As someone who has loudly and proudly held a candle for Rebirth Island since its introduction in December 2020, the fact that I’d rather play Fortune’s Keep is a testament to the quality of the new map, which was introduced in Warzone Season 4 as the featured Resurgence experience. It’s full of beautifully designed buildings, traversal variety, and tons of places to get into tense, condensed firefights – Fortune’s Keep has reinvigorated this battle royale and reminded me of why I continue to return to it all these years later. 

Variety is the spice of fights 

At first, I found Fortune’s Keep a bit dense and overwhelming, especially since I was jumping back into Warzone after several months. My Resurgence matches would end rather quickly, offering me precious little time to explore the underground caves, ankle-deep waters, and beautiful Mediterranean-style town. But once I refamiliarized myself with Warzone’s gunplay and had some time alive to properly explore the new map, I was instantly hooked.

Fortune’s Keep is all about variety. On this rather small island there are both dense, layered networks of paths above and below ground, as well as several wide-open areas dotted with cover. The map has a level of verticality that is quite honestly unexpected, with ziplines and redeploy balloons scattered around the caves and multilevel buildings filled with ladders, balconies, and windows that open to elevated back alleys. But unlike the larger core battle royale maps of Caldera and Verdansk – and even Rebirth Island, to a lesser extent – there’s no well-covered, extra-tall monolith where snipers can camp for entire matches. Everything on Fortune’s Keep is only a few stories high, and all the better because of it. 

Gone are the wide-open sightlines of all three previous maps, and in their place are plenty of areas that funnel players into close-quarters fights – many of which unfurl as you sprint around corners desperate for cover, or as you get lost in the island’s many winding corridors and dimly lit subterranean tunnels. The Town location exemplifies Fortune Keep’s thrillingly tight combat, with several multi-level buildings that are easy to get lost in but just as easy to exploit and use against your enemies. Every time I enter Town, my heart is in my throat as I try to hop through windows and slide around corners to evade gunfire. The graveyard overlooking Town seems like it would be a place to easily spy on and pick off enemy combatants, but the varying elevations of the surrounding areas mean camping in a building’s window is just as unsafe as darting through the tombstones. 

Fortune’s Keep also looks beautiful, with a vibrant color palette and ornate Italian-inspired architecture that stands in stark contrast to the brutalism of Verdansk and the militaristic functionality of Rebirth Island. When I’m not being actively shot at, I like to think about how much fun I’d have on vacation here. I could swim in the turquoise waters of Smuggler’s Cove, get tipsy at a tasting at the winery, and stay in a little old nonna’s garlic-tinged AirBnB in Town. Fortune’s Keep feels like a real place, not a barren space moonlighting as a Russian-ish town or an island created solely to imprison people.

 A breath of fresh ocean air 

Fortune’s Keep is not for the faint of heart. Expect to be attacked no matter where you go, especially as you near the final few circles. This is not a map where you can cheesily camp for a few rounds and pop out during the waning moments to snatch a win out from another team’s grasp – and that’s part of what makes it so special. You may not have to prove your skill in a 1v1 battle just to return to the battlefield (remember, you can come back every time you die, so long as Resurgence is open) but that doesn’t mean this is a game mode and map for green players.

But what’s beautiful about Fortune’s Keep is that it never feels unfair. You may be constantly getting attacked no matter where you run, but there are so many ways for you to get out of a sticky situation that it almost always feels like you stand a chance.  All three previous maps (Verdansk, Rebirth Island, and Caldera) were limited in terms of traversal, with only a few routes available to get out of sticky situations. Verdansk became defined by snipers overlooking its many open fields, while Caldera’s layout was all about open, vulnerable spaces stretching between densely populated hubs. And even though I adore Rebirth Island, getting trapped over by the Nova 6 factory was always a nightmare, as was trying to make it to Decon Zone from the prison roof while the gas was closing in. But Fortune’s Keep plays with space in a way like no other Warzone map has before it, offering you myriad windows to jump out of, trellises to climb up, and ledges to mantle onto. 

