MW3 trailer confirms Verdansk return, but not as fans want

Ryan Lemay
Helicopter flying over Verdansk

Warzone 2 players spotted a major Verdansk hint in Modern Warfare 3’s Makarov reveal trailer, drumming up excitement.

Warzone’s original map Verdansk was replaced by Caldera in 2021. Community members have been begging for the fan-favorite environment to return since then. Players started to get excited when Alex Summers of Activision revealed Verdansk is coming back in 2023, but only on “certain platforms.”

However, instead of a return to Warzone 2, the beloved map was confirmed for Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile. The news disappointed some fans, and Modern Warfare 3 rubbed more salt in the wound.

Shots of Verdansk in the Makarov reveal trailer stole the spotlight from COD’s infamous villain.

Verdansk makes an appearance in Modern Warfare 3 trailer

On August 9, a Modern Warfare 3 trailer confirmed seeds that were originally planted at the end of MW2’s campaign. In the game’s final scene, the text message No Russian sent to plane hijackers all but confirmed Vladimir Makarov’s involvement.

Makarov is the main antagonist in the Modern Warfare franchise. He died in the original MW3 and again in the MW Remastered campaign, but the Russian mastermind is back for revenge.

The live-action trailer mixed in a few gameplay clips from the upcoming campaign, and astute COD detectives immediately noticed the prison and stadium from Verdansk.

CharlieIntel confirmed that the Modern Warfare 3 campaign will feature Verdnask. Community members put on their tin foil hats and started brainstorming theories.

The trailer shows a plane crashing into Verdansk’s stadium. One player speculated that Makarov texted the plane hijackers in the MW2 campaign No Russian, and they crashed into the stadium.

Other users held back their excitement as they believe Verdansk may only appear in the campaign. “You guys realize it’s probably a flashback, not for the battle royale,” one person wrote.

Even if Verdansk just makes an appearance in the campaign, that’s enough to excite some single-player fans. Another user claimed: “This has the potential to be the best campaign of all time.”

It remains to be seen what sort of cameo Verdnask makes in Modern Warfare 3, but just a few images were enough to send the community into a frenzy.

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About The Author

Ryan is a former games writer for Dexerto. Ryan graduated from Ithaca College in 2021 with a sports media degree and a journalism minor. He gained experience as a writer for the Morning Times newspaper before joining Dexerto as a games writer. He mainly writes about first-person shooters, including Call of Duty and Battlefield, but he is also a big FIFA fan.