Call of Duty: Warzone launches on Nintendo Switch 2 with the start of Season 1, the Call of Duty blog said, the first time the free-to-play game has reached the handheld system.
“The start of Season 1 marks the launch of Call of Duty: Warzone on Nintendo Switch™ 2!” the post said. “Drop into Hajin, Zodiac, and all the other maps and playlists as the free-to-play game arrives on the handheld system for the first time.”
The post, published on 2 November by Call of Duty Staff, said Season 1 would go live at 0000 (midnight) ET on 6 November, or 2100 PT on 5 November, across all platforms. The blog gives no Switch 2 resolution, frame rate, control or download detail.
Season 1 folds Modern Warfare 4 into Warzone
Season 1 fully integrates Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 into Warzone, the blog said, with a fresh levelling experience, an influx of new weapons and new gameplay mechanics.
The changes listed for launch on 6 November include a Player Level reset, which lets players level up and optionally Prestige across Multiplayer, DMZ and Warzone, and access to all 33 Modern Warfare 4 launch weapons, plus further armaments arriving during the season. Each of those weapons carries Weapon Prestige and specific Warzone Mastery Camos to unlock. Apex Attachments, Season 1 Operators, Daily Challenges, Calling Card Challenges, and Battle Pass and BlackCell progress are also on the list.
Gameplay settings change with the update. Tactical Sprint is available to all Operators without the need for a Perk, though its duration is slightly shortened, and players can drag allies while reviving them. The post also lists additional weapon balance tuning, improved visibility and readability across all maps, and improved footstep audio, with further detail due in the Season 1 patch notes on the Call of Duty blog.
Maps and modes open to Switch 2 players
Season 1 adds Hajin, a large-scale Battle Royale map that brings Warzone to the Korean Peninsula for the first time and connects the mode to the Modern Warfare 4 narrative. Operators fight across 13 major points of interest in both North and South Korea, among them Hajin City’s central districts, Imjin Farmland, the 14th Political Prison, Chang-san Air Base and Deadtown. Matches run under variable weather, from clear skies to fog, wind, rain and distant storms.
Hajin comes with a new Gulag in two versions, each using a different set of cover objects within a small, rectangular space in a symmetrical layout, and both exposed to local weather. Players eliminated for the first time in Battle Royale fight a 1v1 match for the chance to redeploy.
The second new map is Zodiac, a compact Resurgence zone built around the DRC Advanced Systems drone assembly and manufacturing headquarters in South Korea, with ten points of interest across factory interiors, research facilities, elevated rooftops, underground tunnels and coastal terrain. Verdansk returns as a Battle Royale map and Rebirth Island returns for Resurgence.
At Season 1 launch the mode list covers Battle Royale and Resurgence, including Casual variants of each, plus Rally Point, Massive Resurgence and Loaded Resurgence. Extreme Resurgence and Rockets and Snipers arrive in the mid-season, the blog said. New gear includes the Zipline Launcher and the Grabber Drone, alongside interactive objects such as moveable fuel barrels and pushable cover.
PlayStation 4 and Xbox One lose the game
“Starting with Season 1, Call of Duty: Warzone will no longer be playable on PlayStation 4 and XBOX One as the game — and Modern Warfare 4 — moves on from older generation hardware,” the post said. Progression carries over to a supported platform if players log in using the same linked Activision account.
Content from earlier games follows players into the season. Operators, Operator Skins and Weapon Blueprints, along with Calling Cards, Emblems, Operator Finishing Moves, Emotes, Sprays, Parachutes and Contrails from Modern Warfare II, Modern Warfare III, Black Ops 6 and Black Ops 7, are available in Warzone from Season 1. A new Operator Skin Toggle gives players more control over which Operator Skins they see, in Warzone only.
Weapons sit in two tiers. Modern Warfare 4 weapons provide the full weapon experience, while weapons from Modern Warfare II through Black Ops 7 remain accessible in the Legacy tab of the Loadout menu. Legacy Weapons can still be used but cannot be edited in Gunsmith, and they do not support Mastery Camos, Reticle Challenges, Weapon Customization, Cosmetic Gunsmithing, or Build Sharing and Build Codes. A five-attachment version of each Legacy base weapon is available, along with any Blueprint for a Legacy Weapon with its existing attachment setup, and those Blueprints start locked and are unlocked through Player XP in the Armory.
Image: Nintendo Switch 2 in Docking Console by Crisco 1492, via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; any derivative stays under the same licence. The photograph shows a Nintendo Switch 2 console as a stand-in and is not Call of Duty: Warzone artwork.