Season 1 of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is starting soon, and it’s bringing a wealth of new content to the game to kick off the seasonal cycle. Modern Warfare 3 had a somewhat complicated launch on November 10, focusing on carrying over content from Modern Warfare 2 and Warzone in a system that requires the same launcher application across titles. The upcoming Season 1 will apply to the newest iteration of Warzone along with Modern Warfare 3, giving anyone invested in either experience plenty to look forward to.
The Season 1 additions to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and Warzone cover a lot of ground, from major new maps to a limited-time event mode. Many inclusions will be accessible for all players, including five free weapons, while others will be accessible through the premium Battle Pass or store. Season 1 is set to launch on December 6, 2023, just in time for the holiday season, with content planned both for its initial release and drops throughout the season.
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New Modern Warfare 3 Season 1 Maps
Four New Multiplayer Maps, One New Warzone Map
The core multiplayer experience of Modern Warfare 3 gains four new maps in Season 1, with three slated for 6v6 gameplay and one built around the 2v2 experience. The 6v6 maps Meat and Greece along with the 2v2 Training Facility map will be available at the launch of Season 1, while Rio will provide an extra kick to 6v6 later in the season. Warzone is getting a big addition with the Urzikstan map, set to accompany the returning maps Vondel and Ashika Island, and a new Gulag environment for redeployment.
Meat focuses on a West Coast setting, centering around a slaughterhouse filled with the goods that give the map its distinctive name. The interior is great for close-combat fighting, while the exterior provides better opportunities for sniping. Greece has plenty of valuable verticality, with a playground that winds through narrow streets extending up to the rooftops and down to the canals. Rio focuses on a high-end shopping mall, offering a similar balance of interior and exterior action to Meat but with the significantly more vibrant flavor of Rio de Janeiro. Training Facility is fairly straightforward, pitting duos against each other in an old warehouse space.
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Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Season 1 Game Modes
New & Returning Multiplayer Game Modes
Modern Warfare 3 is getting both a new and returning mode at launch, with others set to arrive throughout the season. Ranked Play also returns in-season for competitive multiplayer. Gunfight returns for 2v2 round-based action, with four maps reappearing from Modern Warfare 2 alongside Training Facility to serve the mode. The new mode at launch is All or Nothing, which starts players with throwing knives and no ammo, with a kill activating the Scavenger Perk that makes ammo pickups possible. All or Nothing ends when a player reaches 20 eliminations, following a similar structure to modes like Gun Game.
The mid-season lineup of Modern Warfare 3 modes is significantly more extensive. Vortex gives one player the Ray Gun Wonder Weapon in a free-for-all environment. Eliminating the wielder with the gun will transfer it to the killer, constantly focusing the attention on the most powerful player at any given time. Infected selects a random player for the significantly grimier task of infecting the rest of the lobby as zombies, while anyone who remains a human will fight to keep the tide at bay.
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Headquarters and Team Gunfight both stick to squad-based action with interesting variants to keep players on their toes. Headquarters focuses on capturing and defending a position that rotates throughout the map, while Team Gunfight shifts a randomized loadout multiple times throughout the match for a 6v6 Gunfight variation that rewards quick adaptation. The CODMAS holiday event introduces the limited time Santa’s Slayground mode, bringing back classic festive maps like Shipmas and Hangover and introducing Zombie Santa and more. More limited time modes are also expected to be added during the season.
Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Season 1 Weapons
Five New Weapons
Five new weapons are available in Season 1 of Modern Warfare 3, with something added for every playstyle. Three will be available at launch in the Battle Pass — the XRK Stalker, RAM-7, and Stormender. The XRK Stalker is a highly customizable sniper rifle built around one-hit kills, with customizable options that allow tweaks for greater mobility and accuracy alike. For close and medium range, the RAM-7 is a lightweight bullpup assault rifle with controlled burst fire. The Stormender is an EMP weapon with lock-on capabilities that make it perfect for dealing with troublesome equipment and drones, although using it against Operators isn’t highly effective.
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The HRM-9 will arrive at some point during the season as an Armory Unlock, falling into a new progression system introduced in Modern Warfare 3 that relies on completing daily challenges. This submachine gun is a perfect close-quarters option that can be tweaked to double down on its point-blank efficacy or expand its mid-range performance. The TAQ Evolvere is the other in-season addition, an LMG that can fire either 7.62 or 5.56 ammo and provides the versatility to take down both Operators and artillery.
New COD: MW3 Operators, Season 1 Battle Pass, & More
A Free & Premium MW3 Battle Pass Are Both Available
Season 1 adds two new playable Operators to Modern Warfare 3, with Nolan and Dokkaebi available for deployment, and a premium BlackCell Operator called Abolisher. Nolan is a character from the single-player campaign and Warzone, while Dokkaebi is a new introduction who will also be appearing as a Warlord in Zombies. These characters can be accessed through the Season 1 Battle Pass, which will also contain cosmetics, weapons, and more that should be revealed in full by the time that the season gets underway. Purchasing BlackCell (available for free to anyone who preordered the Vault Edition of the game) offers unique rewards on top of the standard Battle Pass options.
Other additions coming to Modern Warfare 3 in Season 1 are nine Aftermarket Parts to freshen up weapons and new store items like the intimidating Santa Gnaws and bundles with characters from Dune. Zombies also gets fresh content with an added story act and labyrinthine Dark Aether Rifts to take on, with the power of the V-R11 Wonder Weapon offering a nice new incentive. Between all the content that’s carried forward from Modern Warfare 2 and everything coming in Season 1, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is shaping up to already be chock-full of maps, weapons, Operators, and much more.
Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2023)
- Franchise:
- Call of Duty
- Platform(s):
- PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S
- Released:
- 2023-11-10
- Developer(s):
- Sledgehammer Games
- Publisher(s):
- Activision
- Genre(s):
- Action, First-Person Shooter
- ESRB:
- M
- Prequel(s):
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2009), Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019)
