CoD: Vanguard Battle Pass – Season 1 Start Date & Preseason Explained

Call of Duty: Vanguard released today with a campaign, 16 standard multiplayer maps, 4 Champion Hill maps, and a Zombies mode developed by Treyarch, but Activision’s October 28 blog already detailed some of the post-launch content of the As this is the new era of a unified Call of Duty that includes ongoing additions to Warzone, it’s a bit complicated.

Much like the launch of Black Ops Cold War, players currently have a small “Preseason” to start before the start of the first full season. Vanguard’s preseason will run from November 5 to December 2. Meanwhile, Vanguard players can continue to level up in the Black Ops Cold War Season 6 Battle Pass, and Warzone’s Verdansk and Rebirth Island maps will still be available.

Vanguard Preseason

Prior to the start of Season 1, Call of Duty Vanguard has a pre-season period for the Battle Pass. This adds 24 free Vanguard levels to the Season 6 pass available now through Black Ops Cold War, and it doesn’t require a purchase. You’ll get through them playing both multiplayer and zombies, and progression through Warzone and Black Ops Cold War also counts towards levels.

Vanguard’s preseason will also add the fan-favorite Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare expedition map shortly after the game’s launch. This version of Shipment arrives on November 17 and will feature a new map skin on the theme of WWII. The blog post says more details on the post-launch deals would be given ahead of Season 1.

Additionally, two final events have been detailed for the Verdansk map ahead of the release of the new Warzone Pacific Caldera map with Season 1 on December 2.

First up, Operation: Flashback is a special limited-time mode that Raven Software created to celebrate and bring back classic moments from the past 18 months to Verdansk. It’s unclear how this mode will play out, but Activision says more information about Operation: Flashback will be revealed ahead of launch on November 18.

Then, starting November 24, players will be able to collect information to uncover more information about the next Caldera map with an event called Secrets of the Pacific. This limited-time event will give players information about Caldera and its various points of interest ahead of its launch in December, but only by completing challenges through Vanguard and Warzone. More details on this event are coming in mid-November.

From November 30 to December 1, the preseason will also include the final hours of Verdansk, which is loosely described as looking to “see what happens in Verdansk before Warzone darkens to prepare for Caldera”. It’s unclear if this is a playable mode or just a cinematic story.

Season 1 of the Vanguard

Season 1 begins on December 2, bringing new maps, a new battle pass, two free weapons, and more content and challenges for Zombies mode. Here are all the current details of Treyarch’s Der Anfang Zombies map for Vanguard. Season 1 also marks the release of Vanguard’s integration into Warzone with the Caldera map.

Call of Duty: Warzone is a free-to-play game, but Vanguard players will have 24 hours of exclusive access to the new Caldera map at the start of Season 1. During this exclusive access, Warzone’s smaller Rebirth Island map will remain unlocked. for everyone.

Warzone Pacific will introduce a new air combat mode called Vanguard Royale. This mode adds planes to Warzone, allowing players to take flight or use AA cannons to combat air attacks. Later in Season 1, Verdansk’s Plunder mode will arrive in Caldera, where players fight to earn as much money as possible.

While specific details are still vague for the various events and content of Vanguard and Warzone’s battle passes, we’ll likely have more details closer to the start of the season. Players can currently get a head start on upgrading two Vanguard weapons in Warzone, as the STG 44 Assault Rifle and M1 Garand Tactical Rifle have been added as free levels to the Battle Pass of season 6.

Warzone Pacific will feature the recently revealed Ricochet anti-cheat driver to hopefully help alleviate Warzone’s cheating issue. And being built on the same technology and engine as Call of Duty: Vanguard, Warzone Pacific will support fully optimized cross-play, cross-progression, and cross-gen support.

Call of Duty: Vanguard launched November 5 on Xbox Series X | S, Xbox One, PS4, PS5, and PC. The new game comes as Activision Blizzard faces legal action from the state of California for alleged harassment and discrimination against women.