Here are the patch notes for Modern Warfare 2 and Warzone season 4

It's time for the summer of CoD, baby.

Warzone 2 operator Nikto holding a pistol.
Image via Activision

It’s that time once again, Call of Duty gamers, to hop back online to check out the offerings in the latest season of content.

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Modern Warfare 2 and Warzone 2 have already reached season four, and the new season is bringing the heat with exciting new weapons, maps, and more for players to sink their teeth into throughout the summer of 2023.

Here’s everything that’s coming to CoD in the season four update.

MW2 and Warzone season 4 weapon balancing

A screenshot of CoD operator Nikto on new MW2 map Showdown.
Here’s what’s changing in the meta in season four. Image via Activision

» Battle Rifles « 

  • Cronen Squall 
    • Full-Auto
      • Bullets to Kill increased by 2 | Warzone Only
      • Maximum Damage increased | Warzone Only
      • Minimum Damage added | Warzone Only
    • Semi-Auto
      • Bullets to Kill increased by 1 | Warzone Only
      • Maximum Damage decreased | Warzone Only
      • Minimum Damage increased | Warzone Only

» Shotguns « 

  • Bryson 800 
    • Minimum Damage decreased | Warzone Only
    • Head Multiplier increased 
    • Neck Multiplier increased 
    • Upper Torso Multiplier increased 
    • Arm Multipliers increased 
    • Leg Multipliers increased 
  • Bryson 890 
    • Minimum Damage decreased | Warzone Only
    • Head Multiplier increased 
    • Neck Multiplier increased 
    • Upper Torso Multiplier increased 
    • Arm Multipliers increased 
    • Leg Multipliers increased 
  • Expedite 12 
    • Minimum Damage added | Warzone Only 
    • Leg Multipliers increased 
  • KV Broadside 
    • Mid Damage decreased 
  • Lockwood 300 
    • Minimum Damage decreased | Warzone Only
    • Head Multiplier increased 
    • Neck Multiplier increased 
    • Upper Torso Multiplier increased 
    • Arm Multipliers increased 
    • Leg Multipliers increased 
    • Hip to ADS Spread transition speed increased
      • Becomes accurate faster after aiming down sights 
    • Mid Damage Ranges increased 
    • Mid Damage decreased slightly 

» Submachine Guns « 

  • Fennec 45 
    • Bullets to Kill decreased by 1 | Warzone Only 

Attachments

  • FTAC Siege 
    • Akimbo FTAC Siege (NEW)
      • Unlock through in-game Challenge: 25 Hip Fire Operator kills with the FTAC Siege
  • Kastov-74u 
    • KSTV-17 Barrel (NEW)
      • Added to Kastov-74u progression, replaces 5.45 Tracer at Level 9
        • Players who have progressed beyond this level will have it retroactively granted to their account following the launch of Season 4 
  • KV Broadside 
    • 12 Gauge Dragon’s Breath
      • Close-range Damage increased slightly 

Bug Fixes

  • Fixed an issue with the SZ Aggressor-IR Optic where its ADS penalty was higher than intended 
  • Fixed an issue with 12-Gauge Dragon’s Breath residual damage where it would be counted as a headshot for scoring 
  • Fixed an issue that caused Death Effects to intermittently occur on incorrect bodies 
  • Fixed numerous incorrect Attachment unlock criteria
  • Fixed an issue where the in-game challenge completed overlay for the KL40-M2 Drill underbarrel Attachment showed a placeholder name
  • Fixed an issue causing the .300 BLK Overpressured +P ammunition to remain locked without unlock requirements, despite the Weapon being at max level
  • Fixed an issue where Bipod Attachments were not blocked on some Weapons when using the canted iron sights

MW2 multiplayer season 4 patch notes

Call of Duty Season 4's key art featuring the operator Nikto.
Nikto is back in season four. Image via Activision

Maps

Kunstenaar District (Core 6v6)

  • Located west of the Museum in Vondel, the Kunstenaar District (translation: Arts District) features a row of townhouses, boutique shops, a central plaza, and a swimmable canal along its west flank.