It’s because of these traversal opportunities that Fortune’s Keep always feels fresh. Even though my squad drops into the same place three matches in a row (Town, of course), each match plays out differently because of the density of the area and the opportunities it affords. In one round, we get pinned between squads in Graveyard and Overlook, who descend upon us in the low-lying town streets, eliminating us before we even make the final 10. In another, we hold down a single building until the final circle, rotating out to different rooftops to pick off teams in surrounding areas.

In a winning match, we ran out of Town in the late game and dropped into the Grotto’s caves during a Fire Sale, raining airstrikes down on the squads above us until there were only two teams remaining. On Fortune’s Keep, I never know what’s going to happen next, and I always felt like I had a way out, which is a feeling I haven’t gotten while playing this game in ages. Thanks to Fortune’s Keep’s beautiful visuals and wildly fun layout, I’m having consistent fun again in Warzone for the first time in months.

If you haven’t already, check out our definitive ranking of the best Call of Duty games.

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Activision got the ball rolling with some teases this week as content creators and streamers started receiving slices of cake (opens in new tab) with a part of a new map printed on top of it. That gave the community part of the puzzle, though the remaining pieces came in response to a light riddle (opens in new tab) on Twitter. Once everyone had all the details they needed, a new Resurgence map called Fortune’s Keep swiftly came together. 

Activision has posted the finished map to Twitter, so you don’t have to go too far to find it. Warzone’s Fortune Keep’s map appears similar to Rebirth Island, being somewhat smaller than Verdansk at first glance. That said, you still have plenty of points of interest to check out. Town, Overlook, and Graveyard are clustered to the left side of the map, while you can find areas like Winery, Camp, and Lighthouse with more space between them over to the right side. 

Thank you to our community for helping reveal Fortune’s Keep, a new #Warzone Resurgence map, where the amount of danger and action is second only to its riches 💰🏆💥Coming soon 🌴 pic.twitter.com/MzVuKATvF7June 13, 2022

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Activision hasn’t offered a firm release date on the new map, though we imagine it’ll arrive with Warzone Pacific Season 4. 

The developers introduced Warzone’s Resurgence game mode sometime after the battle royale’s launch. It takes the typical last man standing formula and shrinks it in size. You’ve only got around 40 players in each game, the Gulag is gone, and the game is only lost when everyone on your team is out. 

While a lot of chatter is turning to the upcoming Call of Duty: Warzone 2, there’s still plenty to come for the original game. 

Check out our Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 guide for everything we know on the next game in the series.

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The damage range, power, and firing speed of the M1916 in Warzone and Vanguard mean you can pretty much slap an optic on and be done. It’s a pretty stable weapon and we’ve honestly wielded it very well with just an added sight, but with a few more attachments it’s a very capable ranged option. 

However, the M1916 also has a twist in the shape of a full auto conversion, making it a usable if not outstanding assault rifle option. Let’s take a look at both M1916 loadout options in Warzone and Vanguard.

You can also check out our Warzone Nikita AVT loadouts if you want see what the other free Battle Pass gun can do. 

Best Warzone M1916 marksman rifle loadout

• Muzzle – MX Silencer
• Barrel – ZP 762 Precision
• Optic – SVT-40 PU Scope 3-6x
• Stock – Fitzherbert Reinforced
• Rear Grip – Leather Grip
• Ammo Type – Lengthened
• Underbarrel – Heavy Foregrip
• Proficiency – Awareness
• Kit – Deep breath

Because the Warzone M1916 is all about landing fast double taps at range, this loadout is tailored to quick stability. The MX Silencer boosts accuracy while obviously keeping you hidden, and the ZP 762 Precision barrel further improves accuracy, as well as bullet velocity and speed. Similarly, the Fitzherbert Reinforced stock boost stability, accuracy and recoil while giving you a little flinch resistance as well. However, the stock does reduce the aim down sight speed, hence the Polymer rear grip which buffs that to counter it. Finally, the Heavy Foregrip raises stability, recoil and walking steadiness. 

The lengthened rounds increase the bullet velocity which is always useful at range and we’ve not chosen any mag  type – the default 20 option is good enough and quick to reload, so it’s worth sticking with that over any cons that come with alternate options.  We’ve gone with the SVT-40 PU Scope 3-6x for some variable ranges but you can add in whatever scope you like depending on the distance you prefer. Just remember that two shot kill doesn’t reach to the gun’s full range, so maybe don’t go too far. 

