Warzone’s new Verdansk map is gorgeous, but there’s a big problem

Warzone’s Verdansk map finally returns with the Season 3 update on April 3 and the devs have shown off the new and improved version. However, there’s a big issue. 

Activision dropped their “How We Rebuilt Verdansk From the Ground Up” Intel Drop on March 24, showing off the map’s upgraded visuals, and it looks gorgeous. It’s almost the exact same map that first arrived in March 2020, where many players have their fondest memories. 

Everything is higher quality; it’s more vibrant and better lit, and in a now-deleted video, they showed off cover they’ve added to previously wide-open areas. 

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They list a lot of upgrades that sound great, like new textures, “a new high resolution sky,” different kinds of terrain, and improved reflections. It’s “way more complex now than what we’ve seen in the past,” but that could lead to big problems for a huge portion of the player base. 

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Last-gen consoles could struggle to run Verdansk

Warzone is still on last-gen consoles, and of course, they’re not as powerful as the PS5, Xbox Series X|S, or a modern PC. Although Verdansk has undergone a huge visual upgrade, many will be playing on the same twelve-year-old hardware they played the original version on, so how it runs on the Xbox One and PS4 is another matter entirely.

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Currently, the Xbox and PS4 run Warzone at around 40 FPS but with severely lower visual quality. And with the new Verdansk looking even better than Urzikstan, it’s either going to absolutely tank performance on old consoles or have poor textures, short draw distance, and look worse than it did before. 

Twitter and Reddit have been full of players concerned about the performance. “The frame drop will be crazy,” said one Reddit user in response to the Intel Drop. “Love that they did so much to upgrade the graphics that I will be turning down to Low, so I’m not chugging at 56 fps,” said another sarcastically. 

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Activision

At least PC players can tweak their graphics settings to find the best balance between visuals and frames, but console players will be stuck with the default look. 

It all depends on optimization, though – if the devs have taken last-gen hardware into account and have it running well, then it’ll go a long way in bringing the successful launch they’re hoping for.

For those who have upgraded to the current-gen, Verdansk will look and run much better than it did before and will have the constantly requested FOV slider that console players never got to use.

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You’ll also be able to use MW19-era weapons and Operators, alongside floating loot and a UI overhaul, giving Season 3 that original Warzone feel.

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