With the Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War alpha test ending, one might think nothing new would be coming to Call of Duty’s current game, Modern Warfare, until the release of the game. Developer Infinity Ward has some other plans. An update to Call of Duty Modern Warfare is going live to bring Season Six to all players starting September 29.

Season Six will introduce a new battle pass with brand new characters and other rewards, as well as new changes to the Warzone map, Verdansk. Both new characters are familiar faces if you’ve played through Modern Warfare’s campaign missions, but they have yet to become playable almost a year after release. Season Six brings in Farah and Nikolai as playable characters.

New character: Farah

Farah, the commander of the Urzikstani Liberation Force, was a key part of the campaign and can be unlocked as a playable character through the purchasing of the Season Six battle pass. She will be playable at tier 0 with multiple additional skins and rewards for the character becoming available through the completion of the battle pass.

New character: Nikolai

Nikolai is a beloved classic character who first made an appearance in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and returned for the 2019 installation. Nikolai is the leader of Chimera, a PMC within the allegiance, and a long-time friend of Captain Price. Nikolai is the reward for reaching tier 100 of the Season Six battle pass, and players can unlock additional skins and rewards by completing Operator Missions.

New game mode: Armored Royale

A battle royale variant that gives every squad in the game an armored truck with a turret strapped to the top along with some serious armor plating. Squads automatically respawn until their truck is destroyed. The last squad alive at the end, just like in regular battle royale, is the winner.

Weapon rotation

Ground loot and supply boxes are now equipped with all-new weapons. This includes old and new blueprints, 6 common, 10 uncommon, 13 rare, 18 epic, and 24 legendary weapon variants.

Multiplayer maps

Four free multiplayer maps are also included in the season six update.

  • Station (Gunfight Map) – a Kastovia train station is the background for this new gunfight arena. Broadcast (6v6) – Returning from Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, this map made a cameo on the Warzone map Verdansk and officially comes to multiplayer with the season six update.Mialstor Tank Factory (6v6 and 10v10) – The larger of the multiplayer maps, it can be used for up to 20 players at a time. CQB will be best indoors on this maps, while long-range weapons will dominate the streets.Verdansk Riverside (Ground War) – This map is a suburb located across the frozen Gora River from the Verdansk International Airport. You’ve seen it in Warzone, now play on it in Ground War.

New Modes, trials, and challenges

  • Killstreak Confirmed – Like kill confirmed, players must collect tags to win, but in this mode players will also earn killstreaks by collecting tags. Killstreaks can be earned twice in one life, and it won’t reset upon death.Gun Game TDM – Gun game, where you get a kill with each weapon and it cycles through, but you just keep cycling through weapons until one team or the other reaches the kill goal. HQ: Firefight – The same as regular headquarters, but players will also earn points for kills as well as holding the HQ.Hardpoint: Hills and Kills – Similar to firefight, players will be awarded for holding objectives as well as earning kills.Nine trials to explore – Juggernaut trial, quad or helicopter race, or free roam. New side missions earn XP faster.

Warzone map changes

There have been a few changes to Verdansk since the beginning of Warzone, like a new tunnel, a train, zip lines, and of course the opening of the stadium in the center of the map. Each one freshens up the map by creating new areas in which players can fight as well as loot when they first drop into the game.

Season Six will bring map changes through underground tunnels. The specifics have not been released about how these are being incorporated into Verdansk, but it is clear in the trailer that tunnels similar to those under Airport are being added. Zakhaev reportedly has an underground network of operations in Verdansk that have just been uncovered.

As for where the tunnels will be located on the map, it seems to be a subway track underneath a large portion of the map, with stations in various locations. The map revealed in the trailer shows the track going underneath downtown, wrapping around the stadium, moving into the quarry, and coming back around in a circle through airport hangars, promenade, and returning to downtown. This could either be a fast way for players to travel around that area of the map via subway or a long hiding spot for players needing to hide. We’ll have to wait until September 29 to find out for sure.