The Awareness proficiency will let you see enemy nameplates further away to find targets, while the Deep Breath kit is just there for options if you’re lining up a far shot. 

Best Warzone M1916 full auto loadout

• Muzzle – G28 Compensator
• Barrel – Wyvern 532mm Full-Auto
• Optic – Saturn 1.35 Lens
• Stock – Fitzherbert Reinforced or Removed Stock
• Magazine – 8mm Klauser 40 Round
• Ammo Type – Hollow Point
• Underbarrel – Heavy Foregrip
• Proficiency – Vital
• Kit – Fully Loaded

While the M1916 Marksman full auto option might seem odd, it’s a decent enough assault rifle if you want to try it out. It all obviously hangs on the Wyvern 532mm Full-Auto barrel conversion, which increases recoil control and aim down sight speed to help deal with the increased, fully automatic fire rate. Because this is less of a stealthy option we’ve added on the G28 Compensator to further bring the recoil in. We’ve stuck with the Heavy Foregrip and Fitzherbert Reinforced stock for general accuracy and recoil improvements, although if movement is more important to you, you can swap in the Removed Stock for great mobility at the expense of accuracy and recoil control. 

The one big change we’ve gone for here are those 8mm Klauser 40 Round magazine. This has a decent fire rate so the extra ammo helps keep you shooting for longer. Something we’ve buffed further with the fully loaded Kit for an extra mag. The Vital proficiency just increases the critical hit area which should help all those bullets find a target.  

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Over on Twitter, Raven Software shared the title card for what’s being called Call of Duty Warzone: Rebirth Reinforced. The image shows the title of the update in front of a map of Rebirth Island with some pictures tacked to it. There’s also a gun and some ammo laying on top of the map. “Reloaded and Reinforced, next week Rebirth Island gets a facelift,” reads the tweet from Raven.

If you look closely, the map seems to be teasing a few of the updates coming to the Rebirth Island map change. Check it out:

☣️ Reloaded and Reinforced, next week Rebirth Island gets a facelift.@BeenoxCODPC are you ready to drop in? pic.twitter.com/4TzHpTUONfMarch 18, 2022

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It doesn’t take a monocle to see that the updated Rebirth Island seems to have changed the security area to a stronghold, and it looks like there are a couple of ships at the docks. Other than that, it’ll remain a mystery exactly what’s being changed until the map refresh launches at an unspecified point next week.

Rebirth Island launched back in December of 2020 as part of Call of Duty Warzone’s first season of Black Ops Cold War content, and it’s largely lived on unchanged in the time since. Rebirth Reinforced will be the first major update to the smaller of the two Warzone maps currently featured in the game. And if you want to learn more about the update, here GamesRadar’s Josh West argues that the big changes are so long-overdue that Rebirth Island Reinforced is going to make or break Warzone for him.

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The publisher revealed the details of the series’ 2022 plans in an official blog post (opens in new tab), revealing that this year’s annual Call of Duty release is a sequel to 2019’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, and that it’s being developed alongside “a new Warzone experience.” Both games, Activision says, are being developed by Modern Warfare developer Infinity Ward from the ground up using a new engine.

Not a whole lot has been revealed about the next iteration of Warzone nor the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare sequel, but Activision says to “expect a massive evolution of Battle Royale with all-new playspace and a new sandbox mode.”

The basic details of today’s big Call of Duty news were shared with a select few influencers on Thursday, but now we have confirmation straight from the publisher about what’s next for the franchise. Recent rumors, chiefly from leaker Tom Henderson, claim that the reason Warzone 2 is being built from the ground up is because of technical limitations in the original battle royale. 

In its meeting with content creators yesterday, Activision reportedly dodged a question about whether the new Call of Duty will launch on last-gen consoles, which could suggest the publisher is eyeing a new-gen launch on PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC, though that’s pure speculation at the moment.

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Yesterday on January 4, Activision filed a lawsuit against EngineOwning, a gigantic distributor of cheats for Call of Duty: Warzone. As recapped in the tweet below from CharlieIntel, Activision is seeking to put a stop to “unlawful conduct” in their games, through preventing the sale of “malicious software products designed to enable members of the public to gain unfair competitive advantages in the COD games.”