Showdown (Core 6v6)

  • The iconic map returns! It’s a great place to practice for those hot drops . . . or just drop airstrikes and helicopter Killstreaks with Gold weapons just like old times.

Mawizeh Marsh (Battle Map)

  • Mawizeh Marshlands is from the region of the Al Mazrah map containing the infamous River Diamond Luxury Resort . . . or what’s left of it.

Ahkdar Village (Battle Map)

  • Action is mostly contained in the village (where Showdown is also located), and its most notable borders are the railroad to the south and the stepped farms and base of the mountain to the north. Vehicular combat may be frequent within the city walls, although infantry can take to the battlements, rooftops, and alleyways to counter them.

Mercado (Gunfight)

  • The Mercado is a section of Las Almas cleared out for Gunfight and Face Off battles. Combat within this large, covered structure will be frenetic on multiple levels, so get ready to stay close to your duo or trio, get in, and get out.

Penthouse (Gunfight)

  • Time to take Gunfights all the way up to the top. The Penthouse, situated in the heart of Chicago, features a lap pool, an outdoor firepit, and a tight-angled modern interior. 

Bug Fixes

  • Fixed various collision and/or geometry issue on MultiPlayer maps
  • Fixed an issue on Guijarro where the Overwatch Helo would drop from the sky when leaving the Map

Playlist

  • Added Battle Map (12v12) Search and Destroy
  • Added Battle Map (12v12) Prisoner Rescue
  • Added to Quickplay:
    • 10v10
    • 3rd Person
    • Infected 
    • Gun Game
    • Drop Zone
    • Grind 

General

Adjustments

  • Tuned spawns for Breenbergh Hotel, Black Gold, Exhibit, and Himmelmatt Expo
  • Updated the rate at which UAV sweeps are performed for the infected team in Giant Infected:
    • One sweep every 20 seconds by default
    • One sweep every 3 seconds when less than 24 survivors remain
  • Updated class tables to include Blueprints through Season 03 Reloaded
  • Moved the bag locations from the top of barrels to the ground on Black Gold in Knock Out
  • Added “Score Limit” and “Time Limit” options for Bounty
  • Adjusted Weapon locations on Blacksite in Gunfight O.S.P. 

Related: The best ISO Hemlock loadout and class setup in MW2

Bug fixes

  • Fixed several exploits with the Tactical Camera
  • Fixed an out of bounds issue with the Recon Drone
  • Fixed an issue where Players would sometimes not receive the proper rewards when killing Players downed in Last Stand
  • Fixed a connection timeout issue some Players would encounter in Drop Zone
  • Fixed a bug where some melee kills would not count as one-hit-kills in One in the Chamber
  • Fixed an issue where some in-game Weapon challenge camo unlock text was cutoff and did not include the Weapon name
  • Fixed an issue in Private Matches where the Player could not earn Killstreaks properly with the “Retain Streaks on Death” and “Persistent Streak Progress” options tuned on

Warzone season 4 patch notes

A group of operators navigate through Vondel, Warzone's new map.
Vondel is Warzone’s newest locale. Image via Activision

New Event

  • Assault on Vondel Limited-Time
    • The Assault of Vondel will be the first community event in which players can secure (and restore) the city by earning medals through completing challenges. 
    • Completing a community challenge will unlock the following:
      • Taxi Boat and Trams
      • Reinforcement Flare
      • Favorite Supply Box
      • New Melee Weapon – Tonfa 
    • On top of that, securing medals also contribute to your standard Challenges which can unlock several types of rewards including Weapon Blueprints.

