Warzone Update Divides Players Over Area 99 Change

Key Takeaways

• Call of Duty: Warzone reduces player counts in Area 99 to improve match pacing and reduce third-party interruptions.
• Mixed reactions from the community on the update; some prefer Warzone’s Rebirth Island due to recent changes.
• Others think the reduced player counts will benefit players, seeing less quick deaths upon parachuting in on respawn.

Following a recent update, Call of Duty: Warzone reduced player counts for Area 99, dividing the community over how effective the changes are going to be. While not launching alongside Black Ops 6, the latest iteration of Call of Duty: Warzone has again become very popular with players.

Season 1 for Call of Duty: Warzone has brought a wealth of content for players to check out, including new operators, adjustments, and maps such as the return of Urzikstan and Rebirth Island. Area 99 also made its debut, a Treyarch designed map set in the Nevada desert offering players “intense, tactical combat” thanks to its many points of interest and smaller size. However, it hasn’t always been a smooth experience for players and new tweaks presented in a recent update have only further complicated the community’s feelings.

As part of its November 25 update, Call of Duty: Warzone’s Area 99 map has recieved changes based on internal data the developers have been seeing. Namely, the player counts for each of the different game modes have been lowered slightly. Quads and Duos have gone from 44 max down to 40, Trios is now at 42, and the Solo queue has dropped from 45 total players to just 40.

Reaction to the playlist change on Area 99 has largely been mixed. While some have remained hopeful that the lower player counts will help open up more space on the map, preventing so many quick deaths, others are disappointed in the change. Many indicated they’re likely to move back to Warzone‘s recently returned Rebirth Island map instead for a better experience.

Outside of the controversial change, the November 25 update also fixed some lingering bugs, including a frustrating gas mask animation where it unequips without the player initiating it. In addition, the Akimbo attachment option has been disabled for Black Ops 6 weapons and the game’s audio has again been adjusted, so the player cloth and gear sounds on Carry Forward operators from Modern Warfare 2 and 3 have had their volume reduced.

Call of Duty: Warzone November 25 Update Patch Notes

Playlist

After reviewing internal data, we’ve made the decision to slightly adjust the player count on Area 99, our newest Resurgence map.

The updated player counts are as follows:

• Quads: 44 → 40
• Trios: 45 → 42
• Duos: 44 → 40
• Solos: 45 → 40

These changes aim to improve the overall pacing of each match and reduce the frequency of third-party interruptions during engagements. We hope to reduce friction by striking a better balance between action and player agency, allowing players the all-important time to loot up – and get their Loadout.

In the meantime, we’ll continue monitoring feedback and data to make further adjustments if needed.

We look forward to sharing more about upcoming Warzone updates soon.

General

• Operator Audio
  • Reduced volume of player cloth and gear sounds for carry-forward Operators from MW2 and MW3, to be more similar in volume with BO6.
• High Mantle Speed
  • The speed at which players pull themselves over (mantle) high ledges or walls has been increased to better enable movement fluidity when climbing.

Weapons

• The Akimbo attachment has been disabled for Black Ops 6 weapons.

Firing Range

• Players using controller input can now double-tap left on the D-Pad to inspect weapons in the Firing Range.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed an issue with the Gas Mask where the unequip animation could still be encountered without player input.
  • As a reminder of the design:
    • Players will only see the unequip animation if they choose to remove it themselves.
    • The overlay will still fade away when the player is out of the gas.
    • Player controls and aim will not be overridden or interrupted by the Gas mask. Period.

• Fixed an issue where some weapons could have 9 attachments.

• Fixed an issue where some players would not see their Battle Pass progression after a match.