Relive the Warzone Nuke Event & Verdansk ’84 map reveal from start to finish

Call of Duty: Warzone Season Three has officially launched, with two days of events leading up to the Verdansk ’84 reveal! From experiencing Operation Sunder nuking Verdansk in Part I to detonating it yourself on Rebirth Island for Part II, here’s how all of the action went down.

Warzone fans have been dying for a new map for what feels like ages now. And, on April 22, they got their wish. But first, they had to literally die for it — as April 21’s Warzone update, the Nuke Event, forced players to fight through a zombie-infested Verdansk for the last time.

Now, after two days of events, modern-day, pre-nuke Verdansk is gone (and permanently, according to Raven Software). Instead, it’s been replaced with a 1984 version of the map (pre-pre-nuke Verdansk, anyone?). Oh, and Season 3 officially launched sometime in between the events.

To get there, players had to fight through modern-day Verdansk and modern-day Rebirth Island, all leading to a wild time-traveling cutscene. If you missed the chaos live, here’s how it all went down.

Day 1 Timeline: Warzone Nuke event

On the first day of the event, NICKMERCS was streaming on Twitch for around an absurd 400,000 people.

• Read more: All weapon buffs & nerfs in Warzone Season 3 update

While his video recaps the biggest moments, here’s how the full day played out:

3:00 PM ET

Right on cue, a new playlist update was added to Warzone, titled “Destruction of Verdansk Part 1.”

3:04 PM ET

Just like Shipwreck was when it was added to Season 2, players quickly discovered that every POI was crossed-out (indicating the presence of zombies).

3:10 PM ET

“Call of Duty: Server Warfare” became a running meme across social media as thousands of players struggled to play the new playlist due to server crashes.

• Read more: Warzone & Black Ops Cold War Season 3 Battle Pass: All tiers & rewards

Eventually, the devs dropped a hotfix to limit players per match — at which point the game could actually be played to completion.

3:20 PM ET

The “Destruction of Verdansk” playlist was no fluke, after finishing the playlist, a wild cutscene showed fans that Verdansk got nuked! Tons of streamers were playing live and had some nutty reactions to the map’s demolition.

3:40 PM ET

After completing the “Destruction of Verdansk Part 1” playlist, players got a free calling card.

5:07 PM ET

Just after the Part I playlist officially ended, a new playlist update appeared: “Aftermath – Rebirth Island.”

5:20 PM ET

Dropping into the new “Aftermath” playlist, players discovered that Rebirth was now in night mode — featuring a new POI (Control Center), where Construction Site used to be…and a glimpse of the nuclear mushroom cloud above Verdansk off in the distance.

https://twitter.com/WarzoneNewz/status/1384997590559825925

 

10:40 PM ET

After all of the “Aftermath” activities got experimented with, fans discovered a brand-new ‘Rebirth From the Ashes’ Warzone website (with a countdown to when Season 3’s kickoff).

11:10 PM ET

Around 11 p.m., the patch notes for Season 3’s launch officially came out — and they featured some wild buffs and nerfs to the game’s guns.

12:15 AM ET

After Season 3 finally launched, no changes were made to the playlist, but CoD started throwing out some map teasers for Day 2.

Day 2 Timeline: Verdansk ’84 reveal

11:00 AM ET

After hours of people figuring out teasers and leaks throughout the night, the developers got Day 2’s action kicked off in flashy fashion — with a star-studded, celebrity trailer that shows off glimpses of the new Verdansk map.

1:25 PM ET

Within a couple hours of the event’s start time, a new cinematic trailer also dropped for Warzone and Black Ops Cold War Season 3. This one showed a look at the 1984 Verdansk map at the end, building up more hype.

https://twitter.com/DexertoIntel/status/1385283733054529537

3:00 PM ET

At 3 on the dot, the devs put out tweets telling players to return to Rebirth Island. Once they signed in, Verdansk’s finest discovered a new playlist called “Destruction of Verdansk: Part 2.” That playlist let players nuke Verdansk before time-traveling to…’84 Verdansk.

3:20 PM ET

One of the first thing players found out when dropping into ’84 Verdansk? A brand-new Gulag with OG roots — as, to the delight of Black Ops II fans, it’s a remake of Standoff (which can also be found as a POI somewhere in Farmland).

3:25 PM ET

Players also discovered a whole set of new POIs, including Summit (which replaces Dam) and Airport Factory.

3:30 PM ET

While some locations were torn down (like Stadium), others simply returned to clean 1984 glory — including the No. 1 hot spot Superstore.

3:35 PM ET

To the delight of some and sadness of others, Raven Software announced that the OG, pre-nuke version of Verdansk will never be playable again.

3:38 PM ET

Players found their way to a completely new POI. Named Grid Array, the location is huge and could be a ridiculous spot for snipers.

3:50 PM ET

Another interesting feature, players were excited to find out just how vibrant Verdansk ’84 is. As it turns out, that’s because it’s springtime — and Verdansk will be going through seasonal changes from now on.

4:40 PM ET

Wrapping up two days of events, Warzone’s final Season 3 playlist, the “Hunt for Adler” LTM, went live. This requires players to find various pieces of intel for a new skin as the Black Ops Cold War-blended story continues.

And there you have it, that’s how Warzone fans played through modern-day Verdansk getting nuked, then nuked it themselves on modern-day Rebirth Island, until they eventually teleported back in time to a 1984 version of the now-classic map.

• Read more: Best Warzone PPSh class loadout — Attachments, Perks, Setup

What comes next, only the developers know. But, with the Hunt for Adler LTM and other pieces of intel piling up, the battle royale’s storylines are only continuing to deepen.

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