Maps

New Map

  • Vondel
    • Developed by Beenox, the new Vondel map offers 15 distinct points of interest and a dynamic blend of urban streets, canals, and expansive structures to explore. It presents a unique topography centered around an intricate canal system, allowing Players to navigate through water using watercraft and the new Tactical Amphibious Vehicle (TAV). Additionally, the map features verticality and strategic opportunities to counter those who seek to take the upper hand.
  • The primary Points of Interest that Players will be able to explore include:
    • Castle
    • Central Station
    • City Hall
    • Cruise Terminal
    • Exhibit
    • Fire Department
    • Floating District
    • Graveyard
    • Mall
    • Market
    • Museum
    • Police Station
    • Stadium
    • University
    • Zoo

Adjustments

Al Mazrah

  • Sandstorm
    • The sandstorm in Al Mazrah has subsided.
    • Al Mazrah City now has several sand banks to climb upon, which offer new and creative ways to approach some of the city’s prominent buildings. Specifically, expect a massive sand dune up the side of the TV tower, the Embassy, and the “Highrise” building. The dunes also piled up across some roadways, including covering parts of the highway system, and nearly flooded entire small structures in the main downtown area. There is also some partial destruction that will offer new approaches to maneuvering in, within, and out of the city.
  • Landscape 
    • Added vibrancy to vegetation throughout the map.

Modes

New Mode

  • LockdownVondel | Limited-Time | In-Season
    • Inspired by the Multiplayer mode Hardpoint — Lockdown will task teams with capturing and holding zones around Vondel rather than being the last Squad standing. The first team to reach the score limit wins.
    • Key highlights:
      • Objective-based gameplay
      • Allows for Custom Loadouts right at the start of the match
      • Frequent engagements

Gameplay

Adjustments

All Maps | All Modes

  • Player Health
    • The base Player Health pool has been increased to 150, up from 100.
    • With full Armor Plates, the combined total will equal 300.
    • Regen Delay increased to 7 seconds, up from 5.
    • Note: The above changes apply across all Modes in Warzone including Ranked Play and DMZ.

We’ve extended the number of bullets required for the down, while increasing the time to regenerate full health enabling Players to capitalize on damage done and providing increased value to the stim tactical. 

  • Armor PlatesQuality of Life
    • Players will automatically pick up 9 Armor Plates – 3 in the active Loadout slot and 2 full stacks in the Backpack. Players will have to manually pick up Armor Plates beyond that threshold to create more stacks in their Backpack.
  • Armor Box Quality of Life
    • Players will now receive a fixed number of 6 Armor Plates from Armor Boxes regardless of how many they already have.
  • Munitions BoxQuality of Life
    • Players will now receive a fixed stack of Weapon ammo from Munitions Boxes regardless of how much they already have.
    • To clarify, Lethal and Tactical Equipment will still only Refill to the maximum the Player can hold in their active Loadout slots.

Both of the above Quality of Life improvements for the Armor Box and Munitions Box are designed to improve the gameplay loop, where previously you would have to remember to drop your Armor Plates and Ammo in order to fill them, whereas now you are awarded the maximum amount regardless as to your current number.

  • Vehicle Fuel
    • Gas Cans will now drain a percentage of total Gas while refueling a Vehicle.
    • You can now siphon Gas out of a Vehicle using a Gas Can.
    • Rather than catching fire when out of fuel, the Heavy Chopper will now drop out of the air.

Battle royale, Resurgence, Plunder, and more

General

New Features

  • Rejoin (BETA)
    • Players that experience a client crash on their device will be able to reconnect to their match within 4 minutes.
    • Criteria:
      • Players must have at least 1 Squad member remaining alive.
        • This does not apply to Solo Playlists.
      • There must be at least 5 Squads remaining in the match.
    • Note:
      • Playlist updates that go live during a match in progress will prevent Players from using the Rejoin feature.
    • Known Issues:
      • Last remaining teammate disconnecting may result in an undesirable spectator experience while the final teammate attempts to reconnect. 
      • Rejoining while still in the Driver seat of a vehicle will remove the player’s hands. Can be resolved by switching weapons.
      • The functionality of Rejoin in Ranked Play is detailed in the Ranked Play section below.

Adjustments

  • Gulag Killcam
    • The killcam has been enabled in the Gulag.
  • Pre-Match Lobby Audio Quality of Life
    • Proximity Voice Chat has been disabled in the pre-match lobby.
  • Exfil SequenceQuality of Life
    • Players are now able to skip the Exfil sequence animation.

