Warzone and Modern Warfare 3 Season 2 release date and time
Plus, what to expect at the season's launch and beyond, including the return of Fortune's Keep.
Warzone and Modern Warfare 3 Season 2 is the first big update in 2024 for Call of Duty. Boasting a wealth of new content across all of its modes, there’s a lot to dive into when the new season launches.
With that in mind, it’s worth running through not just the release date and time for Modern Warfare 3 Season 2, but also all of what is being added to the game as part of the new season. We’ve got a look at the season’s roadmap with a slew of details for what to expect when it comes to new maps, modes, weapons, operators, and much more.
To get yourself up to speed and ready for the next couple of months of Modern Warfare 3, be sure to check out some of the other guides we have, including loadout guides for the Pulemyot 762 and Lockwood 680, as well as a collection of best loadouts you might want to take for a spin when the new season launches.
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Warzone and Modern Warfare 3 Season 2 release date and time
Warzone and Modern Warfare 3 Season 2 launches on Wednesday 7th February 2024 at 5pm (GMT) / 9am (PT).
Here’s the dates and times for Warzone and MW3 Season 2's release in other time zones:
- West Coast US: Wednesday 7th February, 9am (PT)
- Central US: Wednesday 7th February, 11am (CT)
- East Coast US: Wednesday 7th February, 12pm (ET)
- UK: Wednesday 7th February, 5pm (GMT)
- Europe: Wednesday 7th February, 6pm (CET)
- Australia: Thursday 8th February, 4am (AET)
- Japan: Thursday 8th February, 2am (JST)
To make sure you’re fully prepared for the new season, be sure to check out our guide on how to level up fast.
Warzone and Modern Warfare 3 Season 2 roadmap
There’s a lot to cover in terms of new content and the Warzone and Modern Warfare 3 Season 2 roadmap, but thanks to a handy Call of Duty blog post, we have all the key beats for what to expect, at launch and mid-season, including:
- Four new core multiplayer maps
- Two new multiplayer map variants
- A new War map
- Five game modes and a 'Vortex' playlist
- A new season of Ranked Play with new rewards
- New Vest
- New Zombies content
- Returning map Fortune’s Keep for Warzone
- New Warzone updates and features
- New weapons and Aftermarket Parts
- A new Battle Pass with additional Blackcell premium tier
- Multiple new events throughout the season
Below is the official roadmap for Warzone and Modern Warfare 3 Season 2:
To learn more details on Warzone and Modern Warfare 3 Season 2, keep reading for a full breakdown:
Returning map Fortune’s Keep for Warzone and new features
Alongside Fortune’s Keep, a reprised and updated map with 11 points of interest, there’s plenty more to look out for in the upcoming season:
- Fortune’s Keep returns, with 11 points of interest - Originally released in Call of Duty: Vanguard, the map is returning for Season 2 of Warzone, with 11 points of interest, all with 'considerable changes' as per the Season 2 announcement/deep-dive blog post.
- Resurgence ruleset returns - With a faster-paced set of rules for how Battle Royale plays, this set of modifications to the base experience creates a much more frenetic sandbox.
- Limited-time Eradication Contract and Zombie Nests - A new Contract which has you following tracks to a Zombie Nest, destroying the cysts and any Zombie HVTs you find there.
- Limited-time Rogue Signal Public Event - Earn cash, XP, and a unique Reward Cache by competing with other players to complete an optional objective and find the Reward Cache that can reward a Wonder Weapon from Zombies, or one of two other rewards that the COD Blog appears to be keeping a secret right now.
- Limited-time Zombies power-ups - Found within certain caches or by eliminating other Operators, you can collect various power-ups that grant a slew of buffs from double points for 60-seconds, full armour, max ammo, and more.
- Limited-ammo Wonder Weapons - Beyond those found from the Rogue Signal event, you can acquire various Wonder Weapons through various methods currently unknown.
