Get ready for the grind Call of Duty is one of the most competitive video games you can play — the...

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Here's a breakdown of the Ranked Play Beta coming soon to Call of Duty: Vanguard multiplayer.

Both a new game and Warzone experience will be designed together Today, Activision Blizzard unveiled some changes coming for Call of Duty:...

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It's almost Valentine's Day, and to set the mood, Activision has updated the playlist names for Call of Duty: Vanguard with a spicy and suggestive twist.

As you can see in the image below, the playlists now have new, more amorous-themed names, including "Up Close And Personal," "Lover's Lane," and "Heartpoint." The Champion Hill modes now have new names, too, including "Third Wheel," "Couples," and "Single And Ready To Mingle." There is also the usual Private Match, which, uh, could be considered suggestive in its own way.

These new playlist names seem to be slightly toned down and less suggestive than playlist names from past Valentine's Day updates. Fans may recall how 2019's Modern Warfare had special playlists names like "Friends With Benefits," "Hurts So Good," "Hot Singles In Your Area," and who could forget, "Wanna Cyber?"

These new playlist names will presumably be available through the weekend until at least Monday, February 14, which is Valentine's Day.

In other Call of Duty news, Activision has just announced Call of Duty: Warzone 2 and Modern Warfare 2, both of which are expected to launch this year to help rev up the franchise after Vanguard and the original Warzone began to slow down. Activision isn't walking away from the original Warzone just yet, however, as the major new Season 2 update arrives on February 14 with some significant changes planned.

Sequels to both Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Warzone have been revealed, but Activision has also highlighted its plans to fix the broken state of the current Warzone experience. In a February 11 blog post, Activision addressed some of Warzone's biggest issues since the new Caldera map dropped with Season 1, which include console performance issues, graphical bugs, and invisible skins.

"The number one priority for our developers is quality of life," Activision said. "Making changes that allow Warzone to be more accessible and less frustrating for our community." The publisher then revealed that over 30 improvements would be arriving with the launch of Season 2 on February 14.

Among these updates will be improvements to all forms of movement, which include vehicle handling, parachutes deploying at a lower vertical height, increased player mantle height, and collision fixes for both vehicles and players. The update will also make changes to Warzone's frustrating gas mask animation, which currently interrupts players while they aiming down sights. Players can also expect a change to refilling armor plates, as it will be updated to refill a full plate of armor before filling damaged ones.

Changes to movement in Warzone come alongside plans to squash more bugs and issues, as Activision said Season 2 will address several major issues. These updates will focus on performance and streaming issues, which include Buy Station freezes, voice chat connectivity, and distorted graphics across all platforms. Invisible operator skins have been a real nuisance in Warzone since Season 1, but fixes are also coming to correct these specific operator skins from going invisible at certain distances.

For those still wanting to play 2019's Modern Warfare yet unable to access the game, Activision said a fix is on the way for those unable to play the game. The noted cause for blockages to Modern Warfare's multiplayer were issues tied to Warzone's launcher.

Activision said that the main priority is still providing the community with a positive and fun gameplay experience. "The team's focus is strictly on the Warzone experience we are all playing today, addressing current frustrations, and tackling several important requests from our community."

In an Activision-hosted call with Charlieintel and other press and content creators, Infinity Ward Co-Studio Head Pat Kelly, Activision Game Director Josh Bridge, and Raven Software's Eric Biesmann discussed Warzone's problems, and as Charlieintel described, bluntly admitted to messing stuff up.

The developers also told CharlieIntel that Warzone was originally built solely as an addition to 2019's Modern Warfare, but after its incredible success, they wanted to incorporate it into future titles. This decision caused "significant development challenges," which the developers said left the game feeling "bloated" with all the additional Black Ops Cold War and Vanguard. However, they also said that these issues would be addressed throughout the rest of the year.

Hopefully, Warzone will feel a bit smoother when the new content drops for Season 2. This second season of Vanguard-related content is set to bring WWII bomber planes and chemical warfare to Caldera. Attack on Titan is also getting another Call of Duty crossover with an Armored Titan skin.

Infinity Ward is developing a sequel to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2019 in tandem with a "new Warzone experience" that are being designed together "from the ground up." Both games will release in 2022.

Sony's PlayStation 5 was the United States' best-selling console in January 2022, the NPD Group has announced.

A massive content drop is arriving to Vanguard and Warzone with the launch of Call of Duty Season 2 on February 14. This new season will be themed around armored war machines and Captain Butcher's newly introduced Task Force Yeti, and Activision has already revealed what players can expect from this new season's battle pass.

