We’re learning more about Warzone’s newest map ahead of its release this week. Call of Duty devs hosted a call with creators today to discuss what’s coming to Modern Warfare 3 this week. Folks quickly jumped on X/Twitter to spill the beans on what they learned.
Warzone Urzikstan will launch with 100-player matches.
The developers also confirmed the new map is about 20% smaller than Al Mazrah. This smaller size combined with faster circles means the average match lasts 20 minutes versus closer to 30 minutes on Al Mazrah.
Raven Software also released a statement confirming the change to 100-player matches at launch.
When Al Mazrah launched about a year ago, it had 150 players. But the developers decided to lower that to 100 in a patch in August. At the time, the developers cited the introduction of several second-chance mechanics as one of the reasons for dropping the player count.
“In Season 05, we’re dialing up these second-chance mechanics (Gulag Kit, Redeploy Pack, Reinforcement Flare and Reduced buy-back prices) so that players will be able to return to the Warzone more often. At the same time, we’re reducing the number of players across our core Battle Royale modes which will prevent the match feeling too chaotic but provide improved matchmaking times, faster pre-game lobbies, and a better quality of match overall. These changes paired with faster circle movement will elevate the pace of a Battle Royale match with more gameplay uptime!”
So, the 100-player match size isn’t new. We’ve been playing that way for the last few months.
Raven Software does stress they will be watching how the community reacts and are open to making changes if needed.
“As always, we will continue to monitor community sentiment and internal data closely, making adjustments as needed over time.”
While some may consider that the usual lip service, the Call of Duty developers, to their credit, have been quick to respond to issues and community feedback in recent weeks.
For the Resurgence fans who like their action even faster-paced, they won’t be waiting long either. Vondel and Ashika are also set to launch this week.
The developers capped off their marketing push today with the release of the Urzikstan launch trailer. Urzikstan launches on December 6.