- Extendable Bridges - Activated by a melee attack or a well-placed shot at range, use various bridges placed at specific points in the map to your advantage by extending or retracting them as a tool in your fight against the enemy.
- Score Tracker for Squad wipe streaks - A new tracker that keeps track of how many squads you’ve eliminated within a set amount of time.
- Ranked Play for Fortune’s Keep - A more competitive approach for Warzone using the Resurgence rulesets and Fortune’s Keep map for the first time, with its own alterations, skill divisions, and rewards to engage with.
- More features to come later in the season - The COD Blog promises a mobile Point of Interest with the Research Vessel, the Bunker Buster Killstreak, and the Portable Decontamination Station Field Upgrade, all of which are planned to ship sometime during the season.
New multiplayer maps and map variants
As part of Season 2, there will be four new core, 6v6 maps – three available at launch, and one coming later in the season. For launch, there’s the medium-large sized Departures, the small-sized Stash House, and the medium-sized Vista maps.
Releasing at some point during the season is a remastered version of the Call of Duty: Vanguard map, Das Haus, a small-sized map set within 'an under-construction skyscraper in the vicinity of Highrise'.
Check out screenshots and map layout views of all four below:
Beyond that, there are also two new map variants coming later in the season that will join the existing Tetanus, Sporeyard, and Satan’s Quarry from Season 1.
First up, there’s Airborne, a new take on Terminal featuring a 'virulent plague of unknown origin' that now coats much of the map, giving it a very alien-invasion-esque feel. Then you’ve got Skidgrow, an overgrown take on Skidrow, reminiscent of COD 4's aptly-named Overgrown map.
Outside of core multiplayer, there’s a new War map called Operation Tin Man. Available at launch, this map takes the attacking team from the top of a skyscraper downwards as they complete objectives along the way, culminating in a battle through an urban park.
New game modes and Vortex Playlist
There are five game modes with a new playlist coming to MW3 in Season 2:
- Team Gun Game
- Snipers Only
- Bounty (Mid-season)
- Hordepoint (Limited-time)
- Juggermosh (Limited-time, mid-season)
- Vortex: Decay’s Realm playlist (Limited-time, mid-season)
Season 2 introduces a spin on a fan-favourite with Team Gun Game. This version of the mode is exactly what it says on the tin - it takes the base Gun Game and throws it into a team-based setting, featuring a set of eight pre-determined weapons and using the Team Deathmatch ruleset. As a team, you’ll need to get 10 kills to progress to the next gun, with the last weapon only requiring 5 kills to win, with 75 being the score to conclude the match.
Be careful though, as players can deduct points off you with melee kills and Finishing Move takedowns - though this only sets you back to the start of the current weapon you’re on, so don’t worry about matches completely spiralling out of control because of adept melee players on the enemy team!
As a bit of a throwback to the 1v1 sniping lobbies of old, the Snipers Only mode is exactly what it sounds like, and a great place to try out your sick quickscoping skills. When it comes to objectives, this mode will alternate between Team Deathmatch and Domination across varying maps, with all weapons and equipment besides snipers locked, letting you focus primarily on nothing more than those key sightlines.
Hordepoint is a limited-time mode reprised from 2017’s Call of Duty: WWII, available with the launch of Season 2 here in Modern Warfare 3. Taking the core elements of the Hardpoint mode, this variant incorporates waves of zombies that swarm into the map once a Hardpoint has been entered. Their presence adds extra pressure when trying to score points inside the Hardpoint, particularly with the periodic appearance of 'Elite' zombies too. While the zombies are on nobody’s side, they’re an extra element to deal with during matches.
To spice the mode up a bit however, each zombie has the possibility to drop a Pack-a-Punch weapon, or one of three power-ups including Instakill - though this only works on Zombies, unfortunately. Not only that, but every five zombie kills counts one towards your killstreak earnings, amping up the chaos even further.
