Warzone Season 1 Black Ops Cold War LIVE: News, reactions & tips

Activision and Treyarch have finally integrated Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War into Warzone to kick off Season 1. The massive update introduced a Rebirth Island map, new weapons, and additional content.

On launch day, we kept you on top of all the live updates as they happened for all things Warzone – including handy guides, news, leaks and reactions from streamers and fans. Here’s what went down…

Warzone Season 1 essentials

• Warzone Season 1 Battle Pass tiers & rewards
• Warzone Season 1 Resurgence mode explained
• Warzone Season 1 patch notes
• All new features in Warzone Season 1
• Best landing spots on Rebirth Island
• How to level up Black Ops Cold War weapons fast for Warzone

Warzone Season 1 Launch day as it happened

What do the streamers and pros think of Warzone Season 1?

December 17, 2:34am GMTThe reception to Warzone Season 1 has been pretty mixed across the entirely of the player base. Now, the streamers have weighed in, and their opinions are just as diverse.

Warzone players abusing invisibility exploit in Season 1

December 17, 1:36am GMTA new Warzone glitch is turning players invisible, making them near impossible to kill. It involves the newly-released Attack Helicopter, but we won’t detail how to activate the exploit due to its game-breaking nature.

Dexerto’s Tanner Pierce has the wrap here.

$250,000 Twitch Rivals Doritos Bowl postponed

December 16, 11:30pm GMTThe first major tournament of Warzone Season 1 has been postponed due to issues discovered with the newly added Black Ops Cold War content.

The tourney organizers initially banned all Cold War cosmetics and then contemplated not allowing players to use any of the 30 new guns, but eventually, the event was delayed to a yet-to-be-announced date.

New Season 1 Combat Pack for PS4 & PS5

December 16, 9.00pm GMTPlayStation players who have an active subscription to PS-Plus can enjoy a free cosmetics bundle for Season One.

The bundle includes a total of seven items, including an Epic Sims Operator skin, a Legendary LMG Blueprint, and more.

Best Rebirth Island landing spots

December 16, 7.30pm GMTCheck out our handy guide on Warzone’s new map – Rebirth Island, exploring all of the POIs and highlighting which landing spots are the best to aim for.

Zed 398 Swift Clover error fixed

December 16, 7.00pm GMTTreyarch released a hotfix in Black Ops Cold War that patched the annoying Zed 398 Swift Clover error for PC players.

The error, which started right as the Season One update dropped, was not allowing players to access any of the new maps on PC.

Best AUG loadout

December 16, 5.00pm GMTThe AUG has been one of the strongest guns in Black Ops Cold War multiplayer and it’s not available in Warzone.

Here’s a loadout you can really use to dominate Verdansk and Rebirth Island:

How to level weapons up fast

December 16, 4.53pm GMTThis is the last one from the UK team today, and it’s not another loadout or a streamer talking about the game – just a few tips!

If you’re looking to level up your Black Ops Cold War weapons in Warzone, there’s a few things you can do.

Zombies remains a super popular gamemode, and might help you level your weapons quicker too.

• Try Fireteam Dirty Bomb
• Level up in Nuketown
• Unlock attachments in Combined Arms Moshpit
• Level up in Zombies

Read our handy guide from Jacob Hale here.

Best MP5 loadout

December 16, 3.40pm GMTThe Modern Warfare version of the MP5 has been pretty popular in Warzone ever since its launch.

Now that the Black Ops Cold War version is here, it’s safe to say that it’s also a very powerful choice, thanks to its ADS speed, damage, and fire-rate.

Here’s a loadout to help you effectively use it in Warzone:

The MP5 is still one of the best SMGs in Warzone.

• Muzzle: Infantry Compensator
• Barrel: 9.5″ Extended
• Underbarrel: Foregrip
• Ammunition: 40 Rnd Drum
• Rear Grip: Speed Tape

Check out the full guide here!

Rebirth Island best landing spots

December 16, 2.53pm GMTKnowing where to land is always a key part of any battle royale game, especially when it’s a brand new map.

Luckily for us, one of our writers – Alex Garton – has been jumping in and out of the new island since the patch dropped. Based on his experience, here’s a few of the best spots:

• Security Area
• Chemical Engineering
• Prison Block

Some are busier than others, as you might expect. Here’s the full guide!

Mac-10 best loadout

December 16, 1.33pm GMTOne of the biggest talking points, from what we’ve seen, is how devastating the Mac-10 looks since being integrated. If you would like to jump on the bandwagon, we’ve got an ideal loadout to get you started.

This MAC-10 loadout is great for those close-quarter scenarios.

• Muzzle: Agency Suppressor
• Barrel: 5.3” Extended 
• Laser: Steady Aim laser
• Underbarrel: Field Agent Foregrip
• Ammunition: 43 Rnd Drum

Check out the full guide from James Busby here.

Maven on Warzone Season 1

December 16, 1.28pm GMTResponding to our #DexertoWarzone Twitter post, CDL commentator Maven has had his say on the update. He didn’t use the hashtag but we’ll let him off!

He said: “Go back to old respawn system. The lobbies are dying too fast and it promotes rat like behavior.”

In an earlier tweet, he said: “Shoutout to Treyarch/IW/Raven for this update. I can’t imagine how insane it was to have everything tied together like this for the first time. Will obviously need to be some balancing and what not…but it’s working smoothly and dope as hell.”

What do you think of Rebirth Island?

