When is Black Ops Cold War Season 1? Roadmap, Warzone integration, more

Albert Petrosyan

Black Ops Cold War is all the talk in Call of Duty right now. Players will have a whole lot more content waiting in Season 1! Here’s everything you need to know, including the release date, info about Warzone integration, and more.

Season one of Black Ops Cold War comes jam-packed with a lot of content for the Campaign, Multiplayer, and Zombies. Even more is on its way once the game’s ‘preseason’ period wraps up.

Treyarch will be rolling out a flurry of new experiences for CoD players to enjoy across all modes, including Warzone, which will finally debut its highly anticipated next chapter.

Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War Season 1 gameplay

Black Ops Cold War and Warzone Season 1 release date for PlayStation, Xbox & PC

Unfortunately, Season 1 of Black Ops Cold War has been delayed to December 16, 2020 – six days after its original release date. According to Activision, the developers are using this extra time to “finalize everything.” So, fans will have to wait just a bit longer to get their hands on it.

Treyarch will release three different patches in order to prepare the game for the major update. One was released on December 8, while the last two will come on December 15 and 16, respectively. The patches and final update will go live on the same day for all platforms.

Black Ops Cold War Season 1 Roadmap & new content

Black Ops Cold War Season 1 new content
There’s a whole slew of new content coming in Black Ops Cold War Season 1.

Above you can see everything new coming to Black Ops Cold War in Season 1, including the highly-anticipated Warzone integration, but let’s take a deeper look at what you can expect.

Multiplayer

New multiplayer maps

As mentioned above, there’s a lot of new goodies for players to keep busy with come December 16.

For multiplayer, there will be new 6v6 maps and modes, new weapons, another Fireteam map, and the return of Modern Warfare’s 2v2 Gunfight mode. The new 6v6 maps coming to the game are as follows:

  • Raid
  • The Pines
  • Nuketown ’84 Holiday
Raid remake Black Ops Cold War
Fans will be delighted to run around Black Ops 2 map Raid once again.

The four new Gunfight maps are called U-Bahn, ICBM, KGB and Game Show, while the new Fireteam map, Sanatorium, will be arriving later in the season.

New scorestreaks, gamemodes and weapons

As well as new maps, we’ve got a bunch of new streaks, modes and guns headed to the game during Season 1. Prop Hunt will be added at launch, and a new ‘Dropkick’ mode will be available later on in the season.

Similarly, the MAC-10 submachine gun and Groza assault rifle will be available from Day 1, but the Streetsweeper shotgun will be added in down the line.

Finally, two new scorestreaks will be available as soon as the update goes live on December 16: the Tactical Raft and H.A.R.P. It’s not yet clear where they will fit into the current set of streaks available in the game.

New Prestige levels, Prestige Master, & challenges

black ops cold war prestige master ranks challenges rewards key
Prestiging is about to get even crazier in Black Ops Cold War Season 1.

The Prestige ranking system is back in Call of Duty but BOCW’s version works a bit different to past titles. Following the ‘preseason’ period, in which players can Prestige up to three times, the launch of Season 1 will introduce a whole new depth to the system.

S1, and every season that follows, will have four additional Prestige ranks to achieve across the first 200 levels. These include a new Weapon Blueprint that can be unlocked at level 50. Players who manage to hit level 200 in all four will earn the rank of Prestige Master and unlock Prestige icons from past CoD games.

It doesn’t end there, either; there will be 1000 levels available in each season. So, you’ll have plenty to level up for even after you get Prestige Master.

Lastly, Season One will add two sets of new challenges. Players will get 20 for multiplayer and 20 for Zombies. The challenges are unlocked a few at a time as you progress towards Level 200. If you manage to hit Level 200, unlock all the challenges, and complete them, you’ll earn an animated Season Master Calling Card as a reward.

BOCW x Warzone integration: weapons, progression, more

Stich Black Ops Cold War Season 1 Warzone
New maps and modes bring a whole new layer of enjoyment to Warzone.

One of the more highly anticipated parts of Season 1 will be the integration of Black Ops Cold War in Warzone. This integration will come in two parts: weapon integration and unification of the progression systems. Before that, though, let’s take a look at what’s new and the biggest changes hitting the battle royale title.

New Warzone map: Rebirth Island

While players have grown to love Verdansk and the locations associated with it, the integration with Cold War will introduce a whole new map to the game: Rebirth Island.

Based on Activision’s official blog post, it doesn’t seem that Rebirth Island will be a direct replacement to Verdansk, but will instead work in tandem with it, offering players “intense, close-quarter action with a similar playstyle to Warzone’s Mini BR mode.”

Two new Gulags in Warzone

New Warzone gulag rebirth island
The new Gulag in Rebirth Island will give players an alternative way to earn their place back on the battlefield.

As well as a whole new map, the Black Ops Cold War Season 1 update will be bringing two new Gulag experiences to Warzone, which we’ve explained in-depth here.

The first is the Gulag as we know it now but in a slightly different setting: a smaller version of Nuketown ’84, with players confined to the large area between the two houses.

The other Gulag sees players plunged deep below the floors of Rebirth Island’s Prison Block, maintaining the traditional Gulag experience but with metal detectors to make moving around even harder.

New ‘Resurgence’ mode

Although it isn’t named in the graphic up top, Warzone will be getting a brand new mode called ‘Resurgence’, in which enemy locations will be revealed if you kill one of their teammates, making for high-paced and high-stakes action.

However, if you die in this mode, you won’t be visiting the Gulag for a second chance. Instead, you’ll have to wait until the ‘Rebirth Countdown’ reaches zero, after which you’ll automatically be dropped back into the fray.

Weapon Integration

black ops cold war warzone integration loadouts weapons guns modern warfare
Starting in Season 1, Warzone players can choose loadouts from both BOCW and MW.

In Season 1, Warzone players can choose loadouts from both BOCW and MW.

From December 16, you’ll have access to every weapon from BOCW in Warzone, including Season 1 additions outlined above. Players will be able to choose between loadouts from Cold War and Modern Warfare, essentially doubling the battle royale’s weapon arsenal in a single update.

Battle Pass & progression unification

Season 1 will combine the progression of Black Ops Cold War, Warzone, and Modern Warfare into a singular system. This means your level in one game will be the same for all three and any XP gained will apply across the board.

black ops cold war modern warfare warzone progression system
Season 1 will unify the progression systems in Cold War, Modern Warfare, and Warzone.

While this won’t change much in Cold War specifically, Warzone and MW players will see their ranks reset and start fresh on December 16, in order to match up with BOCW. You’ll also keep anything you’ve already unlocked or completed in those games.

New Zombies modes

With Zombies being a big focal point in BOCW, Treyarch’s got stuff coming for that as well, in the form of two brand new game modes: Jingle Hells and Cranked.

Black Ops Cold War Jingle Hells Zombies
The new Jingle Hells mode puts a holiday-themed spin on Zombies as we know it.

Jingle Hells is a Limited-Time Mode (LTM) that turns the Die Maschine map into “more of a winter wasteland than a wonderland,” with decorations and holiday spirit in abundance. This is expected to arrive during launch week of Season 1.

Cranked will be coming later in the season, and players will need to keep one eye on the countdown timer and the other on zombie-killing in this mode, as too long without a zombie takedown will lead to them exploding. This specific mode does not yet have a launch date.

There you have it – everything there is to know about the upcoming Season 1 of Black Ops Cold War, which will be free on all platforms. Anything specific that you’re excited about? Let us know on Twitter, @Dexertointel!