ray-casted occlusion system to Microsoft Triton acoustics audio middleware, providing realistic audio occlusion, obstruction, and reverberation.
  • Improved sound behavior around corners and surfaces.
  • Custom-tuned data specifically optimized for Call of Duty: Warzone.

• Sound Modifiers
  • Adopted new procedural audio technology (developed by Treyarch) that dynamically adjusts sounds based on gameplay elements (entity speed, angle, elevation).

• Footsteps & Ladders
  • Unique tuning for Call of Duty: Warzone footsteps separate from premium titles (introduced with MWIII).
  • Friendly teammates’ footsteps reduced when positioned behind the player.
  • Footstep loudness dynamically scales with entity speed.
  • Footstep pitch changes based on player elevation (above vs. below).
  • Ladder sounds amplified and adjusted based on player movement speed.
  • Boosted audio cues for jumping, landing, and distinctive ceiling footsteps to clearly indicate players running overhead.

• Cloth/Gear & Mantling
  • Cloth & Gear sounds are now distinctively tuned for Call of Duty: Warzone, separate from premium titles.
  • Increased clarity and volume of mantling and melee sounds, differentiating friendly and enemy movements.
  • Enhanced mantling audio to resemble footsteps for greater situational awareness.

• Loot Supply Boxes
  • Audio pitch now dynamically adjusts based on vertical elevation, providing clearer vertical positional feedback.

BUG FIXES

• Fixed an issue that caused the Death Recap Widget to register bleed damage while in last stand.
• Fixed an issue where Bomb Squad incorrectly allowed fuse resets; this functionality is exclusive to Reflexes.
• Fixed an issue causing players to be eliminated when mantling onto care packages.
• Fixed an issue where players were eliminated upon interacting with the Most Wanted reward crate.
• Fixed an issue causing a UI error preventing players from creating new loadouts.
• Fixed an issue causing a Dev Error when opening the Armor Challenge menu.
• Fixed an issue causing a Dev Error when exiting private matches.
• Fixed an issue where the Corvus Masterkey Underbarrel occasionally caused instant downs at any range.
• Fixed an issue preventing the Quartermaster Suppressor from unlocking properly.
• Fixed an issue causing certain equipment to duplicate upon redeployment.
• Fixed an issue where players would teleport across the map when using an ascender in the pre-game lobby.
• Fixed an issue with the incorrect display of full ATVI IDs.
• Fixed an issue where players lost control after Jailbreak revivals.
• Fixed an issue with the gas mask overlay not aligning properly with screen boundaries.
• Fixed an issue preventing restocking of Gulag lethals and tacticals from ammo caches or munitions boxes.
• Fixed an issue allowing infinite submissions of Biometrics Keycards.
• Fixed an issue causing loss of player control when interacting with a loadout after redeploying from the Gulag.
• Fixed an issue causing incorrect cash displays for spectating players.
• Fixed an issue causing loss of field upgrade deployment ability after using a loadout.
• Fixed an issue with MW2 and MW3 camo descriptions not clearly stating weapon-level requirements.
• Fixed an issue preventing immediate weapon fire after cutting a parachute without re-pressing the fire button.
• Fixed an issue causing obituary messages to overlap with the squad widget in the HUD.
• Fixed an issue causing incorrect elimination crediting to uninvolved players.
• Fixed an issue with contract icons incorrectly displaying elevation information.
• Fixed an issue where Bunker Buster gas damage bypassed gas masks if equipped within the gas.
• Fixed numerous legacy weapon descriptions and statistics.
• Fixed an issue preventing MW2 and MW3 weapons from appearing correctly in the loot feed.

Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He’s best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).

The new GameSir Super Nova wireless controller is available at AliExpress for $39.19 with free shipping after a 22% off brand discount. The marketplace vendor is GameSir itself, so you’re getting the full manufacturer’s warranty, just like buying from Amazon. It’s also shipped from a US warehouse for local delivery, so you’ll receive it in under two weeks. This is a an excellent price for a controller packed with a plethora of practical features like Hall-Effect joysticks and triggers, tri-mode connectivity, button mapping, included charging dock, and more.