BREAKING: Activision has filed a lawsuit against EngineOwning, one of the largest Warzone cheat distributor. pic.twitter.com/AxHDitPKqhJanuary 5, 2022

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However, the lawsuit isn’t ending at damages through Call of Duty games. Activision is alleging through the lawsuit that EngineOwning is attempting to develop cheats for use in Overwatch, another Activision-published game, and is therefore asking through the lawsuit that cheats in additional games are eliminated.

This isn’t the first time Activision has taken steps against a cheat manufacturer for Call of Duty games. Last year in July, it was reported that a cheat utilizing machine learning was being developed for use in Call of Duty: Warzone. At Activision’s request, however, the cheat makers ceased development immediately, and the entire situation never escalated further.

Later on in the year, Warzone officially launched its Ricochet anti-cheat initiative, aiming to catch and eliminate all cheaters throughout the battle royale game. The Ricochet system officially launched last month, and for a complete walkthrough of what exactly the new system does, as well as how successful it’s been so far, head over to our Warzone Ricochet anti cheat system explained guide for more.

For details on the lawsuits currently facing Activision themselves though, you can read up on our Activision Blizzard lawsuit explained guide.

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Best double barrel shotgun loadout in Warzone

The best double barrel shotgun loadout in Warzone is definitely one that makes use of the Akimbo perk, because – and you’re free to check our maths on this one – two shotguns are nearly always better than one. There’s basically nothing that can stand up to a barrage of gunfire, especially in the close range, meaning that as long as you can get the shot you’ve probably won the fight. There’s a reason people are calling for this weapon to be nerfed, but until then, you should upset a few people by trying the build below, which is all about making that first attack as devastating as possible.

• Muzzle: M97 Full Choke
• Underbarrel: None (blocked by Akimbo)
• Barrel: Sawed-Off
• Magazine: None
• Ammo Type: Packed Powder
• Optic: None
• Rear Grip: Fabric Grip/Pine Tar Grip
• Stock: Removed Stock/None
• Perk: Akimbo
• Perk 2: Quick

As you can see, there’s some variations and choices available when it comes to the Rear Grip and Stock attachments, as both of these are minor variations that emphasise certain aspects over others. But the rest of it is far more important – mainly that once you select Akimbo, which you should, the other attachments speak for themselves. Underbarrel options get blocked off, and then you’re choosing for maximum offensive power. Packed Powder, the Full Choke and the Quick perk will all push towards you being as dangerous as possible, especially in buildings and in close range conflict.

Beyond that, you want to pick secondaries and perks that’ll either build on the advantage or cover the failings of the double barrel shotgun – namely range. That’s where Overkill comes into play, choosing a good secondary weapon that can cover fights at a distance.

• Secondary Weapon: Kar98k
• Perk 1: Cold-Blooded/Double Time
• Perk 2: Overkill
• Perk 3: Amped
• Lethal Equipment: Frag
• Tactical Equipment: Stun Grenade/Heartbeat Sensor

There’s some room for experimentation here. The Kar98k we’ve put down simply because, as one of the Warzone best sniper rifles, it’s a safe secondary choice as it is in many loadouts. Failing that, any assault rifle, LMG or long-range weapon can help you in those circumstances where the double-barrel can’t. Past that point, you decide whether you want to sure-up your close range game, or spec out a little into more of a jack-of-all trades route, both of which are very valid choices. Whichever you pick, you’ll definitely have a good chance of victory whenever you head out into Caldera.

How to unlock the Warzone Double Barrel Shotgun

The double barrel shotgun is relatively easy to unlock in Warzone – simply reach level 49, not in the Battle Pass, but overall as a player. It’ll take a while if you’ve just started playing, or you might have it already, but by simply playing for long enough you’ll get it eventually.

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Warzone Pacific audio cutting out on PC solution

If Warzone Pacific audio starts cutting out on PC for you, or any other platform, there’s no clear cause beyond basic issues at the coding level. This is a glitch that seems to have come in with the implementation of Caldera and it doesn’t look like there’s any obvious trigger for what sets it off to be avoided. This tends to take two forms – either audio disappearing altogether, or certain elements of the audio mixing going quiet for no clear reason. So the sound might seem perfectly fine, but there’s elements that have gone quiet – gunfire or explosions, and this is a dangerous loss when these can warn you of a threat before you’re killed. It’s not one of the Warzone Error codes, but it’s just as frustrating all the same.