Season 2 will bring a new 100-tier battle pass to level up, which offers both free and premium tiers of content. There will be over 30 free tiers in the pass, which is loaded with all the normal cosmetics like watches and weapon blueprints. However, the real meat of the free content comes with Season 2's additions of a killstreak, more perks, and two new weapons.

Unlocked at tier 1, the Ball Turret Gunner, which was a killstreak previously featured in Call of Duty: WWII, is an ability that can be earned after achieving a 12 killstreak. At tier 15 of the pass, players can unlock the KG M40 assault rifle, which is described as a high-caliber, fully-automatic weapon that is a strong contender for mid- to long-range gunfights. And at tier 31, the Whitley light machine gun is unlocked. Activision describes this new light machine gun as having a slow fire rate with low recoil.

Additionally, the two new perks are called Armory and Mechanic. Unlocked at tier 21, Mechanic is a perk meant to provide a buff to the Field Upgrade charge time, making it useful for players who love to use Field Upgrades. The Armory perk is unlocked at tier 44, and it will serve as a direct counter to the Engineer perk. This is described as an ideal perk for players who use more equipment, such as Demolition Charges, concussion mines, and placeable Field Equipment pieces.

Gallery

For players looking for even more rewards, the premium battle pass can be purchased for 1,000 CoD Points or $10, which includes additional cosmetic items, weapon blueprints, and the new operator Anna Drake. A member of Task Force Yeti, Anna's first skin can be instantly unlocked at tier 0. She also has a legendary rarity "White Mirage" skin that's rewarded at tier 100. The operator Constanze also gets a new "Black Leaf" skin that outfits her in a black leather jacket.

Outside of the battle pass content, there is also an Armored Titan operator skin coming as another Attack on Titan crossover bundle. Season 2 is set to bring tanks and a plenty of Zombies content to Vanguard, while Warzone is getting bomber planes, NPCs, and toxic gas.

Call of Duty's publisher is in the process of being acquired by Microsoft, pending regulatory approval, but the deal isn't expected to go through until later this year at the soonest. Microsoft's president recently said that the company wants to bring Call of Duty to Nintendo, assuming the acquisition goes through.

Call of Duty: Vanguard's Season 2 update is already available for download, and while the seasonal content doesn't go live until February 14, the patch notes detail some gameplay improvements and bug fixes have already been implemented with the new update.

Multiplayer updates

According to the patch notes from Sledgehammer Games, improvements have been made to Call of Duty: Vanguard that should result in better connectivity and lower crash rates. These changes include several improvements to player textures and animations that resulted in packet burst spikes, and a bug fix for an issue that previously resulted in players disconnecting during MVP Highlight Animations. The time to connect to online services should also be reduced.

A few killstreak bugs were also squashed ahead of Season 2. The developer says it fixed a bug that resulted in graphical corruption when attack dogs were killed by a Glide Bomb killstreak, and another bug that resulted in the flare and smoke VFX from a previously called-in Mortar Barrage killstreak to temporarily reappear. Additionally, deploying the Mortar Barrage will no longer force the player's weapon to switch.

Not all of Call of Duty's cosmetic weapons bundles have been working as intended, but the patch notes show several fixes for broken weapon tracers or missing items. Sledgehammer Games says that players who purchased the Year of the Tiger bundle but did not receive the Tiger Blueprint, should now have the item. Tracers for the Red Reactor Mastercraft should now be displayed on weapons as intended, and the Ashed tracers for the Graveyard Shift Mastercraft will now display correctly when applied to the Ore Sniper Rifle.

Zombies updates

For Zombies, a few changes were made to Artifacts. The Energy Mine now triggers the Splatterfest Covenant, while Frost Blast Tier I now freezes Sturmkriegers. The patch notes also addressed an issue where players weren't being ignored by zombies after activating Aether Shroud immediately following a Self-Revive.

Players should hopefully notice that Zombies mode runs smoother now. The update mentions fixes for various stability issues related to Covenants, objectives, perks, Power-Ups, and equipment, as well as corrections for various UI issues related to Challenges.

Additionally, players can now unlock Season 1's Cooper Carbine assault rifle and Gorenko Anti-Tank Rifle sniper through in-game challenges for Zombies mode.

Here are all the details for Call of Duty Season 2 for both Vanguard and Warzone. The recent cinematic trailer reveals a season themed around tanks and chemical warfare.

The full patches can be seen below, as shared by Sledgehammer Games.

