New Warzone map for CoD 2021? WW2 Vanguard integration currently “uncertain”

While fans are still wondering when Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War will bring a new map to Warzone, recent reports have introduced some questions about another new map, based on CoD 2021, rumored to be called WWII: Vanguard.

Although Black Ops Cold War’s integration into Warzone didn’t mean much outside of new weapons, that is expected to change sometime in April. Now, we also have some expectations for how it might change, or fail to change, in the future as well.

New Warzone information has been revealed alongside a VGC report that Sledgehammer Games’ CoD 2021, also tentatively known as WW2: Vanguard, will use the Modern Warfare 2019 (and, therefore, Warzone) engine.

According to that same report, Vanguard’s weapons will be integrated into Warzone, but it remains “uncertain” if there’s a way to mesh the titles’ vastly different time settings.

After Modern Warfare debuted a new “IW8” engine for MW19 and Warzone, Treyarch diverted and used their own modified Black Ops 4 engine for BOCW. A return to IW8 in Sledgehammer’s 2021 title should mean easier integration of weaponry, but blending WW2 with modern Verdansk appears to be a taller task.

As VGC’s sources indicate, “WW2: Vanguard will likely share weapons and progression with Warzone, like Black Ops Cold War does.” Utilizing the same base engine, that cross-progression and gunplay should feel more similar across titles than it has with BOCW.

• Read more: 10 most popular weapons in Warzone: Gun tier list

But the developers remain uncertain about map changes, noting that “scheduling issues and the significant change in time setting” make it hard to envision a wholesale transformation of the current and upcoming map. Even if the new BOCW map ties in the 1980s, that’s still decades away from WW2, which lasted from 1939 to 1945.

Considering the extreme contrast in time periods, it’s understandable that there is some hesitation about Warzone map promises with WW2: Vanguard. Still, nothing is set in stone — devs just seem reluctant to make any promises just yet.

• Read more: Black Ops Cold War leak reveals classic weapon is coming to Warzone

As such, VGC speculates that either a WW2-themed map change could come later in 2022 (a similar schedule to the BOCW changes) or that the battle royale might wait until 2022 title for another new map.