Welcome back to Rebirth Island! 

It’s been a grand celebration since the announcement of the map’s welcomed return with its recent arrival in Call of Duty®: Warzone™ Mobile and now its entry to Call of Duty: Warzone with the incoming launch of Season 3. Now is as good of a time as any to dive into the Call of Duty: Warzone Rebirth Island: Tac-Atlas Guide for a full survey of the scene. Don’t be fooled by the beloved map’s compact size – with its smaller perimeter comes the promise of rapid-fire and intense combat to come. Whether you’re an experienced visitor of Rebirth Island or a first-timer, there’s plenty of new gameplay updates and challenges to know for the Call of Duty: Warzone edition of Rebirth Island. 

We’ve checked in with Assistant Creative Director Karl Beauregard, Senior Associate Producer Corinne Bernier St-Pierre, Senior System Designer Mathieu Hunter, and Senior Lead Designer Richard Dubreuil at Beenox for a download of details on what’s new for the map and gameplay updates. 

Rebirth Island: Then and Now

What should fans expect jumping into Rebirth Island this time? 

As we were building Rebirth Island, we had the original and the new version side-by-side to make sure that we captured the same essence, so players return to the map they know and love, while at the same time giving it gameplay and visual improvements to become the best version of Rebirth Island to date. All those little secrets you had in the past will still be there. If a player remembers that they were able to activate the shower over there, well, they still can. That was important to us as players because it’s part of the experience and part of the nostalgia. We made this little detail, people discovered it, and when you wonder, can you still do it? Yes, you can. It’s still there, it’s the same people, it’s the same team. However, just as quickly, you’ll see the improvements (and new secrets...) too.

How did the process start when you were asked to bring the map back?

Rebirth Island was made in the Black Ops era, so it was a good challenge to modernize the old version of the island and bring it to the Modern Warfare III timeline. We always try to put ourselves back in the shoes of the player, so we thought, “What would make sense to a player? It’s Makarov and Konni... why would he be there?”  

We needed to find a narrative that would fit with the map, so we iterated on the idea that the island was abandoned for a few years, but now Makarov is back and wants to use it for his own army and his own purposes. That’s why the Chemical Lab has a new Point of Interest (POI) update, because he’s using it for research, for example.

Resurgence Champion’s Quest and Map Updates  

Tell us about Resurgence Champion’s Quest coming to Rebirth Island.

Champion’s Quest for Resurgence Mode is coming at launch. The Resurgence Champion’s Quest is hard, extremely intense, and the pacing is high. When you do the Resurgence Champion’s Quest, every second will matter. If you hesitate or make a mistake, you’ll probably fail. We are asking for perfection from players, because we really want it to be the greatest Resurgence Champion’s Quest you’ll face. 

What are Rebirth Infil Strikes?

Rebirth Infil Strikes will change the map itself. A POI can be blown up at the start of the match, but they’ll be random and occur rarely from time-to-time to mix up the gameplay and offer new rotation opportunities. The Water Tower can be brought down, which will take out a good vantage spot, but at the same time will create cover on the ground. The Prison is another massive Point of Interest to blow up and we wanted to blow a hole in the roof, to open new opportunities from the interior of the prison - and players who played the very first version of Rebirth Island in Warzone may remember the hole in the roof then too!

Prepare to Drop In to Rebirth Island in Call of Duty: Warzone