MULTIPLAYER UPDATES

Stability

• Made several improvements to player textures and animations that resulted in Packet Burst spikes.
• Stability improvements should result in better connectivity and lower crash rates. The time to connect to Online Services should also be reduced.
• Fixed a bug that resulted in disconnecting during MVP Highlight Animations.

Maps

• General
  • A thorough pass on map environments has been completed to fix objects with unintended collision, issues with portaling through the ground, and to remove out-of-map exploits.
• Champion Hill
  • There will no longer be two consecutive buy rounds at the beginning of every Champion Hill Duos 2v2 private match.
  • A bug has been resolved that resulted in players losing Perk and Field Upgrade functionality in Private Matches if they played a match in Champion Hill previously.
  • Spawn improvements have been made for teams of three.

Modes

• Control
  • Fixed a bug that resulted in matches ending prematurely after a spectator disconnects.
  • Late match joiners are now able to spawn in when lives are available.
  • Swapping to spectate/different teams now consistently updates the lives left.
  • The last player alive warning now consistently appears.
• Private Matches
  • Silent Plant Option now works in Search and Destroy Private matches (fixed Feb 3rd).

Progression

• Seasonal Challenges
  • All players can now unlock Season 1 Mastery Cards after completing all challenges.
  • Field Specialist challenge is now tracking for all players.
  • Counter Measures challenges are now tracking consistently for all players.
• Operator Challenges
  • The Diamond operator skins will now unlock for Barbarian and Shadow operators.
• Welgun
  • Gold and Diamond camos are now unlockable after completing all weapon Challenges.
• Launchers
  • Ground based Killlstreaks now count towards the 'Deadeye' camo.

Weapon Adjustments

• Combat Shield
  • Fixed a bug that exposed player’s heads to damage above the shield.
• Throwing Knife
  • Distortion VFX have been removed.

Equipment

• Incendiary Grenade
  • Fixed a bug that caused additionally visuals to appear when Incendiary Grenades are used.
  • Number of Incendiary Grenade uses are now tracked in your combat record.

Perks

• Dauntless
  • Suppression no longer applies to players with the Dauntless perk when the player is hit by shots.
• Engineer
  • Players are no longer able to see an enemy Goliath’s diamond through walls without the Engineer perk.

Killstreaks

• Glide Bomb
  • Fixed a bug that resulted in graphical corruption when Attack Dogs were killed by a Glide Bomb.
• Mortar Barrage
  • Fixed a bug that resulted in the flare and smoke VFX from previously called-in Mortar Barrages temporarily re-appear.
  • Deploying the Mortar Barrage will no longer force-switch the player's weapon.
• Flamenaut
  • Activating the killstreak and getting killed at the same time will now grant you the killstreak.

Field Upgrade

• Fix a bug with Deployable Cover that resulted in constant screen shake.

Bundles & MTX

• Attack on Titan
  • Fixed a bug that resulted in missing VFX on the Kar98k.
• Year of the Tiger
  • Players who purchased this Bundle but did not receive the Tiger Blueprint, should now have the item.
• Red Reactor Mastercraft
  • Tracers are now displayed on weapons as intended.
• Graveyard Shift Mastercraft
  • “Ashed” tracers will now display correctly when applied to the Ore Sniper Rifle.
• Animalistic
  • Fixed a lighting bug with the Aquatint SMG that cause unintended lighting effect.
• Santa Slay
  • The Lucas Operator outfit, “Yarn Burner”, is no longer invisible for some players.

UI/UX

• A bug has been fixed that stopped players being unable to select a weapon when editing Prestige weapon classes.
• Prestige player progression is now viewable and tracking properly.
• Watch preview is no longer missing from the Battle Pass menu.

Misc

• A bug resulting in Play of the Game not playing or ending early has been fixed.
• Quips no longer play after an Operator is dead.

• Free Trial players should no longer encounter the error "This content is only available in the full game.

ZOMBIES PATCH NOTES

Maps

• "Terra Maledicta"
  • New Zombies experience located in Egypt available on Feb. 14th.
• Arenas
  • Three new Arenas available in "Terra Maledicta": Eastern Desert, Corrupted Lands, and Hall of Truth.

Story Quest

• New Story Quest available in "Terra Maledicta" starting at 9AM PT / 12PM ET on Feb. 14th.

New Intel

• New narrative intel available in "Terra Maledicta" to advance the Dark Aether story.

Wonder Weapons

• Ray Gun
  • Ray Gun Wonder Weapon available via the Mystery Box and loot drops on Feb. 10th.
• Decimator Shield
  • Available via the Story Quest in "Terra Maledicta."
  • Added to the Mystery Box once it has been obtained from the Story Quest.
  • Offers players superior protection and the unique Decimation Blast ability.