Gameplay

Squad with heli support dropping into Vondel.

New Features

Please note that the Vondel features outlined below will come to other Maps and Modes in later updates.

Vondel | All Modes

  • TAV (Tactical Amphibious Vehicle)New Vehicle
    • Amphibious vehicle that is able to traverse land and water
    • Accommodates 1 driver, 1 passenger and 4 players in the back
    • Mid range armor vehicle
  • Dynamic Fog SystemNew Environmental System
    • Though typically sunny, Players will encounter a varying degree of fog as they play through matches on Vondel.
    • Billboards found around the map will serve as a way for Players to plan around the weather forecast.
    • Note: The visual obfuscation caused by fog is reduced in Resurgence compared to DMZ.

Vondel | Resurgence

  • High StakesNew Public Event
    • During this event, Players will be prompted to capture any of several crates that are dropped from the sky. Capturing one of these will provide Players with some very useful loot such as a Portable Buy Station, Armor and/or Munitions Box, alongside some Cash. 
    • In addition, a successful capture will grant Players with Double Weapon & Player XP for the duration of the match.
    • Note: This multiplier stacks with active XP tokens.
  • Reinforcement FlareNew Field Upgrade
    • This Field Upgrade will redeploy an eliminated Squad member that is randomly selected.
  • Favorite Supply BoxNew Supply Box Type
    • This is a rare Supply Box that arms Players with their 2 favorite Weapons.
      • Players are able to dictate their favorite Weapons in the front-end menu by navigating to Custom Loadouts and using the “Set to Favorite” option by either right-clicking or pressing LS/L3.

Adjustments

All Maps | All Modes

  • Loot Update
    • Loot found on the ground and via Supply Boxes has been updated to include:
      • New Season 04 Weapons
      • Revised Attachments for most Weapons
  • Armor Box
    • Buystation price increased to $2,500, up from $2,000.
  • Munitions Box
    • Buystation price increased to $2,500, up from $2,000.
  • Backpack Inventory Quality of Life
    • While attempting to loot an item that a Player already has in an active Loadout slot, they will be presented with the option to stow the duplicate in their Backpack.
  • Marker Smoke Effects Quality of Life
    • Differentiated the color of the smoke produced by various markers for easier at-a-glance legibility:
      • Loadout Drops = Red
      • Deployable Buy Stations = Green
      • Smoke Grenades = Grey
  • Resupply Perk
    • The time to recharge equipment has been increased to 50 seconds, up from 30.
  • Redeploy Drone Destruction Damage
    • The explosion damage caused by a Redeploy Drone when it impacts the ground has been adjusted.
      • Minimum damage increased to 50, up from 10.
      • Maximum damage increased to 150, up from 50.
  • Bounty Contract Quality of Life
    • The Bounty Contract will prioritize selecting a target that is on the ground and within close proximity of the Player.
  • Most Wanted ContractQuality of Life
    • The Most Wanted target Player will now carry a flag on the back of their Operator for the duration of the Contract to better help enemy Players track the target.
  • Data Heist Public Event Quality of Life
    • Players will now receive a Circle Peek reward of the upcoming circle when they complete the Data Heist Public Event on Ashika Island.
  • Gas Circle Finale Behavior
    • The number of “Moving Circles” in the final phase of a match has been decreased to 2, down from 4. 
    • These circles move and collapse in size slower than before.

The “pull” is an interesting peak in the climax of combat, however it has often decided the finale due to a lucky pull in a squads favor. This change keeps the need to reposition but enables a wider, slower rotation to take a more even fight.