In terms of a solution… there isn’t one, as far as we know. Raven Software has addressed the issue on their public Trello Board, indicating that they’re aware of the problem and working on it, but there’s no clear solution that we know of at this time, though we’ll be sure to update this page accordingly the moment we hear more about the problem. Until then, some people have reported some success when it comes to rebooting the game and updating their graphic drivers, but this seems to be a pretty hit-and-miss solution at the best of times, and doesn’t guarantee it’ll work for everybody.

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Warzone Pacific map release time

The Pacific map, Caldera, has a release time that differs according to one thing: have you bought a copy of Call of Duty Vanguard? If the answer is yes, you should be able to play it right now. If the answer is no, you won’t get it for a few more hours (laid out below depending on your region). Players who bought Vanguard have the chance to try out Caldera 24 hours before anybody else on early access, assuming they link their Call of Duty account to both games. So if you have Vanguard, you can do it right now. However, for those who don’t, these are the times you should be waiting for on December 9th:

• EST (East Coast): 9:00 AM December 9th
• PST (West Coast): 12:00 PM December 9th
• GMT (UK): 5:00 PM December 9th
• CEST (Europe): 6:00 PM December 9th

If you don’t have Vanguard, Warzone will be unplayable for those 24 hours leading up to the above release times – sorry to say it. This club is Vanguard-exclusive until the doors are thrown open for everybody.

How to play the Pacific map early

For those who want to play the Pacific map early, you need to make sure that you have a copy of Vanguard, that you’ve actually played it (it’s not always enough to go into the main menu), and that it’s tied to the same COD account as your copy of Warzone.

Once you’ve done that, simply close Vanguard again and open Warzone (ensuring you have all the latest updates for both). While there will be a new loading screen explaining that non-Vanguard players can’t come in, this is just a loading screen – wait for a few minutes at most and you should be let in.

It’s also worth mentioning that (at time of writing), the only gamemode playable in the new map is the Vanguard version, so while you can technically access Caldera and tweak your loadouts from Modern Warfare, Cold War and Vanguard in the menu, you can only bring in Vanguard guns, equipment and items to Caldera – try anything else and you’ll just be given random Vanguard loadouts instead.

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In a tweet, the publisher confirmed that Vanguard’s first season has been pushed back a week, alongside Warzone’s upcoming new map. Both will now release on December 8, for which Vanguard players will have a “24-hour exclusive first play” to play Warzone’s new map from that date. Open access for all Warzone players is scheduled to go live on December 9.

“Vanguard owners will have 24-hour exclusive first play access to the Caldera map. Open access begins on Dec. 9,” the company explained in a tweet, which offered no further information about the reasons behind the delay.

Update: Season 1 of #Vanguard and Warzone Pacific will now release Dec. 8. Vanguard owners will have 24-hour exclusive first play access to the Caldera map. Open access begins on Dec. 9. pic.twitter.com/GnnYCp6g75November 19, 2021

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The delay follows a new report earlier this week that revealed multiple details about allegations of sexual misconduct at Activision Blizzard’s studios (opens in new tab). Following a statement from Activision Blizzard, ABetterABK – a worker’s alliance at the company – staged a walkout. The group issued a statement on Twitter, in which they also call for Bobby Kotick to be replaced as CEO.

“There’s enough to Call of Duty: Vanguard to make it one of the better recent installments – up there with Modern Warfare and better than Cold War,” we said in GamesRadar+’s Call of Duty: Vanguard review (opens in new tab). 

“The story starts slow and its smaller character-focused framing might not be for everyone but the levels themselves are all great little stories in their own right and do a good job of making you like the characters. 

“The final levels mesh everyone together in a beautifully clever way as gameplay passes you from one to the next depending on what’s needed. And, with the single-player done, the multiplayer feels like something I’ll happily settle in for a few rounds of an evening for a while to come. I’m going to need a bit of time to think about where this sits in the COD rankings but right now it’s up somewhere high for me.” 

For everything we know about the events that lead up to this new report, check out our reporting on the Activision Blizzard lawsuit (opens in new tab).

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