Verdansk's return trailer in Warzone is a love letter to fans who've waited 

Today marks the exact fifth anniversary of Warzone’s release, and I still remember the day Activision dropped a random trailer out of nowhere. The next day, we received something that changed the way we viewed Call of Duty. I think Warzone was the first game where I played exactly what was shown in the trailer. From a Hollywood movie-like car chase to blasting a helicopter mid-air, it was a pipedream come true for those of us who had been playing Call of Duty since we were kids.

Needless to say, Warzone is in the worst state of its history right now. The game that broke the internet during the pandemic is struggling to keep even the veterans engaged. Will Verdansk save Warzone? I can theorize a lot of things, but the truth is, I don’t know. Probably not. What I do know is the exact feeling I had today when I saw the notification on my phone: Verdansk is returning to Warzone, and we’ll go back to where it all started.

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Warzone will probably never be the same, but I'm here for it

I could point out hundreds of things that Call of Duty does wrong, and the few things they get right are almost non-existent these days. But the people behind the curtains who made this trailer have my respect.

If I were to dissect the trailer, there are several things I noticed. For instance, they’re probably keeping the same color tone, and the HDR is returning. I saw the stadium with its roof closed, which means we’re getting a classic version of what we knew as Warzone. And yes, it’s not just the game—Warzone was about Verdansk, and it probably always will be.

A closed-roof Stadium is all I need in Warzone (Image via Activision)

But I’m not here to break down the trailer because there’s no need. It felt like a love letter that Call of Duty wrote for fans who’ve been waiting for years. We missed it so much, and now we can finally go back.

During the pandemic, it was hard for a lot of people. A whole generation was suffering. This world was dying. I remember one thing that saved me, and probably a lot of others, during those tough times: this map. You can argue that it thrived because people had nowhere to go, and that’s probably true. But we went there daily. We made friends, buddies for life, and some of us have memories that we’ll cherish until the end.

Classic Gulag is returning to Warzone (Image via Activision)

That first win we all had. The first time we probably got sniped by someone using an HDR from a random building 400 meters away. That fear we used to feel when we entered Storage Town or when you were in the Gulag for the first time. Warzone never remained the same after this map was gone, and it was us who wanted it gone because it was the same thing over and over again. Who likes the same thing, right? But Verdansk is like that home-cooked meal you definitely miss while you're away for a long time.

I don’t know what the future holds for Warzone, but I do know one thing: I’ll be there on the 3rd, with you guys, probably deciding whether I should land near Dam or Farmland. We are going home, where it all began.