Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is bringing the 80s to Warzone with new weapons, vehicles, and locations

(Image credit: Activision)

With another Call of Duty on the way this year it’s going to be interesting to see just how Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War will change Call of Duty: Warzone. Activision’s standalone battle royale isn’t going anywhere, so is Cold War going to integrate into the game? Takeover completely? Fortunately, our recent Black Ops Cold War multiplayer hands on has given us some info on what to expect. 

Speaking during a recent multiplayer hands on event, Treyarch’s studio design director David Vonderhaar confirmed that the new Black Ops will “bring Cold War into Warzone, and vice versa.”

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(Image credit: Activision)

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We’ve already seen evidence of that via secret bunkers that appeared in the build up to Cold War’s reveal that were full of Soviet noticeboards, documents, and most tellingly, a partially completed RC-XD - Black Ops’ signature remote control car bomb. Treyarch says that Black Ops Cold War multiplayer will offer “a unified progression journey shared with Warzone, adding inventory items that can be used in both titles”. 

However, while it sounds like gear and other Black Ops stuff will be coming into Warzone when Cold War arrives, it’s not going to end there. An accompanying press release from Activision confirms that “both games will share post-launch content from a narrative standpoint, interweaving the themes, locations, weapons, and vehicles of Black Ops Cold War into the Warzone action."

That might hint at some location changes to the Warzone map, for example. While in terms of vehicles, there’s a very lethal tank for players to use in Cold War that could really shake up Warzone’s balance of power. 

How drastically Black Ops Cold War will change Warzone, or exactly in what way, remains to be seen, but it’s interesting to note that during my hands on with its multiplayer, attempting to open Warzone from the main menu simply tried to shut the game down and open my existing version of Infinity Ward's battle royale separately. 

If you want to see how Black Ops Cold War has already changed Warzone then here’s the Warzone Farmland code that will get you into the first Cold War Easter egg on the map.

Leon Hurley
Managing editor for guides

I'm GamesRadar's Managing Editor for guides, which means I run GamesRadar's guides and tips content. I also write reviews, previews and features, largely about horror, action adventure, FPS and open world games. I previously worked on Kotaku, and the Official PlayStation Magazine and website.