Building a mode out of one of the game’s killstreaks, Juggermosh is a limited-time mode coming later in Season 2, featuring a third person-perspective and having the combat sandbox be all about Juggernauts. With modes including Kill Confirmed, Domination, and Hardpoint, a one-hit kill melee weapon that grants bonus armour drops on kill, and an area-of-effect 'ground pound' attack when dropping from heights, this looks like it’ll very much be a different experience to core multiplayer combat.
Bounty is a fairly simple fare to some of the other modes coming - playing at its core like Team Deathmatch, the idea is that the player with the most kills from each team will be marked as a HVT (High-Value Target). The HVT will alternate between teams over time, and when they are eliminated, bonus points are awarded.
Later in the season, the Vortex: Decay’s Realm playlist will be arriving as a limited-time offering, featuring the modes Team Deathmatch, Domination, Kill Confirmed, and Hardpoint on rotation, taking place across existing map variants Tetanus, Satan’s Quarry, and Sporeyard, along with new Season 2 variants, Skidgrow and Airborne.
This playlist will launch alongside the Vortex: Decay’s Realm event.
Ranked Play Season 2
As Season 2 of Modern Warfare 3 kicks off, so too does a new season of Ranked Play, complete with all-new rewards.
Here are some of the new rewards you can expect to earn, as well as their requirements:
- Win 5 ranked matches - 'MWIII Season 2 Competitor' sticker
- Win 10 ranked matches - 'Pro Issue MCW' weapon blueprint
- Win 25 ranked matches - 'Farmed Them' charm
- Win 50 ranked matches - 'Hard Day’s Work' weapon decal
- Win 75 ranked matches - 'MWIII Season 2 Competitor' loading screen
- Win 100 ranked matches - 'MWIII Season 2 Ranked Veteran' weapon camo
There are also various updated rewards for reaching the highest division across all of the ranks, from Bronze all the way up to Iridescent, along with bonus rewards if you place highest in the world.
Rewards like the Skill Division Operator skins are also staying, earnable within any season of Ranked Play.
New Ninja vest
The existing set of vests is about to be expanded in Season 2 with the addition of 'Ninja', deepening a fan-favourite playstyle thanks to its stealth-based abilities.
With this vest equipped, you’ll have access to all three equipment slots – Tactical, Lethal, and Field Upgrade – as well as one option from each perk slot.
As for its core abilities, here’s what you’ll be getting:
- Eliminate footstep sounds.
- Immune to movement reduction effects.
- Bonus Shuriken and Throwing Knife ammo.
- Resupply Shuriken and Throwing Knives every 25 seconds.
If you try doubling this up with Covert Sneakers, since they offer similar effects, you’ll instead gain the effect of Running Sneakers.
New Zombies content
Season 2’s new Zombies content continues the Dark Aether story and introduces new challenges to overcome, including a new Rift and Warlord.
Unfortunately, you’ll have to wait a bit for all this, as the Zombies content in development won’t release until sometime later in Season 2 - potentially with its 'Season 2 Reloaded' update, though nothing has been confirmed just yet.
Below are all the contents announced for Zombies thus far:
- The Dark Aether story continues - Strike teams from Operation Deadbolt are continuing the fight, with new secrets to be uncovered in the Exclusion Zone, and new character Sergei Ravenov to guide the way forward.
- A second Rift opens - The COD blog promises a journey that’ll have you following various clues and completing various timed tasks, all whilst battling the 'largest infested Stronghold yet' with 'coveted rewards' to earn.
- New challenges and Schematics - Likened to how it worked in Season 1, your Prestige player level unlocks additional challenges with new Calling Cards to earn, as well as three new Classified Schematics to acquire.
- A new Warlord to fight - With a fortress set up in the Killhouse at Orlov Military Base, new Warlord, Keres is described as an 'elusive chemical warfare specialist' who uses bioweapons - including a poisonous smokescreen - to take you down.
The three new Schematics you’ll be able to unlock during Season 2 are the Mags of Holding, Blood Burner Key, and V-R11 Wonder Weapon.
