Call of Duty: Vanguard has had an interesting life thus far. In the lead-up to release, several leaks warned that the game was in a bad place, with discussion around the title being largely negative. Shortly ahead of release, the conversation began to shift, with Call of Duty: Vanguard revealed to have a massive number of multiplayer maps and a Zombies mode crafted by Treyarch.
Now, the game is available, and fans are divided on the new title. While Call of Duty: Vanguard reviews were mostly positive about the multiplayer and campaign, Zombies has been seen as a major step in the wrong direction. The co-op mode’s dip in quality could explain Call of Duty: Vanguard’s lacking sales, as could the early, negative rumors about the game. Regardless of the cause, the game’s commercial performance will make 2022 an interesting year for Call of Duty: Vanguard. Fans can expect Sledgehammer Games to make more content to keep fans playing the well-crafted multiplayer, while Treyarch will likely be focused on restoring Zombies’ damaged reputation.
Call of Duty: Vanguard’s Seasonal Content
Call of Duty: Vanguard is currently a third of the way through its inaugural Season, and it will likely be the first of six Seasons for the World War 2 era shooter. Both Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War featured six Seasons of content, so it would make sense for Sledgehammer Games to follow in the footsteps of the Infinity Ward and Treyarch titles. This means that fans can expect five more Seasons to be released throughout 2022.
Call of Duty Seasons usually span a few months, and they offer a fairly predictable format when it comes to their content. Each Season adds 2-4 new multiplayer maps, with the locations being a mix between remasters and fully original play spaces. As shown by the remaster of Modern Warfare 3’s Dome, Sledgehammer Games seems to be going the reimagining route, giving some modern maps a makeover to fit the older setting. A remaster of the Call of Duty: WW2 map London Docks has also leaked, and players can expect it to be added in a future Season.
Aside from new maps, Seasons will bring new Operators and new weapons to the game. Season 1 introduced Task Force Trident, a group of three Operators. Assuming that future Seasons do the same, players could be seeing a three-Operator faction introduced each Season. Five weapons came in Season 1, meaning that players could see dozens of guns and melee items added throughout the year. New game modes for multiplayer will be released, and cosmetic bundles will be added to the in-game marketplace. A Battle Pass will be added with each Season, and players can expect more seasonal events like Festive Fervor throughout the year. League Play is in the works as well, and should release in early 2022.
Call of Duty: Vanguard Zombie Fixes and Updates
Alongside new multiplayer content, Call of Duty: Vanguard’s Seasons will expand upon the Zombies mode. However, while multiplayer will be building on the already strong foundation that Sledgehammer has established, the Zombies updates will be more about damage control. Players have not responded well to the lack of round-based content and the nonexistent easter eggs, with a majority of the discussion about the mode centered on pointing out Call of Duty: Vanguard Zombies’ missing features.
As shown by Season 1’s Zombies content, Treyarch will be adding in mechanics that the community enjoyed in older games, such as the server pause option, killstreaks, and perk upgrades. A main quest for Der Anfang will be coming after Season 1, and players will likely see some more objectives and locations added to the launch map as time goes on. With no side easter eggs, Pack-A-Punch camo, or Wonder Weapon available, these will hopefully be introduced as the Seasons progress.
With the community responding so negatively to Der Anfang, and Treyarch’s claims about round-based players not being left behind, some classic Survival content is likely to come at some point in 2022. What form this takes is anyone’s guess, though fans have made it clear that they want something more traditional from Call of Duty: Vanguard Zombies. Considering that Season 1 focused entirely on expanding Der Anfang, though, players should only expect a few more Zombies maps to come to Call of Duty: Vanguard during its lifespan. Most of the focus for the foreseeable future will likely be spent on polishing and expanding Der Anfang, fixing its bugs and adding back the features that players are used to having.
When To Expect Vanguard’s Integration With Warzone To End
Throughout each Season of Call of Duty: Vanguard, content like Operators and new weapons will be fully integrated with Call of Duty: Warzone. Players can expect cutscenes and in-game events that progress Call of Duty: Vanguard’s ongoing story, with challenges and weapon blueprints tied to Vanguard content as well. However, as is always the case with Call of Duty: Warzone, the integration will eventually end and the focus will shift to Call of Duty 2022.
Based on what was seen with Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, the shift to the new Call of Duty game could be teased around Season 5. An in-game event will probably lead to the first teaser trailer for Call of Duty 2022, while Call of Duty: Vanguard content will continue to be the focus until the game’s final Season reaches its conclusion. As such, though Call of Duty 2022 will likely launch in November, the Call of Duty: Vanguard integration will probably not end until sometime in December.
When Call of Duty 2022’s first Season begins, players can expect the integration with Call of Duty: Vanguard to cease. By that point, all the additional Vanguard Operators and weapons will have been added to Call of Duty: Warzone, with the marketplace and battle passes shifting to focus on Call of Duty 2022 content. With Call of Duty 2022’s rumored DMZ mode featuring a new map that will apparently be added to Call of Duty: Warzone, Caldera could be replaced. This is purely speculation based on a leak, however, and should be taken with a grain of salt. For now, all fans should expect is that the Call of Duty: Vanguard integration with Warzone will end right when Call of Duty 2022’s first Season starts.
Call of Duty: Vanguard is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