New Release: GameSir Super Nova Wireless Gaming Controller

Amazon’s Big Spring Sale will soon reach its conclusion today, March 31, so you’ve got until the end of the day to secure a great deal. While it might not have the same hype as Black Friday or Prime Day, the discounts speak for themselves, and there’s so many great offers to choose from still— including the lowest prices of the year on tech like Apple AirPods, Kindles, Fire TV Sticks, and must-have items like 50 series GPUs, and Pokémon TCG cards back in stock for a limited time.

Amazon’s dedicated Spring Sale hub has plenty of deals, but we’ve done the heavy lifting for you on the final day of the sale, highlighting only the best discounts actually worth your time. Every deal we feature is either at its lowest-ever price, matches its best price of the year so far, or is so hotly sought after we can’t help but mention it. We’re keeping this list fresh with real-time updates, so you won’t miss out on the biggest savings before the sale ends.

Best Amazon Spring Sale Deals Today (Last Chance)

There are already some incredible doorbuster deals in the Amazon Spring Sale 2025. One of the best is the INIU 10K power bank for just $9 with code S7LY7824 and clipping the 50% coupon – a record low price. It’s an absolute must-buy, especially for iPhone users, but even beyond that, it’s just an outstanding power bank at an unbeatable price. If you grab only one thing from this sale, make it this. You can find more coupons worth clipping to score additional savings on books, robot vacuums and more.

Other tech deals include the standard slate of Apple products, like AirPods and the newest Apple Watch, as well as Amazon devices like Fire TV.

Best Deals Under $25

Pokémon TCG Deals

It’d be silly not to mention the latest round of Pokémon TCG stock at Amazon during the sale, with elusive Elite Trainer Boxes like Twilight Masquerade available again, alongside a slew of other hot booster sets like Surging Sparks.

Book and Comic Deals

One of our favorite deals during the Spring Sale is The Lord of the Rings Illustrated Editions, all at all time low discounts, and in the buy two get one free deal. It’s one of the best offers we’ve seen all year. Sunrise on the Reaping, the new Hunger Games novel, should also be on your radar.

Other books in the sale include chart-topper Onyx Storm, and its fellow Empyrean series books Iron Flame and Fourth Wing, alongside the Harry Potter Illustrated Books.

For just individual book deals, we also love the Skyrim Library, a three-volume collection of texts, now down to just $49.99 when clipping the coupon at Amazon. A gloriously good deal for a magnificent set of books. We’ve also seen plenty of comics, like Ultimate Spider-Man, and even select vinyl (also within the 3 for 2 promotion) included in the deals.

LEGO and Toy Deals

LEGO sets are getting more expensive, but they always seem to get solid discounts during these types of sales. Some of the best LEGO deals from the current sale include discounts on the LEGO Wednesday collaboration as well as some very cozy LEGO Animal Crossing sets. Some of our favorite board games for both families and adults are included in the sale. We’ve also seen tons of deals on 90’s comebacks including action figures, plushies, Nerf guns and even Bop It! toys (that apparently still exist).

TV and Movie Deals

Amazon has also discounted tons of individual movies and TV shows, including old-school Warner Bros. cartoons and films directed by David Lynch.

More Deals Worth Keeping an Eye On

It’s always the right time to get accessories you actually need, but it’s even better to get them on sale. That said, Amazon has discounts on various PS Portal accessory deals. My other favorites that are worth considering include Audible Premium Plus for $0.99, the Apple AirPods Pro 2 for $169.99, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth for $32.99, and 65″ LG C4 4K OLED Smart TV for $1,397.

Should You Shop the Amazon Big Spring Sale or Wait?

The Amazon Spring Sale (March 25-31) couldn’t come at a better time. With no major shopping holidays between now and Memorial Day, this is one of the best opportunities to score great deals before summer. While Prime Day and Black Friday might bring even steeper discounts, those are months away – if you’re looking to save right now, this sale is your best bet.

That said, strategic shopping always wins. If you’re eyeing a big-ticket item like a TV or Kindle but don’t need it immediately, waiting for a larger sale could be worth it. Want to make sure you’re getting the best possible price? Tools like CamelCamelCamel let you track pricing history, helping you spot real deals from the ones that just look good. It’s a trick we swear by to make sure every recommendation is truly worth your money.

