Warzone 2 DMZ: Why was Building 21 removed, and when does it come back online?

The DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) game mode was released alongside Activision’s latest Battle Royale title to provide a survival mode experience to the player base while maintaining the elements of the Call of Duty franchise. The mode is filled with enemy operators and AI-controlled combatants and is featured on Warzone 2’s Al Mazrah map, where everyone is fighting to make it out alive.

DMZ mode features multiple Points of Interest (POIs) where players can find high-tier loot and increase their chances of victory in these harsh environments. Building 21 was released as a separate map located in a different place instead of Al Mazrah and is only accessible to players who get their hands on its specific key.

It was removed from the playlist after only a few hours, and the map was locked out with a cooldown timer. This had most of the player base confused as to the reason was not made quite clear for locking out the community from a brand-new DMZ location.

---

DMZ mode Building 21 under lockdown

It is unnatural for the publisher to limit access to a map that was released fresh after just a single day. The only reason strong enough for a green map to face cooldown is only if major in-game issues offer unintentional exploits or bugs that hinder the experience.

---

Building 21’s removal

The publisher introduced Building 21 as the most dangerous and secured site in the entire DMZ mode, notoriously under cover of a biological lab. The resistance and security that are held in the building make it painstakingly tricky for players to survive without proper preparation and sound strategy.

The challenge ignited the entire player base, who enjoy dropping in and spending every moment on the ground completing missions and acquiring contraband loot. The newest POI in DMZ was introduced as a separate map that could be played alongside if players had successfully extracted the key from previous sessions.

It came as a shock when the publisher officially released information about Building 21 being active only for a limited amount of time, and players who do not get their hands on the required key would miss out on the opportunity. Soon the map went into lockdown, and the playlist menu displayed a cooldown timer, after which the location would once again be playable.

---

Possible reason

The removal of Building 21 was alarming as the percentage of players indulged in several hours of grinding in the DMZ game mode. The most probable reason for Activision taking such a drastic step might have been that players could enter and gain massive amounts of loot by utilizing just a single key in a DMZ session.

Players could readily exploit this method to repeatedly infiltrate Building 21 and gather high-tier contraband weapons and gear that can sustain them longer in different survival mode sessions. Gaining such an arsenal without a set limit might have propelled the cooldown on the map itself.

---

Building 21’s return

The publisher announced that Building 21 would become playable again after a week of its active cooldown in the playlist. Players can jump back into this POI by acquiring the required access key on December 23 at 9:00 pm PST/ 10:30 am IST/ 7:00 am CEST.

---

Stay tuned to Sportskeeda for the latest updates, tips, and tricks as we closely follow all the developments around Activision’s latest titles.