If you searched for the MW4 Season 1 roadmap, the short version is that Warzone is where most of the change lands.
Call of Duty: Warzone Season 1 goes live at 12:00 AM ET on November 6, 2026 (9:00 PM PT on November 5) on all platforms, and it is the update that fully integrates Modern Warfare 4 into the free-to-play game.
Your Player Level resets, the MW4 arsenal arrives, movement shifts, and the new Battle Royale map Hajin takes Warzone to the Korean Peninsula for the first time.
Three things will catch returning players first: you level up from the start again, Verdansk is not on the launch map list, and your older guns can no longer be edited in Gunsmith.
This guide draws on the two official Call of Duty blog posts for Season 1, one for multiplayer and DMZ and one for Warzone, and separates what arrives at launch from what arrives during the season. Everything here is current as of November 4, 2026.
The official post points to the Season 1 Patch Notes for finer details, so some specifics may shift once those are published.
The short version: your level restarts, and launch day means Hajin and Zodiac
The biggest change is integration. Player Level resets, and you level up again, with optional Prestige, across Multiplayer, DMZ and Warzone. You get all 33 MW4 launch weapons plus the Season 1 additions, each with Weapon Prestige and Warzone Mastery Camos to unlock.
Weapons from Modern Warfare II through Black Ops 7 stay playable in the Legacy tab of the Loadout menu, but they cannot be edited in Gunsmith and do not support MW4 features such as Mastery Camos, Weapon Customization or Build Sharing.
They are not left bare: each Legacy base weapon comes in a five-attachment version, and Legacy Blueprints keep their existing attachment setups. Those Blueprints start locked and unlock through Player XP in the Armory. Movement shifts too.
Tactical Sprint is available to all Operators without a Perk, with a slightly shorter duration, and you can drag a teammate out of harm's way while reviving them.
On the map, the Zipline Launcher fires a line between rooftops and high points, stays up until it is retrieved or destroyed, and can be used by enemy squads as well. The Grabber Drone picks up loot, objects and even downed teammates.
Weapon Augments are match-only upgrades from portable Fly Buy stations dropped by drones, in three types: CQC, Marksman and Handling.
Ground Ops are map activities such as drilling safes, using surveillance towers and shooting down cargo drones, and Grind for Royalty builds personal challenges from your own stats and resets each season. For recording and clip tips across the series, see our Call of Duty page.
Season 1 roadmap: launch content vs in-season content (as of November 4, 2026)
| Area | At launch on November 6 | In-season (no date as of November 4) |
|---|---|---|
| Warzone Battle Royale map | Hajin: 13 major POIs across North and South Korea, with clear skies, fog, wind and rain varying by match | Verdansk returns with the Signal Station, Grazna-7 Launch Complex, Overlook skyscraper and Drone Labs |
| Warzone Resurgence map | Zodiac: 10 POIs around a drone manufacturing headquarters, with moving trains and underground tunnels | Rebirth Island returns |
| Warzone limited-time modes | Rally Point (Zodiac, 20 players), Massive Resurgence (Hajin, 120 players), Loaded Resurgence (listed for Zodiac and Rebirth Island, 44 players) | Extreme Resurgence, Rockets and Snipers |
| MW4 multiplayer maps | Backstab and Canyon are brand new and Shoot House is reimagined. All three are medium 6v6 maps | Ministry, Overflow and additional maps |
| MW4 multiplayer modes | Grind, Drop Zone, Gauntlet 1v1 through the Wager Match Event, and the static Kill Block: Crash combo | Counter Attack and a new twist on Team Deathmatch |
| DMZ | X01 Black Site, new DMZ Orders guided by Ghost, Threat Briefing and Resupply Run events | Additional Threat Briefings and events |
| Weapons | Cronen Osprey Assault Rifle (Battle Pass Tier 16) and CSG-35 SMG (Tier 36) | JAK 12 Shotgun and ZLR Talonhawk melee axe, both Event rewards |
| Battle Pass | A linear 100-tier track across free and premium tiers. Premium owners who fall behind are caught up automatically to the current day, up to day 50 | Later in the season, premium owners who finish all 100 tiers get the chance to unlock eight extra Operator Skins |
Before the season goes live
- Check the Call of Duty blog for the Season 1 Patch Notes. As of November 4, the newest published notes are the MW4 launch notes.