Here is what we know of them, direct from the COD Blog:
- Mags of Holding - Who has time to reload? Not you if you’ve activated the Mags of Holding, which allows your ammunition to feed directly from your weapon’s ammo stash, essentially eliminating the need to reload your weapon.
- Blood Burner Key - There’s no need to scavenge for the Blood Burner Wonder Vehicle on the map if you’re carrying the Blood Burner Key; simply use it to summon the possessed two-wheeler without a lengthy search beforehand!
- V-R11 Wonder Weapon - Those Strike Team Operators planning on forming their own temporary regiment of undead friends or transformed humans can now take the V-R11 Wonder Weapon into important outings, thanks to this Schematic.
As mentioned, all of this Zombies content won’t be available at launch, instead releasing at a later point during Season 2.
Season 2 Reloaded content
Not much has been said about what content and updates are coming with Season 2’s 'Reloaded' update, nor when it'll release, however it has been confirmed that the Vortex: Decay’s Realm and the Dune: Rule of Fate events will take place following that Season 2 Reloaded update.
We’d wager the Season 2 Reloaded update to be sometime in mid-late March, as it paves the way for Season 3’s launch likely in April, with many of the mid-season content drops to coincide with this update.
Events coming in Season 2
There are several events that will be taking place within Season 2, each with a limited runtime and a suite of rewards to earn whilst it’s available.
Below are the currently-confirmed events coming in Season 2, with details from the COD Blog, as well as their start and end dates:
- Horde Hunt (February 7th to March 6th) - The Hunt is on! Kill zombies to unlock Modern Warfare Zombies items. Every week, hunt down new special High Value zombie targets, collecting their skulls and bones for exclusive undead rewards!
- Year of the Dragon (February 9th to 14th) - Start the new lunar year off with this Field Rep Event! Earn XP in-game to unlock rewards. Equip the 'Emperor' Skin from the 'Full Kit' Dragon Soul: Lunar New Year Bundle for an XP boost.
- Cryptid Bootcamp (February 14th to 28th) - Fact or fiction? Prove your monstrous might and complete event challenges to earn cryptic rewards. Tinfoil hat not included.
- The Walking Dead: Fear the Living (February 28th to March 6th) - Fight the dead, fear the living. Earn XP to unlock exclusive rewards. Equip the Michonne Operator from the Tracer Pack: The Walking Dead: Michonne Bundle for an XP boost.
Everything else we know about Warzone and Modern Warfare 3 Season 2
To round off the list of all the individual content additions, there are several smaller updates and additions complementing the above, including new weapons, rewards, and more:
- Four new weapons - The BP50 assault rifle, the RAM-9 submachine gun, the SOA Subverter battle rifle, and the Soulrender melee weapon
- Seven new Aftermarket Parts - JAK Burnout for the Holger 26, JAK Tyrant 762 Kit for the Longbow, JAK Backsaw Kit for the Holger 556, JAK Maglift Kit for the Haymaker, JAK Outlaw-277 Kit for the BAS-B, JAK Limb Ripper underbarrel attachment, and JAK Glassless Optic attachment
- New Operators - Kate Laswell, John Doe, and Rick Grimes from The Walking Dead
- Season 2 Battle Pass - Featuring a free and paid set of rewards, including Rick Grimes, with an additional set of premium rewards available to those who buy or upgrade to the 'Blackcell' battle pass.
- New Store offerings - Join the fight as Walking Dead star Michonne, celebrate Black History month with a free gift pack available to all, play as an 'Executive Chef' with the Call of Duty League Let ‘em Cook bundle, and more.
- New Prestige rewards and Weekly Challenges - Unlock Aftermarket Parts and new weapon camo 'Rotten Inferno' by completing weekly challenges, with a slew of new rewards for reaching various milestones leading up to a new level cap of 450
That’s all for the upcoming Season 2 in Modern Warfare 3 and Warzone. If you’re looking for how to prepare, be sure to check out our various best guns page, from the best assault rifles to best sniper rifles, and much more.