A once-popular Resurgence map in Warzone, which has largely been forgotten about since Rebirth Island was re-introduced, is being removed from the game for Season 4, but some players are disappointed to see it leave rather than just updated and improved.
Ashika Island was introduced in February 2023 during Modern Warfare II’s life cycle. It offered a different take on a Resurgence map with a Japanese theme and an ambient, somber vibe in comparison to the likes of Fortune’s Keep and Vondel.
While it had its critics, Ashika Island also had a devoted player base that preferred it to both of the above maps and even Rebirth Island when that returned, and they just wanted to see it given some love.
That said, it was announced on Tuesday, May 21 that the map would be taken out of the game in the coming days, starting from May 23 and leading right into the Season 4 launch on May 29.
“Ashika Island … will soon see its last week in Modern Warfare III,” the announcement from Warzone developers Raven Software read.
“We’re directing our focus toward other map-mode combinations for upcoming playlist updates. This is part of our continued effort to provide players with a recurring, focused playlist that delivers on the best player experience…”
“With that said, the week of May 23rd gives players one last chance to enjoy Ashika Island before it gracefully exits the rotation.”
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While Ashika had become one of the less popular maps in the game, there were still players disappointed by this announcement, who explained that something as drastic as removing content shouldn’t have been necessary.
Many comments pointed to one key problem with Ashika that held it back – the lighting.
“This map would have been 10x better received if it wasn’t the COD map embodiment of seasonal depression,” said content creator LoochyTV.
This map would have been 10x better received if it wasn’t the COD map embodiment of seasonal depression.A little skybox revamp would have went a long way.
— Loochy (@LoochyTV) May 21, 2024
Similarly, Warzone Meta posted a poll in the replies asking whether people would prefer Ashika Island be removed or simply made sunny, with almost 70% of the 4000 votes selecting the latter.
They followed it up with another post suggesting that if the map was made sunny and with more cherry blossoms it would have been more successful. They even went as far as to compare it to the Black Ops 3 DLC map Knockout.
Ashika Island is actually not bad at all 🥺Just please make it sunny with more Cherry Blossom & keep it! 🙏🌸It should look more like Knockout from BO3 👇 pic.twitter.com/icdIluMhuy
— Warzone Meta (@WZStatsGG) May 21, 2024
At the time of writing, there have been no leaks or reports suggesting that Ashika Island will be replaced by another Resurgence map in Season 4. That means the only playable maps in Season 4 will be Urzikstan, Rebirth Island, Fortune’s Keep, and Vondel.