More Spring sales happening now

If you’re looking for more Spring Sale savings, there is currently a Walmart Super Savings Week sale happening now that has many deals that Amazon doesn’t, so it could be worth checking out. There’s also the Secretlab Spring Sale with plenty of top discounts on gaming chairs. And finally, there are plenty of video game deals from Woot which also includes FF7 Rebirth, Metaphor: ReFantazio, Super Mario RPG and more.

Robert Anderson is a deals expert and Commerce Editor for IGN. You can follow him @robertliam21 on Twitter.

House of the Dragon showrunner Ryan Condal has called Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin’s criticisms of the series’ second season “disappointing” following remarks the author published last year.

Drama in the Game of Thrones world began when Martin promised to dive into “everything that’s gone wrong with House of the Dragon” in August 2024. It’s a promise he kept, going on to call out plot elements related to Aegon and Helaena’s children as he expressed concern for how future seasons of the show might play out. The post was eventually removed from the author’s website without explanation but not before thousands of fans – and HBO – caught wind of the grievances it presented.

Now, Condal has shared updated thoughts regarding Martin’s misgivings during a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly. First and foremost, it appears it’s the strained relationship with the Game of Thrones creator that stings for the showrunner the most.

“It was disappointing,” he explained. “I will simply say I’ve been a fan of A Song of Ice and Fire for almost 25 years now, and working on the show has been truly one of the great privileges of, not only my career as a writer, but my life as a fan of science-fiction and fantasy. George himself is a monument, a literary icon in addition to a personal hero of mine, and was heavily influential on me coming up as a writer.”

Condal acknowledged it may be unfortunate for Martin and fans when House of the Dragon doesn’t play out quite like its source material, Fire & Blood. However, he explained that the process of adapting beloved books for small screens can result in complicated situations.

“It’s this incomplete history and it requires a lot of joining of the dots and a lot of invention as you go along the way,” he added. “I will simply say, I made every effort to include George in the adaptation process. I really did. Over years and years. And we really enjoyed a mutually fruitful, I thought, really strong collaboration for a long time. But at some point, as we got deeper down the road, he just became unwilling to acknowledge the practical issues at hand in a reasonable way.”

Condal continued, elaborating on where roadblocks occurred: “And I think as a showrunner, I have to keep my practical producer hat on and my creative writer, lover-of-the-material hat on at the same time. At the end of the day, I just have to keep marching not only the writing process forward, but also the practical parts of the process forward for the sake of the crew, the cast, and for HBO, because that’s my job. So I can only hope that George and I can rediscover that harmony someday.”

The House of the Dragon lead added that every creative decision takes “many months, if not years” to finalize, and everything goes through him before it hits screens. He said the goal is to not only make a show for Game of Thrones readers but “a massive television audience,” too.

While HBO’s relationship with Martin has taken a few hits over the years, the two have many more collaborations in the pipeline. Although a few projects have been shelved since Game of Thrones first took off, audiences can at least expect to see the network collaborate with the famed fantasy author on projects like A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms and, if we’re lucky, another Targaryen-centered spinoff. In fact, the former is one series that Martin is already calling a “faithful adaptation.”

House of the Dragon, meanwhile, took to the skies to begin production on Season 3 just earlier today. It will follow a successful second season, which we gave a 7/10 in our review, when it eventually premieres.

Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He’s best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).

Logitech is entering a new generation of its Pro series product line of PC peripherals, which focuses on high-performance gaming. With the Pro X TKL Rapid, we have a tenkeyless keyboard chock-full of fresh features centered around a magnetic switch technology that’s new for Logitech, wedging itself among some of the best gaming keyboards available today. This comes with intricately adjustable functionality and robust RGB customization Logitech users have become accustomed to. After putting it through its paces, the Pro X TKL Rapid proves to be an impressive piece of gear that abandons most flashy aesthetics in favor of letting the keys be the star of the show.