December 16, 12.33pm GMTSend us your reactions to the new Warzone season update using #DexertoWarzone and we’ll pick some of the best tweets. In terms of opinions, there’s a mixed bag so far:

Scott: “Needs starting player numbers bumped up, by the time the first circle comes around there is like 20 players left which isn’t much fun. I think the map could take 100 players easy.”

Mohamed: “Better than Verdansk with less campers…”

Ethan: “Who thought this was acceptable?”

Along with his tweet, Ethan posted a picture of the Diamond camo – which doesn’t look great.

Best Krig 6 loadout

December 16, 12.05pm GMTNext up for our best loadouts series is the Krig 6, which is one of the stronger ARs in the game. Here’s what you need to succeed with it in Warzone Season 1:

The Krig 6 might even beat out the Kilo 141 in Warzone.

• Muzzle: Agency Suppressor
• Optic: Axial Arms 3x
• Barrel: 19.7” Takedown
• Underbarrel: Field Agent Grip
• Magazine: Salvo 60 Rnd Fast Mag

Check out the full loadout guide from Dexerto’s Jacob Hale here.

Most popular guns

December 16, 11.35am GMTAs you might expect, players are already sizing up weapons to use in Warzone Season 1.

In a DexertoIntel poll, it looks like the AK74u is the gun most people are excited about so far – with the M16 just behind.

Best M16 loadout

December 16, 11.25am GMTAfter grinding away through the early hours and checking out what the top streamers are using, we’ve found a great loadout for the M16 already.

• Optic: Axial Arms 3x
• Muzzle: Infantry Compensator
• Barrel: 20.5” Task Force
• Underbarrel: Field Agent Foregrip
• Ammunition: Salvo 60 Rnd Fast Mag

Dexerto’s James Busby has the latest on why this loadout will allow you to dominate on day one.

Diamond, Gold & Dark Matter camos

December 16, 10.55am GMTUnfortunately, Zombies mastery camos are not available in Warzone yet, nor is other Zombies-related content.

It’s not all bad, though. Diamond, Gold and Dark Matter mastery camos have arrived – and here’s how they look:

Drift0r: BOCW weapons strong but high recoil

December 16, 10.37am GMTPopular content creator Drift0r has been testing all of the Black Ops Cold War weapons in Warzone and given his verdict.

Replying to one of our tweets, he said: “They seem to have retained their damage & range numbers from BOCW MP. That means the TTK is f**king absurdly fast in Warzone.

“However, all of them seem like double the recoil? They all shred but kick a lot more.”

The Mac-10 shreds in Warzone

December 16, 10am GMTA few clips are circulating on Twitch showing the new Mac-10 weapon absolutely destroying enemies, with just a 53 round mag and grip.Check this out.

M16 clip in Warzone

December 16, 3:06am ETCheck out this clip from Crowder, beaming someone with the M16 in just two bursts.

How to unlock Groza and Mac-10

December 16, 3:04am ETThe Groza AR and Mac-10 SMG are now available in Warzone Season 1. The latter is reportedly pretty broken too, with players saying it’s insane in close range.

Dexerto’s Alex Tsiaoussidis has the latest on how to unlock it.

Struggling to play Warzone?

December 16, 2:54am ETPC players are receiving the “Zed 398 Swift Clover” error that is not letting them play the new content.

Tfue playing with M16 in Warzone

December 16, 2:48am ETTfue is one of the first streamers to drop into Warzone Season 1, and he’s loving the M16 in his first game back. “This gun feels cracked. Oh my god. The M16. It’s got like no recoil with no attachments.”

Warzone Season 1 Battle Pass

December 16, 2:32am ETThe Warzone Season 1 battle pass is now live in game. The 100 tiers of content can be unlocked by buying your way through, or grinding out the hours.

Warzone Season 1 download sizes

December 16, 2:17am ETAccording to reports, the download for Warzone Season 1 is between 21GB and 24GB in size. 

• PS4/PS5: 21GB
• Xbox: 22GB
• PC: 24GB

Attack helicopters coming

December 16, 12:24am ETAttack helicopters will be a new way around Verdansk and Rebirth Island in Warzone Season 1. They’ll be similar to regular helicopters, except there’ll also be two miniguns players can fire from.

You can view them in action in the gameplay trailer below.

Where is Rebirth Island?

December 15, 11:58pm ETThe Warzone Season 1 update is introducing a new map named Rebirth Island. The smaller map is going to promote “intense, close-quarter action.”

Dexerto’s Isaac McIntyre has the wrap here.

New FOV slider not coming this season

December 15, 11:14pm ETThe Warzone field-of-view (FOV) slider that players were hoping for in Season 1 is reportedly not coming in the update. The game is staying on the Modern Warfare engine, which can’t accommodate the change.

You can read about the BOCW FOV slider here.

What is Resurgence in Warzone?

December 15, 9:38pm ETWarzone Season 1 will add a new game mode named Resurgence. This mode will be more aggressive than any other, with a host of new features.

Dexerto’s Alex Garton has the rundown here.

No R9-0 “Fire Shotgun” nerfs planned

December 15, 9:13pm ETWith the patch notes live, it appears that no nerfs for the notorious Fire Shotgun are on the way in Warzone Season 1. There are also no map changes for Verdansk.

Every new weapon added

December 15, 7:44pm ETThe Warzone Season 1 update will add every weapon from the BOCW multiplayer list, as well as the new Groza AR and Mac-10 SMG.

You can find the full list here.

Progression synchorized

December 15, 7:39pm ETAs part of the Season 1 update, players will no longer have to grind three different games for prestige. The new 1,000 level system will keep track of players’ progress across Black Ops Cold War, Modern Warfare, and Warzone.

All previously unlocked items will remain unlocked.