How Call of Duty might explain Verdansk being nuked in OG Warzone after its return

Modified Mar 21, 2025 15:58 GMT

Verdansk after it was nuked in Warzone — Discussing possible lore for the return of Verdansk to Warzone after it was nuked (Image via Activision)

Verdansk is returning to Warzone, and fans are undoubtedly excited to hop back onto the map that made the game popular. While excitement runs high, fans have started posing a couple of questions regarding the lore of its return. For those who are unaware, the original Verdansk was nuked and eventually destroyed. This took place back in 2021 during Black Ops Cold War Season 2.

But with the map returning with Black Ops 6, fans are wondering how Call of Duty will move forward with the lore. Well, we have a couple of explanations on how this might play out.

Check out the section below for our possible explanations about the iconic map's return to Warzone after getting nuked.

Exploring possible explanations for Verdansk's return to Warzone after being nuked

The first and the most logical explanation of Verdansk's return to Warzone, even after it gets nuked, is the time it's based on. According to the lore, Verdansk was nuked back in 2021. However, Black Ops 6 takes place in the 90s. This perfectly aligns with the timeline without straying away from the original lore.

Just to give our readers a quick example, when the map was nuked back in 2021, the title switched to the 1984 version of the map.

Also read: Verdansk key art in Warzone revealed, and it's a callback to the OG one

As a result, there was no discontinuation or discrepancies with the storyline and it existed just fine. This is probably the most reasonable route that Call of Duty might have considered with their upcoming re-release of the map. But there's one more theory that fans have put forward.

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This theory suggests that the destruction of the map with a nuke wasn't canon to the game's storyline and instead was done to keep up with Zombies, citing that it was the zombies that led to the map being nuked.

Either way, whichever route you want to pursue, Verdansk is returning to Warzone and we cannot change anything about it nor would we like to. The best explanation for it is still the period the map will be based on.

If it's the 90s like Black Ops 6, then it shouldn't even be a question as the original map was destroyed in 2021. On the other hand, if the nuking isn't canon, then there's no discussion to be had.

That covers our possible explanations for the original map returning to the battle royale title after it was nuked.

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Edited by Abu Amjad Khan