Fortnite OG crossed all thresholds when it came to player count, which Warzone is trying to upscale currently. It is reported officially by Epic Games that Fortnite managed to gain 44.7 million players during this duration. The pure nostalgia hit helped the game regain old players and provide new content to boost its count.
The same kind of approach can be seen with Call of Duty Warzone as Activision plans on following the same steps as Fortnite OG. It has been confirmed by various sources that old maps like Rebirth Island, and Fortune’s Keep will be coming back in 2024. The community had been asking for it for years, yet no reply came from Activision’s end until Epic Games took the risk with their battle royale title.
A similar kind of approach has been seen in Apex Legends as well, as they constantly update their map rotations with new updates. Respawn took its chances in 2021 through their Genesis Event which brought back classic maps. Now with Fortnite doing the same with their OG map, Warzone might be following in their footsteps.
Players who have been playing since the release of Warzone, Verdansk, and Rebirth Island are no strangers. Since the game was new, these large-scale maps garnered a lot of players, and they dearly missed them after the release of Warzone 2. Furthermore, the community also felt disappointed when they heard about their return, but only on mobile.
However, Activision changed its mind later on and will be bringing the same map pool in 2024. It can be guessed that the company has seen the success of map reruns and how they boost player count. Call of Duty also started to collaborate with celebrities and shows like Fortnite, which makes many believe that they are following Epic’s footsteps.
Fortune’s Keep and Rebirth Island are coming back to Warzone
According to an exclusive report from Insider Gaming, it was found out that Verdansk will be returning to Call of Duty Warzone at the end of 2024. The map will return as a part of Black Ops Gulf War Season 1, and the exact details of the release date are not known yet. Knowing the plans have been set in motion recently, Warzone may be following along the Fortnite OG trend.
Nostalgia is a human behavioral trait as people like to feel things like they were younger. That is also a huge reason why a lot of modern big titles are simply old game remasters. The same kind of approach was used by Epic Games recently with their shooter and did well too. But it was done for a short time, which kept fans asking for more.
The nostalgia factor affects many live-service games when they receive updates or refreshes. The effect is visible with Counter-Strike 2 as many still prefer the old one. In the case of Rainbow Six Siege, the shooter evolved from their tactical approach to a more gadget-oriented game. Thus, live service game developers have to be careful to not tip over the nostalgia of players.
The smart execution has been pulled off by a select few like Respawn with Apex Legends and Epic Games with Fortnite. Knowing Activision is going in the same direction with its map rerun, it is not known if it will be successful. Recently Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 got a lot of backlash for only providing remade maps from the original MW2 multiplayer. If the community feels that Activision is running out of ideas, then this situation can play out differently.
Did the player surge from Fortnite OG release prompt Activision to make these additions to Warzone?
It cannot be said for sure if Activision is following Epic Games’ plans with their shooter. Although there have been changes in Call of Duty that make it seem so, like the inclusion of celebrity skin or crossovers with famous TV series. This type of pop-culture collaboration has been there in Epic’s shooter for a long time and later came to CoD too.
With the success of Fortnite OG, Activision may be willing to sprinkle a bit of nostalgia into Warzone. It is quite natural that someone’s success becomes a reason for another’s change in life. In the case of Fortnite, the map rerun event has been successful and led to growth in the player base for listening to the community. And thus, Activision might be learning from their steps.
So far CoD community has been in support of the news of Verdansk and Rebirth Island coming back in 2024. Activision can execute this without fear as fans have been requesting the same for a long time. However, it cannot be said for sure, as Activision is also surrounded by backlashes for their recent actions with their latest shooter. Now it all depends on how they can execute the map rerun which is scheduled for 2024.
