Call of Duty: Warzone devs talk Nakatomi Plaza and leaning into the '80s for more map updates

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"This is one of the first big splashes we’re making"

Call of Duty Warzone Nakatomi Plaza
(Image credit: Activision)

Call of Duty Warzone now has its very own detailed recreation of Nakatomi Plaza, and some of the developers responsible for bringing it to Verdansk have shared what it took to make the Nakatomi Plaza Warzone vault a part of the city - and what it means for its future.

Nakatomi Plaza arrived as part of the Call of Duty Presents '80s Action Heroes event. While it's here, it's meant to be a new centerpiece for matches - for as long as it's in the circle, anyway. Raven Software's Amos Hodge told the PlayStation Blog that Verdansk's downtown area is typically "a hold-out location" for one or two squads, but ripping out four city blocks to make room for the tower also meant making space for many more Call of Duty Warzone squads to roam and skirmish.

While you're checking out Nakatomi Plaza's five explorable floors, keep your eye out for one detail from the movie that Hodge was very happy about recreating: "My personal favorite is definitely the bloody footprints leading out of the bathroom. That’s an attention to detail that is really cool. Players can play as the John McClane Operator and walk over the bloody footprints barefoot as John McClane. There’s some very surreal moments that fans are going to love."

"We’re definitely going to lean into the ‘80s and we’re definitely going to continue making updates," Hodge teased. "This is one of the first big splashes we’re making, but you can expect continual updates to the map, new content and ways to play throughout the seasons."

Connor Sheridan
Connor Sheridan

I got a BA in journalism from Central Michigan University - though the best education I received there was from CM Life, its student-run newspaper. Long before that, I started pursuing my degree in video games by bugging my older brother to let me play Zelda on the Super Nintendo. I've previously been a news intern for GameSpot, a news writer for CVG, and was formerly a staff writer at GamesRadar.