  • Gulag
    • The time to capture the overtime flag has been increased to 4 seconds, up from 3 seconds.
  • Vehicle Fuel
    • The Heavy Chopper no longer catches fire when it runs out of fuel. Instead, it will now drop out of the air, surviving if close enough to the ground
    • Gas Cans now spawn with a fill percentage of 100%
    • Filling a vehicle now drains a portion of the total gas in the can, depending on how much the vehicle needed
    • You can now siphon gas out of a vehicle and into your gas can

All Maps | Battle Royale, Resurgence

  • Gas Damage
    • Reduced Gas damage to 6 while not wearing a Gas Mask, down from 9.
    • During the first 4 Circles, reduced Gas damage while wearing Gas Mask to 5, down from 6.

Al Mazrah | Battle Royale

  • Armor Plates
    • The number of Armor Plates that Players spawn with in the Gulag has been decreased to 1, down from 2.
      • Players will continue to spawn with a full 3 Armor Plates in Warzone Ranked Play.
  • Gulag Overtime
    • The time it takes to capture the domination point in the Gulag has been increased to 4 seconds, up from 3.
  • Strongholds
    • Inactive Strongholds have been renamed to Abandoned Supply Caches.
    • Active Strongholds and Abandoned Supply Caches are now enabled from the moment the match starts during Infil.
    • Active Strongholds and Abandoned Supply Caches now have floating POI indicators that can be seen from above in the world space during Infil.
    • White Supply Boxes have been removed from active Strongholds.
      • We’re putting the focus of strongholds on the loadout acquisition and UAV benefits for owning the structure. Abandoned supply caches are intended to be fruitful loot locations worthy of a visit.
    • Enemy NPC Combatants have been removed from active Strongholds.
      • Players will now be prompted with the “Hold the Line” capture objective.
    • The “Bomb Defuse” objective has been removed from active Strongholds.
      • With Strongholds activating at the start of each match, we are balancing the rewards to reflect the challenge.
    • Completing an active stronghold will only reward the black site key upon first capture. The loadout is awarded when the stronghold is captured and can only be acquired once per squad.
    • Players are now able to recapture a stronghold that has been captured by another squad.
    • Subsequent captures will only reward Players with access to the custom Loadout crate and the Stronghold UAV effect.The UAV effect from completing a Stronghold will now be shown to enemy Players on the Tac Map.
    • The mission tracker widget on the UI while progressing through Stronghold and Black Site completion has been removed for a cleaner interface.
  • Black Sites
    • The UAV effect from completing a Black Site will now be shown to enemy Players on the Tac Map.
    • The potency of enemy NPC Combatants in Black Sites has been reduced.

All Maps | Resurgence

  • Dynamic Resurgence
    • The Resurgence Countdown Timer is now dynamic and will adapt based on the current number of Players in your Squad. 
    • To clarify, a Solo Player that queues into a Quads Playlist will play with Solo Countdown Timer rules.
  • Vengeance Icon
    • When a Squad member pings an enemy that recently eliminated a friendly Player,  they will now observe an icon above the enemy to indicate that said Player will reduce the Resurgence Countdown Timer more than others.
  • Tracked Squad Indicator
    • Squads will receive a HUD warning similar to the one used for the Interrogation mechanic when a Squad member has been eliminated and the enemy Squad is able to see the position of remaining Squad members.
  • Redeployment Loadouts
    • Players will now encounter more variety in the Loadouts that they redeploy with as we’ve added Submachine Guns to the pool of Weapons for the third circle onwards.
      • First Circle = Handgun without Attachments
      • Second Circle = Handgun with Attachments
      • Third Circle and Beyond = Either Assault Rifle, Battle Rifle, or Submachine Gun without Attachments and Handgun with Attachments
  • Interrogation
    • This feature, which allows a Player to interrogate a downed enemy Player to reveal their Squad’s position, has been enabled in Resurgence.

Al Mazrah | Plunder

  • Strongholds
    • Active Strongholds has been disabled in this mode.
    • Abandoned Supply Caches will now be enabled from the moment the match starts during Infil.

UI/UX

  • Perk Package Name Quality of Life
    • Players will now be able to see the name of their equipped Perk Package in various areas of the interface.
  • Buy Station PingsQuality of Life
    • A floating icon will now appear above a Buy Station to indicate an item that a Player has pinged for purchase.
  • Scoreboard in Gulag
    • Players are now able to view the scoreboard while in an active Gulag match or in the holding pen.