At first glance, the TKL Rapid looks like any other Logitech G series keyboard. It’s a simple black rectangle with thin bezels with RGB lights shining through each key. Hovering atop the standard layout are a series of media keys and a large volume control wheel on the top right, which is quite nice to use. Because of its tenkeyless design, the TKL Rapid has a mercifully small footprint – for a keyboard focused on performance, I appreciate how much it doesn’t get in the way of whatever else is happening on my desk.

Its visible parts don’t stand out on the black colorway, which is the model I’ve been testing. For those who want a little more visual pizazz, it comes in white or pink variants as well. The keys are made of recycled ABS plastic, as is the frame, with a solid aluminum slab supporting the keyboard’s frame. There are certainly better quality and more stylish keycaps out there, but what comes stock is comfortable enough, if not completely unremarkable in feel – at least it doesn’t stand out for any bad reasons. The keys are stable on the switches, with no wiggle that I’ve noticed on the keycaps. Of course, these are parts keyboard enthusiasts can swap out, and the TKL Rapid is compatible with third-party keycaps if you want to make it more unique.

The TKL Rapid’s special sauce is under the caps in the debuting magnetic analog switches and it’s further enhanced by the level of customization within Logitech’s robust G Hub app. The move from mechanical to analog switches to make gaming better isn’t just a marketing move; it really can make a difference (as is the case in the many Hall Effect gaming keyboards we’ve reviewed recently). Instead of having a set actuation point built into a mechanism, analog switches can be adjusted via software and set the actuation point of each key, letting it recognize inputs at varying travel distances without having to swap out the switch. Even better, it can be changed on each individual key, allowing for incredible personalization.

Straight out of the box, my first hours using the keyboard were troubling, but once I dialed in the right settings, the experience came together nicely. On default settings, I was initially consistently mistyping, chalking it up to getting used to the device. After a lengthy session of using the keyboard, it simply didn’t feel quite right. That’s until I installed G Hub and started messing around with the actuation point of my keys. By default, the Pro X TKL Rapid is set to a 2.0mm actuation, which was a little too shallow for my typing style, especially considering the keyboard’s superlight 35g actuation force. Luckily, this can be shifted anywhere between the extremely light touch of 0.1mm to almost the complete depth of the key press at 4.0mm. Once I dialed in around 3.0mm, it was a revelation, and I started enjoying the keyboard a whole lot more.

It’s notable that while we are dealing with magnetic technology, adjusting the actuation point doesn’t change the pressure needed to press a key, which doesn’t take much, considering the TKL Rapid is made with competitive gaming in mind. Rather, it reads magnetic fields within the switch as the key travels and triggers at whatever distance is set for that key in G Hub. Logitech isn’t a pioneer with these switches, and Hall Effect is gradually becoming the standard in high-end keyboards, but they’re utilized very well in this model and helped open my mind on what’s possible with a gaming keyboard.

Complementing the adjustable actuation points is Rapid Trigger, a feature that affects how far upward the key needs to ascend before it is considered to be released. If you use it, the key doesn’t have to return to its default position to reset, which has had promising results while playing games. Testing the feature with Diablo IV, I was undoubtedly unleashing my abilities faster, setting the Rapid Trigger to reset at 0.5mm, with a range of 0.1mm to 2.0mm to play with. It certainly makes a difference in fast-paced games where a critically-timed button press is of the utmost importance.

Looking to upgrade your mouse, too?

Production on House of the Dragon Season 3 is underway, and HBO is celebrating the milestone with an updated list of new cast members.

The network announced that the Targaryen-centered Game of Thrones spinoff had begun work on its third season today, revealing all of the familiar names set to make a return alongside a batch of new names, too. No release date for House of the Dragon Season 3 has been announced quite yet, but HBO says that, like Season 2, it is expected to run for eight episodes. The face of dragon queen Rhaenyra Targaryen, Emma D’Arcy, helped kick off day one of filming with a celebratory video for fans.

The fight for the Throne is far from over.

S3 of #HOTD is now in production. pic.twitter.com/NUe4POwIJM

— House of the Dragon (@HouseofDragon) March 31, 2025

D’Arcy will be joined by series veterans Matt Smith (Daemon Targaryen), Olivia Cooke (Alicent Hightower), Steve Toussaint (Corlys Velaryon), and more as Dragonstone and King’s Landing continue their war for the hearts of Westeros – and the Iron Throne.

