CoD: Black Ops Cold War's Previously Delayed WMD Map Arrives With Changes

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War's previously delayed WMD map finally arrived on March 17 as part of the game's Year 2 content, but fans of the original map may notice a few visual changes to the remastered version.

Introduced in 2010's Call of Duty: Black Ops 1, WMD is a snowy map originally set within an abandoned Soviet base, where a covert laboratory worked to weaponize Nova 6 chemicals. However, players are reporting that this Black Ops Cold War remastered version of WMD has removed all Soviet references from the map.

While Treyarch didn't announce the reason for the delay, the removal of the Soviet references is likely a quiet response to the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, which began on February 24. Other gaming companies are also reacting to the invasion, with Amazon canceling the Russian localization of the MMORPG New World as a direct response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and EA announcing that it will be removing all Russian teams from its current FIFA and NHL games.

Currently, WMD can be enjoyed in Black Ops Cold War in a 24/7 playlist of mixed game modes. The remastered map joins the Vargo 52 assault rifle that was added on March 4 as the first batch of Year 2 content. Players can unlock the Vargo 52 for free with an in-game challenge for use in both Black Ops Cold War and Warzone, or the weapon can be purchased through a cosmetic bundle in the in-game shop.

Call of Duty: Vanguard and Warzone are both expected to receive major updates later in the month for Season 2's mid-season update. Large-scale warfare is coming to Vanguard, while Warzone's Rebirth Island map is getting a visual overhaul.