New Ally

• Vercanna the Last
  • New Dark Aether entity available, featuring the Healing Aura ability via her Artifact, the Wand of the Wilds.

Enemies

• Zaballa the Deceiver
  • New enemy type added to "Terra Maledicta" and "Der Anfang."

Objectives

• Sacrifice
  • New Objective type available in "Terra Maledicta," and added to "Der Anfang" at a later date.
  • Keep the Syphoncores from feeding on undead essence to stop the hordes from being unleashed. Prevent zombies from filling all three Syphoncores to stop the dark ceremony and complete the Objective.
• Void
  • Modified the way the Objective complete XP bonus is awarded when returning to Stalingrad after a Void Objective in "Der Anfang."
• Harvest
  • Closed exploits related to the Sin Eater in "Der Anfang."

Artifacts

• Healing Aura
  • New upgradable ability available via Vercanna the Last's Artifact.
  • Tiers:
    • Tier I - The Wand of the Wilds summons Vercanna's Life Energy to instantly heal yourself and allies to full health.
    • Tier II - Knock down normal enemies and stun Sturmkriegers near each player.
    • Tier III - Revive all downed allies.
    • Tier IV - Revived allies have their lost Perks returned.
    • Tier V - The Life Energy persists at each location for 10 seconds and continues to heal and revive players.
• Energy Mine
  • Energy Mine now triggers the Splatterfest Covenant.
• Frost Blast
  • Frost Blast Tier I now freezes Sturmkriegers.
• Aether Shroud
  • Addressed an issue where players weren’t being ignored by zombies after activating Aether Shroud immediately following a Self-Revive.

Covenants

• Artifact Ward
  • New ability with three rarities added to the Altar of Covenants on Feb. 10th.
  • Equip for a chance to trigger your Artifact for free when hit by a melee attack from the rear.
  • Rarities:
    • Rare: Being hit by a melee attack on the back has a chance to trigger your Artifact
    • Epic: Being hit by a melee attack on the back has a higher chance to trigger your Artifact.
    • Legendary: Being hit by a melee attack anywhere has a higher chance to trigger your Artifact.

Weapons

• Season Two
  • KG M40 and Whitley available in Zombies loadouts once unlocked via the Season Two Battle Pass.
• Unlock Challenges
  • New Weapon Unlock Challenges added to Zombies for the Cooper Carbine and Gorenko Anti-Tank Rifle.
• Support
  • The Warmachine and Deathmachine can now be obtained from the Mystery Box, chests, and as loot drops from enemies.
  • Addressed an issue where critical damage was not being correctly displayed for the Warmachine.
• General
  • Addressed various issues with attempting to swap out a melee weapon for a weapon from the ground.

Pack-a-Punch Camos

• New Camos
  • Three new camos available at the Pack-a-Punch machine in "Terra Maledicta."
• General
  • Pack-a-Punch Camos in "Der Anfang" are now animated.
  • Pack-a-Punch Camos now properly apply to Weapon Blueprints, weapons found in the Mystery Box, and weapons dropped by enemies.

Challenges

• Season Challenges
  • New Season Challenges available at the start of Season Two.
  • Addressed an issue where the Season One Mastery Calling Card was not displayed correctly.
• General
  • Addressed an issue where Launchers and the Combat Shield were not correctly contributing to certain Challenges.
  • Addressed various UI issues related to Challenges.

Stability

• Fixed various stability issues related to Covenants, Objectives, Perks, Power-Ups, and Equipment

The Call of Duty: Vanguard and Warzone Pacific Season Two roadmap is here. It details an array of new content across all modes. From new maps, weapons, points of interest and more, the upcoming season will be action-packed. To begin, deadly Nebula V gas will arrive in Warzone Pacific in different forms. The first is Nebula V ammunition, which lets off a poisonous gas cloud when you down an enemy. Attempting to revive the impacted operator leaves you feeling the effects of the gas such as coughing and blurred vision. Also, powerful Nebula V bombs will be available to use. They’re able to deal a high amount of damage in a small radius before the gas starts to spread. To fight against Nebula V, the Portable Decontamination Station is a new Field Equipment which can counter the gas by filtrating the air for a few seconds.   The Warzone Pacific Season Two roadmap details new locations Next, Caldera is getting two new points of interest. The first is a Chemical Factory, which i...

Most of the focus in Take-Two Interactive’s financial results was […]

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Here's a breakdown of the new weapons making their debuts with the launch of Call of Duty: Vanguard and Warzone Season 2.