Joining them for House of the Dragon Season 3 are newcomers Tommy Flanagan (Sons of Anarchy) as Ser Roderick Dustin and Dan Fogler (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them) as Ser Torrhen Manderly. James Norton, who was previously announced as another fresh face for Season 3, has been brought onboard as Ormund Hightower.

Directors for the third season include House of the Dragon familiars Clare Kilner, Andrij Parekh, and Loni Peristere, as well as Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Supernatural veteran Nina Lopez-Corrado.

Monster Hunter Wilds is laying out its future roadmap. Alongside its planned Title Updates, director Yuya Tokuda has confirmed a few additional goals the team has, as post-launch support for the latest entry in the Monter Hunter franchise carries on.

In a letter from the director, Tokuda started by laying out the roadmap seen in the recent Monster Hunter Wilds Showcase for Title Update 1 and beyond. The first big Title Update drops on April 4, this Friday. Then, the seasonal event Festival of Accord: Blossomdance runs from April 23 through May 7. Additionally, April 30 through May 21 will see the Arch-tempered Rey Dau storm into Monster Hunter Wilds.

At the end of May, Update Ver. 1.011 will bring an unannounced Capcom collaboration and some “other additional features.” Title Update 2 is then planned for this summer, with a new additional monster and seosonal event. Tokuda confirms more free updates are arriving beyond that.

A greater challenge awaits

Part of the Mosnter Hunter Wilds’ director’s letter dug into the question of challenging monster content. Already, fights like Tempered Arkveld, the aforementioned Arch-tempered Rey Dau, and a refight with Zoh Shia are confirmed. Tokuda also confirmed Mizutsune, arriving with Title Update 1, will have an 8-star Tempered Mizutsune fight, available at HR 41 or higher.

The end-of-May update will add even more 8-star Tempered monsters to the Wilds. Tempered versions of Gore Magala, Rey Dau, Uth Duna, Nu Udra, and Jin Dahaad will make their way to the game in this update.

“Each of these monsters have had various behind-the-scenes adjustments to make them more resilient, such as increased health, resistance to wounding, and tweaks to multiplayer scaling,” Tokuda said. “Challenging monsters will also appear in future updates, so keep an eye out for further information about them.”

Balancing it all out

Specifically addressing feedback from launch, Tokuda said that Capcom is planning to make “various adjustments,” including weapon balance changes.

“These will be implemented gradually with each upcoming title update in order to make the game more enjoyable for everyone for a longer period of time,” Tokuda said. “Depending on the content, these changes may take some time to prepare.”

The director noted the Hammer as one weapon being considered for “upward adjustments,” which sounds like good news for Hammer mains. Some “unintentionally overpowered” things will be adjusted down — the Corrupted Mantle is one example — but Capcom said it plans on adjusting other parts upward, making for a “generally balanced” update. The team is currently aiming to implement the overall weapon balance adjustments in either the end-of-May update or in Title Update 2 this summer.

Performance adjustments

Additionally, Capcom is targeting stability and performance for Monster Hunter Wilds, specifically noting the PC version. Title Update 1 is planned to bring a reduction in VRAM usage and an upgrade to the DirectStorage version of the Steam version, which should result in an “overall improvement” of stability for PC players.

More improvements are planned, to bolster the overall technical experience for players on all platforms. Additionally, the in-game economy, balance, and other areas are planned for improvement too.

Quality-of-life is also a major target for the Monster Hunter Wilds team moving forward. The Grand Hub, arriving in Title Update 1, is part of this, condensing various functions into one end-game area. The team has also reduced waiting times for facility functions at each location.

The team is continuing to work on UI/UX improvements and other quality-of-life updates too. A few items on the docket include restocking items, checking skill information, engaging in multiplayer quests, using the Seikret, and camera behavior during hunts.

The rollout stars with Title Update 1 this Friday, April 4, and on into the summer as we approach Title Update 2. Though it’s still fresh, Monster Hunter Wilds is already one of the year’s most popular games, and it doesn’t look like Capcom is planning to slow down its roadmap for it anytime soon.

Eric is a freelance writer for IGN.