Ranked Play

  • Text ChatQuality of Life
    • Players are now able to disable Global Text Chat while leaving Team Text Chat enabled.

DMZ season 4 patch notes

Call of Duty Warzone's DMZ key art.
A reset is coming in season four. Image via Activision

Gameplay

New features
Introducing the Forward Operating Base

Consider the Forward Operating Base (FOB) , a central hub for DMZ. Here, Operators will complete objectives to unlock upgrades across DMZ.

The FOB is divided into four categories of upgrades (elements of which are shown in the image above, for exemplary purposes only):

  • Weapons Locker
    • Insured Weapon Slots
    • Insured Weapon cooldown time
    • Contraband Weapon stash size increases
  • Stash
    • Wallet Unlock
    • Wallet capacity
    • Key and Contraband Stash Size increases
  • Bounty Board
    • Personal Exfil
    • Barter recipes
    • Buy Station discounts
  • Communications Station
    • Urgent Missions access

The F.O.B. contains passive objectives – a new set of mission types for Players to pursue that reward permanent upgrades for DMZ.

  • Phalanx New DMZ Faction
    • With Season 04 comes the arrival of a new faction, Phalanx. Meanwhile, the REDACTED faction whom we met in Season 03 has unceremoniously disappeared from operations in the DMZ. No further intel is available on their whereabouts…Station Chief Kate Laswell is conducting operations with Phalanx directly as she has an interest in the unknown enemy faction that has invaded Vondel. Phalanx and Black Mous will execute on missions together, gaining intel to uncover the force’s identity.
  • Mission Objectives Menu
    • Added new UI/UX menu where Players can view and track their Faction Missions, upgrades, location challenges, and notes.
  • Seasonal Reset
    • Key and Mission item stashes are resetting
    • Faction Missions are resetting
    • Insured Weapon Slots are resetting
    • Active Duty Slots are NOT restting
    • Contraband weapon inventories are NOT resetting

Vondel

  • Signals Intelligence New DMZ Contract 
    • Signals Intelligence allows you to hack 3 other Contracts to earn passive income
  • New Weapons Case and Rewards
    • Travel to Vondel to track down the Bullfrog and earn all new rewards

Adjustments

  • Enemy Combatants killed with suppressed weapons will now take longer to call in reinforcements 
  • Running a helicopter into the DMZ boss chopper will now aggro it
  • AI combatant damage has been adjusted relative to the increased Player health
  • Stealth Vest:
    • Now protects against Advanced UAV effects, Players can no longer be revealed by Players with a Comms Vest
    • Players using the Stealth Vest will not trigger a callout from enemy Players with a Comms Vest  

Related: DMZ season 4: Release date, reset details, and more

Bug fixes

  • Fixed an issue where enemy combatants were not using Gas Masks
  • Fixed an issue preventing several Blueprints from working properly in DMZ 
  • Fixed an issue where, when a Player defusing the charge at a supply site is downed (interrupting the defusing), the charge is no longer incorrectly defused 
  • Fixed an issue where pleading for help while on the train could cause the camera to act incorrectly 
  • Fixed an issue where some laser traps were not visible in the Koschei Complex
  • Fixed an issue where Players were unable to join in progress when part of the Squad transitions to the Koschei Complex from Al Mazrah 
  • Fixed an issue where stowed Weapons weren’t reporting mission progress
Author
Image of Scott Duwe
Scott Duwe
Senior Staff Writer & Call of Duty lead. Professional writer for over 10 years. Lover of all things Marvel, Destiny 2, Metal Gear, Final Fantasy, Resident Evil, and more. Previous bylines include PC Gamer, Red Bull Esports, Fanbyte, and Esports Nation. DogDad to corgis Yogi and Mickey, sports fan (NY Yankees, NY Jets, NY Rangers, NY Knicks), Paramore fanatic, cardio enthusiast.