- Tell your squad the launch maps: Hajin for Battle Royale and Zodiac for Resurgence. Verdansk and Rebirth Island come later.
- Decide whether your favorite older gun is worth keeping in its five-attachment Legacy version or whether to move to an MW4 weapon.
- Decide on the Operator Skin toggle. When it is on, other players' skins from older titles appear as MW4 Operators on your screen only. It is off by default.
- Free up drive space for the season update and your recordings.
How to spend your first day of Season 1
- 1Read the patch notes before your first dropOnce the season is live, download the update and read the Season 1 Patch Notes on the Call of Duty blog. The official roadmap already lists more weapon balance tuning, better visibility across all maps and improved footstep audio, and the notes are where the exact changes will appear.
- 2Rebuild your Loadout for the new systemsThere are 18 Perks in total: 15 you pick in your Loadout and three Elite Perks you find during a match, mainly at Buy Stations, with only one equipped at a time in a fourth slot. The Zipline Launcher and Grabber Drone are Field Upgrades, so you loot or buy them in the match instead of choosing them in the Loadout menu. If you want a Legacy weapon, pick it from the Legacy tab and unlock its Blueprint in the Armory with Player XP.
- 3Learn Zodiac and the new gear in Rally PointRally Point is a 20-player training ground on Zodiac with no circle, infinite Resurgence and drop-in, drop-out play, which makes it the easiest way back in for returning players. Zodiac is a compact map built around the DRC Advanced Systems drone headquarters in South Korea, with 10 POIs including Admin, Trackline and Furnace. Watch for the moving trains at Trackline, the underground tunnels and the explosive fuel barrels. Rally Point also has an exclusive Blueprint and two camos to unlock.
- 4Learn Hajin in Massive ResurgenceThe official post calls this 120-player mode an excellent way to learn the map. Hajin City's central districts have towering buildings and barricaded roads, so squads that move together get the better positions. Rural areas like Imjin Farmland are exposed and favor long-range fights. Across the border you reach North Korean locations such as the 14th Political Prison, Chang-san Air Base and Deadtown. The new Gulag comes in two versions, and local weather reaches it too.
- 5Record your first match on a new mapOn an unfamiliar map it is hard to remember where you got caught. Record your first match on Backstab or Canyon, or your first run into X01 in MW4, then use our guide to reviewing your own gameplay to see which lane you took and where the sightlines opened up. For a moment your squad should see, here is how to send a Call of Duty clip as a link.
Keep your first MW4 Season 1 matches with DOR
DOR is a free Windows game recorder. When you launch Modern Warfare 4, DOR detects it and records the whole session from launch to exit, so your first run through Backstab, Canyon or the X01 Black Site is saved without pressing record. Recordings collect in My Clips in the app.
Because the session is kept whole, you find the moments you want yourself, trim them and choose 16:9, 9:16 or 1:1. When you are studying a new map, leave a few extra seconds before the fight so you can see how you got there.
DOR Studio at dor.gg/studio lets you join several clips into one video, change the aspect ratio, add effect templates such as shake zoom or punch zoom, text and background music, then export an mp4 or share a dor.gg link. Game sound and your microphone are saved on one track, so your callouts stay with the play.
The free plan records at 720p or 1080p and 30 or 60 fps, with 1080p 30 fps as the default, and you can switch to 60 fps for smoother gunfights.
Full gameplay recordings are cleaned up only when they pass the space you set (5GB by default), oldest first, and recent recordings and videos you liked stay.
